Appointments in Domestic Cases
Parenting Education /Parenting Education / CRS 14-10-123.7 / · Judicial districts administer programs.
· Districts may establish their own programs or contract for the provision of services through a competitive negotiation process. /
Professionals in Domestic Cases
Mediator / CRS 13-22-305(6) / · Assists in the resolution of disputes.
· Confidential.
Arbitrator / CRS 14-10-128(5) / · Acts with consent of all parties, and appointment of the court.
· May resolve any dispute.
· De novo hearing of award.
Child & Family Investigator
(“CFI”) / CRS 14-10-116.5
CJD 04-08 / · Investigates and makes recommendations re: parental responsibility.
· Usually appointed pre–decree, but may be appointed post-decree when new parental responsibility issues are properly raised through pleading and continuing jurisdiction authority.
Parental Responsibility Evaluator / CRS 14-10-127 / · Conducts parental responsibility evaluations that include an investigation and recommendations.
· Cannot make decisions and cannot change court’s order.
Parenting Coordinator (“PC”) / CRS 14-10-128.1
Standing Committee on Family Issues White Paper / · Appointed post-decree to coach parties in developing communication skills.
· Through joint decision-making, the parties implement court orders.
· Cannot make decisions and cannot change existing court orders.
Decision Maker (“DM”) / CRS 14-10-128.3
CJD 08-01 / · Appointed after the court has entered an order resolving parenting time.
· Assists the parties in making minor decisions which clarify or assist in implementing the court’s order.
Child’s Legal Representative / CRS 14-10-116 / · Represents the best interest of child.
· Investigates and makes recommendations to the court.
How Do I Get Appointed to These Roles?
Contact the district administrator in the judicial districts that you are interested in working in. You can find contact information at: http://www.courts.state.co.us/district/distadmin.htm. Every district has slightly different requirements.
For more information on the requirements of each of these roles, please see the applicable statutes and Chief Justice Directives, available at http://www.courts.state.co.us/Administration/Section.cfm/Section/jp3dom.
What If You Have Questions or Concerns About Your Court-Appointed Professional?
Child and Family Investigators and Parental Responsibility Evaluators
Parental responsibility evaluations and child and family investigator appointments occur because there is a dispute about child-related issues. If you disagree with your CFI or Evaluator’s assessment and/or recommendations, you may question or challenge the assessment and recommendations. Please keep in mind that the reports are not binding on you, and do not automatically become an Order of the Court. Here are some of your options:
Provide the evaluator or child and family investigator with feedback regarding your concerns and/or ask your attorney to provide a detailed summary of your concerns. If, after reviewing new information, the CFI/Evaluator believes that further investigation or modification of the report is warranted, the CFI/Evaluator may update his or her work, or inform the Court as to any limits in the data collection or reservations the CFI/Evaluator has regarding the existing report and recommendations.
You may be entitled to have another professional review and critique the reports, or to have a supplemental evaluation completed by another evaluator or evaluation team. Discuss this option with your attorney.
You may review the CFI/Evaluator’s file. This allows you and your attorney to review the data from which the recommendations were made, and challenge the information in a deposition and/or in Court.
The Court, and not the evaluator or child and family investigator, is the final decision maker regarding your parenting dispute. The Court will likely review the work of the CFI/Evaluator as one source of information among others. Judges independently review the information provided to them through the adversary system of testimony, examination, cross-examination, and case review.
Parenting Coordinators (“PCs”)
The processes that exist for the appointment and oversight of parenting coordinators (“PCs”) are similar to those for a CFI, and are set forth by C.R.S. 14-10-128.1. The Standing Committee on Family Issues also published a set of guidelines to provide guidance to PCs, to the courts appointing PCs, and to the parties who are appointed PCs available at: www.courts.state.co.us/Administration/Section.cfm/Section/jp3dom. As with CFIs (above), the Court hears complaints about the work completed by a PC pursuant to the court order, as well as concerns about payment. A PC may not be called as a witness or required to produce his records. When requested by the parties, the Court may consider appointing a different PC to the case.
Decision-Makers (“DMs”)
The processes that exist for appointment and oversight of decision-makers (“DMs”) are similar to those for a PC and are set forth in C.R.S. 14-10-128.3 as well as CJD 08-01, available at http://www.courts.state.co.us/Courts/Supreme_Court/Directives/Index.cfm. The DM’s scope of authority must be agreed upon by the parties and set forth in the court order.
If a party disputes the decisions of the decision-maker filed with the court and wishes the court to evaluate the DM, “a party may file a motion with the court requesting that a decision of the decision-maker be modified by the court pursuant to a de novo hearing. . . The court may terminate the appointment of the decision-maker at any time for good cause. The court shall allow the decision-maker to withdraw at any time” C.R.S. 14-10-128.3(2). A party may assert a claim related to the DM’s fees before the Court. With regards to the DM’s conduct, a DM is not generally competent to testify nor required to produce records.
Regulation of Domestic Professionals
When attorneys enter the practice of law, they take an oath to uphold the law and to follow the standards of ethics established by the Colorado Supreme Court. An attorney who violates the law and/or those standards is subject to discipline. For more information, contact the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel at: http://www.coloradosupremecourt.com/Regulation/Regulation.asp.
The Colorado State Department of Regulatory Agencies regulates Mental Health professionals. For questions or concerns, contact:
Mental Health Occupations Grievance Board
1560 Broadway, Suite 880
Denver, CO 80202
Phone: (303) 894-7766
§ 14-10-123.7. Parental education--legislative declaration
(1) The general assembly recognizes research that documents the negative impact divorce and separation can have on children when the parents continue the marital conflict, expose the children to this conflict, or place the children in the middle of the conflict or when one parent drops out of the child's life. This research establishes that children of divorce or separation may exhibit a decreased ability to function academically, socially, and psychologically because of the stress of the divorce or separation process. The general assembly also finds that, by understanding the process of divorce and its impact on both adults and children, parents can more effectively help and support their children during this time of family reconfiguration. Accordingly, the general assembly finds that it is in the best interests of children to authorize courts to establish, or contract with providers for the establishment of, educational programs for separating, divorcing, and divorced parents with minor children. The intent of these programs is to educate parents about the divorce process and its impact on adults and children and to teach coparenting skills and strategies so that parents may continue to parent their children in a cooperative manner.
(2) A court may order a parent whose child is under eighteen years of age to attend a program designed to provide education concerning the impact of separation and divorce on children in cases in which the parent of a minor is a named party in a dissolution of marriage proceeding, a legal separation proceeding, a proceeding concerning the allocation of parental responsibilities, parenting time proceedings, or postdecree proceedings involving the allocation of parental responsibilities or parenting time or proceedings in which the parent is the subject of a protection order issued pursuant to this article.
(3) Each judicial district, or combination of judicial districts as designated by the chief justice of the Colorado supreme court, may establish an educational program for divorcing and separating parents who are parties to any of the types of proceedings specified in subsection (2) of this section or arrange for the provision of such educational programs by private providers through competitively negotiated contracts. The educational program shall inform parents about the divorce process and its impact on adults and children and shall teach parents coparenting skills and strategies so that they may continue to parent their children in a cooperative manner. Any such educational program shall be administered and monitored by the implementing judicial district or districts and shall be paid for by the participating parents in accordance with each parent's ability to pay.
Judicial Policies, Programs and Practices (“JP3”), Executive Division, SCAO
Revised September 17, 2008