Encyclopedia of Psychology and Law

provided with attorneys. In other states, parents must

hire attorneys privately. Usually, each caregiver has his

or her own attorney. Children may be provided their

own attorneys to represent their expressed interests and

guardians ad litemto represent their best interests as

determined by substituted judgment. The role of the

psychologist, as a forensic evaluator or consultant,

depends on the referral source and the referral ques-

tion(s). The psychologist is retained by the court, the

state, or one of the attorneys for the parent(s) or child.

Evaluations are requested for five main reasons: (1) to

assess the caregiver’s need for interventions after the

state assumes jurisdiction; (2) to evaluate the risk of

harm, if any, the caregiver poses to the child; (3) to

assess the child’s level of functioning and intervention

needs; (4) to assess the caregiver’s amenability to

interventions; and (5) to determine the caregiver’s par-

ticipation and progress in recommended interventions.

Referral questions may be comprehensive, involving

the evaluation of multiple family members; or they

may be limited to a specific feature of the case.

A properly qualified forensic psychologist has

knowledge of jurisdictional legal and regulatory care

and protection standards. The acceptance of a referral

takes place within the legal context. The referral ques-

tion is framed in a manner that respects parents’ rights,

the rights of children, the socioeconomic and cultural

dynamics of the case, and the role and purview of the

judicial finder of fact. Psychologists consult ethical

standards and guidelines for practice, and they have a

strong foundation in theories and research relevant to

child maltreatment, parenting, child development,

parental risk of harm through violence and neglect,

parental mental illness and substance abuse, parental

intellectual functioning, and parental poverty. They use

the forensic assessment report and court testimony as

communication mechanisms addressed to all parties

relevant to the case.

Legal and Regulatory Standards

Societal responses to child maltreatment take many

shapes, with the legal system representing the most for-

mal mechanism of response. The nature and breadth of

state jurisdiction in child care and protection matters

are found in legal definitions of child maltreatment and

in legal and regulatory procedures for identifying,

investigating, intervening in, and making judicial deci-

sions about family reunification or separation. Broad

constitutional rights serve as the legal basis for family

privacy, parental rights, and children’s rights. Federal

regulations influence developments and changes in

state statutes, with the most recent guidance found in

the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997. Child-

abuse-reporting requirements and statutes influence the

frequency and nature of cases entering the child protec-

tive services system. Procedural laws and regulations

govern the sequence of hearings and the structure and

process of service provision as cases move through the

system. The confluence of these sources of laws and

procedures provides a framework for the relative judi-

cial weight given to state jurisdiction, family privacy,

parental rights, and children’s interests in their protec-

tion from harm or the threat of harm. From a legal per-

spective, children are neither fully independent nor

fully dependent legal actors in actions taken by the state

over the competence of their caregivers.

A typical case in which a termination hearing is

eventuated moves through the following phases: an

anonymous report of maltreatment by a mandated or a

nonmandated reporter; an initial screening of the com-

plaint by the local or regional child protective services

agency representatives; an investigation of the allega-

tions in the complaint; an emergency evidentiary hear-

ing and removal of the children from the custody of the

caregivers; an evidentiary hearing over whether the

emergency removal will stand or will be overturned;

placement of the children in substitute care; provision

of relevant services to the caregivers and the children;

periodic reviews and hearings relevant to the continued

need for state intervention and service provision; and a

final evidentiary hearing that leads to an outcome of a

reunification plan, permanent substitute care, or termi-

nation of parental rights. Only the most serious and pro-

tracted cases reach termination. If their rights are

terminated, parents occasionally are allowed posttermi-

nation contact with their children under carefully spec-

ified and limited circumstances. More commonly, ties

are severed, and posttermination contact is disallowed.

Forensic Assessment in Context

Referrals for forensic assessment in the context of care

and protection matters are made to assist the court in

gathering data relevant to the case. Referrals may orig-

inate directly from the court by prior agreement of all

involved parties, through an ex parte motion by the

attorney for one parent or a joint motion by the attor-

neys for both parents, from a representative or an attor-

ney for the child protective services agency, through

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