Parenting Coordination and Confidentiality: A (Not‐so) Delicate Balance

Abstract

This article describes the current state and range of information protection in the growing number of states and Canadian provinces that employ parenting coordination in an effort to reduce repeat custody litigation. The predominant approach—in which what is revealed during the process is not confidential—is analyzed in terms of its compatibility with the parenting coordinator's multiple tasks of educating parents, seeking to facilitate agreements, and, if necessary, providing the court with a report, a recommended decision, or an arbitrated result. Using a case scenario with multiple parts, the article then examines such confidentiality schemes in practice by providing an action‐oriented series of questions that illustrate how much of this topic must be resolved through a parenting coordinator's exercise of discretion in the absence of rule clarity. The article then raises a number of policy questions about whether current parenting coordination confidentiality norms strike the optimal or even the correct balance on information protection and concludes by identifying several policy options that might address these questions.

“It is a matter of life or death”: Spotlighting Children in the Context of HIPD as Perceived by Frontline Practitioners

“…These two elements cannot always go hand in hand, especially in cases of domestic violence and child abuse, when arbitrarily encouraging a relationship with both parents might endanger the child (Archer-Kuhn, 2016 ). Furthermore, there is a question regarding the proper ways to communicate with children and ensure that their voices are heard in this legal matter, by which they are greatly affected (Carter & Frenkel, 2020 ). A profound understanding of these two areas is of central importance in protecting children’s rights in the context of HIPD.…”