Some parenting disputes cannot be resolved simply by comparing the parents' affidavits.
One parent says the child is unsafe.
The other says the allegation is exaggerated.
One parent alleges parental alienation.
The other says the child is legitimately estranged.
There may be concerns about mental health, family violence, parenting capacity, substance use, parent-child relationships or a child's emotional functioning.
In cases like these, an Alberta family court may require assistance from an appropriately qualified parenting expert.
Depending upon the issues, this may involve an evaluative or therapeutic intervention under Family Practice Note 7 or a broader parenting evaluation under Family Practice Note 8.
Understanding the differences matters.
Not every difficult parenting case requires a full psychological assessment.
Why Are Parenting Experts Used?
Judges are legal decision-makers.
They do not personally conduct psychological testing, therapeutic assessments or clinical evaluations of family dynamics.
Where specialized information is needed, qualified professionals may assist the Court.
Alberta's Court of King's Bench recognizes Court-directed services for child-related disputes, including interventions and parenting evaluations.
What Is Practice Note 7?
Alberta Family Practice Note 7 deals with Interventions.
It recognizes two broad categories:
Evaluative interventions, which provide information to the Court to assist with decision-making.
Therapeutic interventions, which work toward resolving disputes, managing conflict and changing existing family dynamics.
Practice Note 7 explains that these interventions are conducted by parenting experts who are registered psychologists or appropriately qualified registered clinical social workers meeting specified expertise requirements.
What Is a Parenting Risk Assessment?
“Parenting risk assessment” is a phrase frequently used by parents and sometimes in professional contexts to describe an assessment concerning potential risks to a child's safety or well-being.
However, the exact legal and professional process matters more than the label.
Potential areas of concern could include:
- family violence;
- substance abuse;
- untreated mental-health concerns;
- neglect;
- unsafe behaviour;
- threats;
- coercive control;
- impaired parenting;
- serious parent-child conflict; or
- other circumstances affecting the child
The Court or parties should identify the actual question the expert is being asked to address.
What Is a Parent Psychological Evaluation?
Practice Note 7 recognizes parent psychological evaluation as an evaluative intervention.
Such an evaluation may be appropriate where aspects of a parent's psychological functioning are genuinely relevant to parenting issues before the Court.
A psychological evaluation should not be used simply because one parent dislikes the other's personality.
The issue should have a meaningful connection to the child's best interests or parenting dispute.
Is Mental Illness Automatically a Parenting Risk?
No.
A mental-health diagnosis by itself does not establish that someone is an unsafe or incapable parent.
The legal concern is generally the effect–if any–on parenting and the child's safety and well-being.
Many people manage mental-health conditions successfully while providing excellent care for their children.
Evidence should focus on actual parenting implications rather than stigma.
What Is a Practice Note 8 Parenting Evaluation?
Family Practice Note 8 addresses broader child custody/parenting evaluations.
Although older terminology such as “custody” remains in the title of some Court materials, modern family-law terminology generally focuses on parenting time and parenting responsibilities or decision-making responsibility.
A Practice Note 8 evaluation may be used where the parenting dispute requires broader expert investigation to assist the Court in determining the child's best interests.
The Court of King's Bench describes bilateral custody/parenting assessments as involving a parenting expert who evaluates the parties' circumstances and provides a written report and recommendations.
Practice Note 7 vs. Practice Note 8
A simple way to understand the distinction is:
Practice Note 7: targeted interventions addressing defined family problems.
Practice Note 8: broader parenting evaluation where the Court requires more comprehensive assistance concerning parenting arrangements and the child's best interests.
The distinction is not merely about cost or report length.
It concerns the question the Court needs answered.
What Are Therapeutic Interventions?
Practice Note 7 also recognizes therapeutic interventions.
Unlike a purely evaluative process designed primarily to provide information to the Court, therapeutic work attempts to improve or change family dynamics.
Depending upon the case, objectives may include:
- reducing parental conflict;
- rebuilding parent-child relationships;
- improving communication;
- addressing dysfunctional parenting interactions;
- helping children adjust to separation;
- working toward resolution; or
- addressing barriers to functioning parenting relationships
Reunification therapy can potentially fall within the broader discussion of therapeutic interventions and is addressed separately in Ulasi Law Group's Family Law Knowledge Series.
What Is a Therapeutic Assessment?
Parents sometimes use the phrase “therapeutic assessment” to refer to a professional process combining assessment with therapeutic recommendations or intervention.
It is important to determine exactly what service is being requested.
Questions include:
Is the professional evaluating?
Treating?
Reporting to Court?
Making recommendations?
Facilitating reunification?
Assessing risk?
Providing therapy to the child?
Working with both parents?
Those roles carry different professional and evidentiary implications.
What Is a Voice of the Child Intervention?
A Views or Voice of the Child intervention focuses on gathering information concerning the child's views and needs.
It should not automatically be treated as a full psychological or parenting assessment.
Where the underlying question is:
“What does this child think and feel?”
- a Voice of the Child intervention may potentially be appropriate
Where the question is:
“Why has the relationship broken down, and what parenting arrangement is in the child's best interests?”
- a broader process may be required
Can an Assessment Determine Parental Alienation?
An appropriately scoped professional evaluation may assist the Court in understanding family dynamics associated with allegations of alienation or estrangement.
However, no assessment should begin with the assumption that alienation has already occurred.
A child may resist a parent for many reasons.
The professional may need to consider:
- the child's relationship with each parent;
- family violence;
- parent behaviour;
- the child's developmental stage;
- influence and alignment;
- legitimate estrangement;
- parentification; and
- other contributing circumstances
Can a Parent Be Forced to Participate?
Court-ordered interventions and evaluations create legal obligations governed by the terms of the order.
Parties should obtain legal advice regarding what is required, including:
- interviews;
- testing;
- document production;
- collateral contacts;
- payment;
- deadlines; and
- communication with the expert
Ignoring an assessment order can have serious procedural consequences.
Who Chooses the Parenting Expert?
Depending upon the process, the parties may agree on a qualified professional or the Court may become involved in the appointment.
The expert's qualifications and the scope of the assignment matter considerably.
Alberta's Practice Note 7 requires parenting experts conducting interventions to have specified professional qualifications and expertise.
What Information Might an Assessor Review?
Depending upon the assessment and order, information may include:
- interviews with parents;
- interviews with children;
- psychological testing where appropriate;
- parenting history;
- Court materials;
- previous professional reports;
- school information;
- medical or counselling information where relevant and properly obtained;
- collateral interviews;
- observations; and
- information concerning family violence or safety
The exact process should be determined by the mandate rather than assumed.
Are Parenting Assessments Confidential?
Do not assume that information provided during a Court-connected assessment will remain confidential in the same way as ordinary private therapy.
A professional appointed to provide information or recommendations to the Court has a different role from a personal treating therapist.
Before participating, parents should understand:
- who receives the report;
- what information can be disclosed;
- whether the expert may testify;
- how records are handled; and
- what the Court order requires
Can I Use My Own Therapist as the Parenting Expert?
Usually these roles should be considered carefully.
A treating therapist's relationship with a client is fundamentally different from the role of an independent parenting expert evaluating a family for Court purposes.
Dual-role concerns can affect objectivity and professional responsibilities.
How Much Weight Does the Judge Give an Assessment?
Expert evidence can be highly influential, but the expert does not replace the judge.
The Court remains responsible for deciding the legal issues.
An expert's opinion may be challenged through evidence, cross-examination or competing expert evidence where legally appropriate.
The Court determines what weight should be given to the report.
How Much Do Parenting Assessments Cost?
Costs vary substantially according to:
- the type of intervention;
- number of family members;
- complexity;
- professional fees;
- amount of testing;
- collateral information;
- report requirements; and
- length of the process
The Court of King's Bench notes that parties are generally responsible for the costs of certain parenting assessments, although subsidy programs may be available in qualifying circumstances.
Cost is one reason the scope of an assessment should match the actual problem.
A narrow issue should not automatically produce the most expensive possible evaluation.
What If One Parent Requests a Psychological Assessment Only to Attack the Other?
Courts and professionals should focus on information genuinely relevant to the child and parenting dispute.
Psychological assessment should not become a tool for humiliation, strategic character attacks or fishing expeditions.
A party opposing an unnecessary assessment can obtain legal advice about whether the requested intervention is proportionate and legally justified.
Assessment Is Not Therapy
This distinction is fundamental.
An assessment seeks information.
Therapy seeks change, healing or treatment.
A parenting expert conducting an evaluation is not necessarily treating the family.
Likewise, a therapist working toward reunification may not be appointed to provide a comprehensive parenting recommendation.
Confusing these roles can create serious problems.
How Assessments Connect With Other Alberta Parenting Processes
A complex case may involve several different mechanisms:
Voice of the Child — focuses on the child's views.
Child counsel — provides independent legal representation.
Parent psychological evaluation — examines relevant psychological functioning.
Practice Note 7 intervention — provides targeted evaluative or therapeutic assistance.
Practice Note 8 evaluation — provides broader parenting assessment.
Parenting coordination — helps implement parenting arrangements and resolve recurring disputes.
Reunification therapy — attempts to rebuild an impaired parent-child relationship where appropriate.
Each tool serves a different purpose.
Speak With an Edmonton Family Lawyer About Parenting Assessments
When allegations involve parental alienation, psychological concerns, family violence, parenting risk or a child's refusal to see a parent, choosing the correct professional intervention can significantly affect the case.
A costly assessment that answers the wrong question helps no one.
Ulasi Law Group assists parents in Edmonton and throughout Alberta with Practice Note 7 interventions, Practice Note 8 parenting evaluations, psychological assessments, Voice of the Child matters, child counsel and complex parenting disputes.
Contact Ulasi Law Group to discuss whether an assessment or therapeutic intervention is appropriate in your family-law matter.
This article contains general legal information only and does not constitute psychological, medical or legal advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a parenting assessment in Alberta?
A parenting assessment is a professional evaluation used in certain family cases to provide information relevant to parenting arrangements and a child's best interests.
What is Practice Note 7 in Alberta family law?
Family Practice Note 7 governs interventions, including evaluative and therapeutic interventions conducted by qualified parenting experts.
What is Practice Note 8?
Practice Note 8 addresses broader child custody/parenting evaluations used to assist the Court with parenting disputes.
What is a parent psychological evaluation?
It is an evaluative intervention examining aspects of a parent's psychological functioning where those issues are relevant to the parenting dispute.
Does having a mental-health condition make someone an unfit parent?
No. A diagnosis alone does not establish parenting incapacity. The relevant question is how, if at all, circumstances affect parenting and the child's interests.
Is a Voice of the Child report a psychological assessment?
No. A Voice of the Child intervention has a different and generally narrower purpose.
Can an assessment determine parental alienation?
An appropriately scoped assessment may assist in understanding why a parent-child relationship has deteriorated, but the professional should consider competing explanations including estrangement and family violence.
Are Court parenting assessments confidential?
Parents should not assume the same confidentiality that applies in ordinary private therapy. Court-directed evaluative professionals may be required to report information to the Court.
Does the judge have to follow the psychologist's recommendation?
No. The judge remains the legal decision-maker and determines what weight to give expert evidence.
Who pays for a parenting assessment?
Costs depend upon the order and circumstances. Parties are commonly responsible for professional fees, although some Court-directed services may have subsidy arrangements for qualifying families.