The Children’s Law Center shares Timothy M. Tippins’ belief in “Forensic Reform: The Time Is Now!” (NYLJ, March 2) that the current restrictions preventing distribution of forensic evaluations to litigants in custody and visitation cases should be reformed. However, we believe that parties should be guaranteed access to, rather than possession of, these reports.
The Children’s Law Center is the first public interest law firm in New York City dedicated to the representation of children in custody, guardianship and visitation matters. For 20 years, the Children’s Law Center has employed a child-oriented and reflective approach to advocacy for the thousands of children we have represented in our trial and appellate practices. This extensive experience informs our opinion that the risks of parties’ potential misuse of forensic evaluations are real, and the potential harms to children of such misuse are serious.
