Center for Excellence in Family Court Practice

In July 2019, AFCC President Matthew Sullivan appointed an interdisciplinary task force to revise the 2006 Model Standards of Practice for Child Custody Evaluation, building on both the 2006 and 1994 AFCC Model Standards. Beginning at the November 2019 Pittsburgh conference, the Task Force set guiding values and principles, surveyed professionals and judges, and used subcommittees to revise sections, including new virtual evaluation guidance. After two dozen online meetings, an in-person Cincinnati session in November 2021, member feedback at both conferences, and public comment in February-March 2022, the Task Force finalized the Guidelines and presented them to the AFCC Board in May 2022. Most 2006 standards remained sound, but the document was renamed "Guidelines" to clarify it offers practice guidance rather than mandatory rules, and "Child Custody Evaluations" was replaced with "Parenting Plan Evaluations" to shift away from language of possession and control toward responsibility for care, while acknowledging other jurisdictional terms and using "parent" to include non-parents in parenting roles.