2003 California Rules of Court
Rule 5.230. Domestic violence training standards for
court-appointed child custody investigators and evaluators
(a) [Authority] This rule of court is adopted under
article VI, section 6 of the California Constitution and Family Code sections
211 and 3111(d) and (e).
(b) [Purpose] Consistent with Family Code sections
3020 and 3111, the purposes of this rule are to require domestic violence
training for all court-appointed persons who evaluate or investigate child
custody matters and to ensure that this training reflects current research and
consensus about best practices for conducting child custody evaluations by
prescribing standards that training in domestic violence must meet. Effective
January 1, 1998, no person may be a court-appointed investigator under Family
Code section 3111(d) or Evidence Code section 730 unless the person has
completed domestic violence training described here and in Family Code section
1816.
(Subd (b) amended effective January 1, 2003.)
(c) [Definitions] For purposes of this rule,
"court-appointed investigator" is considered to be synonymous with
"court-appointed evaluator" as defined in Family Code section 3110.
(d) [Mandatory training] Persons appointed as child custody
investigators under Family Code section 3110 or Evidence Code section 730, and
persons who are professional staff or trainees in a child custody or visitation
evaluation or investigation, must complete basic training in domestic violence
issues as described in Family Code section 1816 and in addition:
(1) (Advanced training) Sixteen
hours of advanced training must be completed within a 12-month period. These 16
hours must include:
(A) Twelve hours of instructions, as approved by the
Administrative Director of the Courts, in:
(i) The appropriate structuring of the child custody evaluation
process, including, but not limited to, maximizing safety for clients,
evaluators, and court personnel; maintaining objectivity; providing and
gathering balanced information from both parties and controlling for bias;
providing for separate sessions at separate times (as specified in Family Code
section 3113); and considering the impact of the evaluation report and
recommendations with particular attention to the dynamics of domestic violence;
(ii) The relevant sections of local, state, and federal law or
rules;
(iii) The range, availability, and applicability of domestic
violence resources available to victims, including, but not limited to,
battered women's shelters, specialized counseling, drug and alcohol counseling,
legal advocacy, job training, parenting classes, battered immigrant victims,
and welfare exceptions for domestic violence victims;
(iv) The range, availability, and applicability of domestic
violence intervention available to perpetrators, including, but not limited to,
arrest, incarceration, probation, applicable Penal Code sections (including
Penal Code section 1203.097, which describes certified treatment programs for
batterers), drug and alcohol counseling, legal advocacy, job training, and
parenting classes; and
(v) The unique issues in family and psychological assessment in
domestic violence cases, including the following concepts:
a. The effects of exposure to domestic violence and psychological
trauma on children; the relationship between child physical abuse, child sexual
abuse, and domestic violence; the differential family dynamics related to
parent-child attachments in families with domestic violence; intergenerational
transmission of familial violence; and manifestations of post-traumatic stress
disorders in children;
b. The nature and extent of domestic violence, and the
relationship of gender, class, race, culture, and sexual orientation to
domestic violence;
c. Current legal, psychosocial, public policy, and mental health
research related to the dynamics of family violence, the impact of
victimization, the psychology of perpetration, and the dynamics of power and
control in battering relationships;
d. The assessment of family history based on the type, severity,
and frequency of violence;
e. The impact on parenting abilities of being a victim or
perpetrator of domestic violence;
f. The uses and limitations of psychological testing and
psychiatric diagnosis in assessing parenting abilities in domestic violence
cases;
g. The influence of alcohol and drug use and abuse on the
incidence of domestic violence;
h. Understanding the dynamics of high-conflict relationships and
abuser/victim relationships;
i. The importance of, and procedures for, obtaining collateral
information from probation departments, children's protective services, police
incident reports, restraining order pleadings, medical records, schools, and
other relevant sources;
j. Accepted methods for structuring safe and enforceable child
custody and parenting plans that assure the health, safety, welfare, and best
interest of the child, and safeguards for the parties; and
k. The importance of discouraging participants in child custody
matters from blaming victims of domestic violence for the violence and from
minimizing allegations of domestic violence, child abuse, or abuse against any
family member.
(B) Four hours of community resource networking intended to
acquaint the evaluator with domestic violence resources in the geographical
communities where the families being evaluated may reside.
(2) (Annual update training) Four hours of update training
are required each year after the year in which the advanced training is
completed. These four hours must consist of in-person classroom instruction focused
on, but not limited to, an update of changes or modifications in local court
practices, case law, and state and federal legislation related to domestic
violence, and an update of current social science research and theory,
particularly in regard to the impact on children of exposure to domestic
violence.
(Subd (d) amended effective January 1, 2003; previously amended
effective January 1, 2002.)
(e) [Domestic violence training providers] Eligible
providers may include educational institutions, professional associations,
professional continuing education groups, public or private for-profit or
not-for-profit groups, and court-connected groups.
(f) [Certificate of course completion] Domestic
violence training providers must distribute a certificate of completion to each
person who has attended the initial 12-hour in-person classroom instruction and
to each person who has attended the annual 4-hour update training in domestic
violence for child custody evaluators. The certificate of completion must document
(or state) the number of hours of training offered, the number of hours the
person attended, the date(s) of the training, and the name of the training
provider.
(Subd (f) amended effective January 1, 2003.)
(g) [Local court rules] Each local court may adopt rules
regarding the procedures by which child custody evaluators who have completed
the training in domestic violence as mandated by this rule will notify the
local court. In the absence of such a local rule of court, child custody
evaluators must attach copies of their certificates of completion of the
initial 12 hours of advanced in-person classroom instruction and of the most
recent annual 4-hour update training in domestic violence to each child custody
evaluation report.
(Subd (g) amended effective January 1, 2003.)
(h) [Previous training accepted] Persons
attending training programs offered after January 1, 1996, that meet all of the
requirements set forth in subdivision (d)(1)(A) of this rule, are deemed to
have met the minimum standards set forth in subdivision (d)(1)(A) of this rule,
but they must still meet the minimum standards listed in subdivisions (d)(1)(B)
and (d)(2) of this rule.
Rule 5.230 amended and renumbered effective January 1, 2003;
adopted as rule 1257.7 effective January 1, 1999; previously amended effective
January 1, 2002.
Drafter's Notes
1999-New rule 1257.7 complies with recent statutory changes requiring
all court-appointed child custody evaluators and investigators to complete
domestic violence training. The rule also establishes training standards.
2002-The rule has been amended to eliminate the requirement that the
12-hour advanced training be limited to "in-person classroom
instruction"; to require Administrative Director of the Courts approval of
training that fulfills the 12-hour requirement; and to add an additional
content component to the 12-hour advanced training that gives evaluators
information about the importance of discouraging participants in child custody
evaluations from blaming victims of domestic violence or minimizing allegations
of violence or child abuse.