In June 2021, New York’s Governor established what was dubbed a “Blue-Ribbon Commission on Forensic Custody Evaluations,” referred to herein simply as the Commission. The Governor’s office established the Commission after hearing from parents, attorneys, and others within the court system who reported negative experiences with forensic custody evaluators. Such concerns included, inter alia, the outsized role of forensic evaluators in custody litigation and the often-inordinate impact of their recommendations. As stated by the Governor’s office, those recommendations potentially “place children at risk of harm, even death.” New York Announces Membership of Blue-Ribbon Commission on Forensic Custody Evaluations, News Articles, ocfs.ny.gov (June 11, 2021). The Commission was “charged with providing recommendations to the Governor regarding if and/or how forensic custody evaluations should be used by New York courts.” Report of the Blue-Ribbon Commission on Forensic Custody Evaluations, p. 2 (hereafter the Report).

The Commission considered an array of issues related to evaluations. Among the matters considered were: If forensic custody evaluations should be ordered by the courts at all, and if so, under what circumstances; how to standardize the evaluation process; how reports should be used by the courts; how to ensure equity regarding the availability and conduct of forensic evaluations among all parties; how to standardize access to reports for parties and attorneys; necessary qualifications, training, and oversight of evaluators; possible certification processes for evaluators; and how to address bias in the system. Report, pp. 2-3.

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