In Louisiana, Family Court Judges rely on Child Custody Evaluators for expertise on mental health and psychological evaluations. The Judges and the parties require that the Evaluators provide the Court with unbiased, forensic findings and final child custody recommendations derived and defendable from clinical data and the best interest of the child standards.

However, the current system has three problems:

• The current custody evaluation process does not require that the Evaluator use scientific and defendable methodology to create the most accurate reports.

• The child custody evaluation does not meet the required legal standards to protect the “fundamental right” to parent.

• The child custody evaluation does not always prioritize protecting the parent/child bond.

Adding the Safeguard Amendment to HB 272 would require custody evaluators to adhere to the already approved LA State Standards related to Child Custody Evaluations and the amendment would ensure that anyone disqualified by a Judge or removed for cause can NOT testify as an expert witness again. The two additional sentences are safeguards for the thousands of Louisiana families who are moving through the Family Court System while the Louisiana State Law Institute reviews the legal and practical applications and implications of the Child Custody Evaluation in the Family Court System.