The Center of Excellence for Children, Families and the Law

Certificate in Child and Family Forensics - 4 Courses

The certificate in Child and Family Forensics provides students with a solid foundation in the concepts, theories and practices in child and family forensic mental health work and will help professionals hone their skills and increase their knowledge to prepare them for work in child welfare, juvenile delinquency, sexual offending, divorce child custody and post-divorce parenting contexts. Courses include: parenting coordination, child custody evaluation, child maltreatment, and mental health and juvenile justice. These courses will review the law and systems, describe and practice protocols for evaluations, and review empirically based best practices and interventions through in-depth didactic instruction and opportunities for practice and consultation. Students have the option of substituting one course for an online course offered by New York Law School.

All courses are offered for 2 academic credits or 28 continuing education credits in a blended learning format, consisting of a 4-week online course and a required "weekend in residence" at the MSPP campus in Newton, MA.

The Courses

Child Maltreatment
Robin Deutsch, PhD and Amy Tischelman, PhD, instructors
Online course begins September 3, 2013
Weekend in Residence October 4-5, 2013
$1476 for academic credit, $975 for 28 CE Credits

Child Maltreatment is designed for professionals engaged in providing services to youth, families, and the courts who seek to provide or understand best practices of investigation, evaluation, and testimony in matters of child abuse or neglect including sexual abuse in the context of divorce. Participants will distinguish between forensic and clinical evaluations, enhance reliability of interviews of children, apply a systematic approach to providing a sound evidence-based report and opinion, and identify ethical issues inherent in evaluations and testimony.

> Click here for a detailed course description.

Mental Health and Juvenile Justice
Robert Kinscherff, PhD, JD
Online course begins October 15, 2013
Weekend in Residence: November 15-16, 2013
$1476 for academic credit, $975 for 28 CE Credits

Mental Health and Juvenile Justice is designed for professionals engaged in providing services to youth and families involved in the juvenile justice system who aspire to improve outcomes for youth and families through enhancing their programs and services, and by more effectively partnering with public and private agencies and providers (state, local, tribal or other). Participants will apply emerging research in trauma and neurodevelopment to describing developmental trauma impacts in court-involved youth, identify key points on the research-based "cradle to prison pipeline" for high-risk youth involved with juvenile justice, describe "best practices" for youth involved with juvenile justice, and identify competencies for a program to meet the mental health needs of court-involved youth.

> Click here for a detailed course description.

Parenting Coordination: Working with High Conflict Families
Robin Deutsch, PhD, instructor
Online Portion begins March 3, 2014
Weekend in Residence: April 4, 5, 2014
$1476 for academic credit, $975 for 28 CE Credits

Parenting Coordination will examine the role and functions of the Parenting Coordinator and the interventions for parents to reduce chronic high conflict and develop a more functional relationship between parents that focuses on the best interest of the children. Students will become familiar with parenting coordinator interventions and best practices, understand ethical issues inherent in the process, and focus on specialty issues such as mental illness, substance abuse, domestic violence, and alienation.

> Click here for a detailed course description.

Divorce Custody Evaluations
Robin Deutsch, PhD, and the Honorable Christina Harms (ret.), instructors
Online Course begins April 14, 2014
Weekend in Residence: May 16,17, 2014
$1476 for academic credit, $975 for 28 CE Credits

Divorce Custody Evaluations will cover the laws and systems governing these evaluations, the evaluation process, and specialty evaluations such as relocation, sexual abuse, alienation, domestic violence, and military. Current research on validity and reliability of interviewing and data collection will be examined.

> Click here for a detailed course description.

In addition, applicants have the opportunity to take any of the courses listed below from New York Law School in lieu of one of the courses outlined above:

• Sex Offenders
• Survey of Mental Disability Law
• Americans with Disabilities Act: Law, Policy and Practice
• Race, Gender, Class and Mental Disability
• Custody Evaluations, Juvenile and Family Law and Mental Disability
• Mental Illness, Dangerousness, the Police Power and Risk Assessment
• International Human Rights
• Therapeutic Jurisprudence
• Mental Disability and Criminal Law
• Mental Health Issues in Jails and Prisons
• Forensic Reports, The Role of Experts and Forensic Ethics
• Trauma and Mental Disability, and Advocacy Skills in Cases Involving Mental Disability

Credits, Tuition, Application

Enrollment Type	Price	Credit Hours Per Course	Upon Completion of 4 courses	Application
Academic Credit	$1476	2 Academic Credits 15 hours in person, 13 hours online	8 Academic Credits and the Certificate in Child and Family Forensics	Non-Matriculating Application
Continuing Education Credit	$975	28 CE Credits 15 hours in person, 13 hours online	112 CE Credits and the Certificate in Child and Family Forensics	Continuing Education Registration

Applicants will demonstrate an interest in family forensics and may include mental health professionals, lawyers, judges, probation officers, juvenile justice professionals, child welfare professionals, and court service workers. Prerequisites include an advanced degree in law, mental health, human services or criminal justice and certification or licensure in law, mental health or mediation. A formal transcript and a writing sample will be required for all applicants taking these courses for academic credit.

Please contact Robin M. Deutsch, PhD at robin_deutsch@mspp.edu.

Updated 5/18/13