Fillable Printable PARENTING COORDINATOR APPLICATION FORM AND TRAINING STANDARDS

PARENTING COORDINATOR APPLICATION FORM AND TRAINING STANDARDS

Supreme Court of Florida

No. AOSC14-64

IN RE: PARENTING COORDINATOR APPLICATION FORM

AND TRAINING STANDARDS

ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER

In In re Report o f the Family Court Steering Committee, 794 S o. 2d 518,

522 (Fla. 2 001), this Court adopted a guiding principle e ncour aging a family court

process to “empower familie s through skills development, assis t them to resolv e

their own disputes, provide access to appropriate services, and offer a variety of

dispute resolution forums where the family can resol ve problems without

additional e motional tra uma.” One form of dispute resolutio n that has be en very

successful in t he State of Florida in fa mily cases is mediation. Me d ia tion is b ut

one form of dispute resoluti on that is availa ble. The Florida Legislature, in

adopting se ct io n 61. 1 25, Florida Statutes, and this Court recognize parenting

coordination as another viable method of dispute resoluti on in the family arena

and, as such, helps fulfill the court system’s vision of supporting “a var ie ty of

dispute resolution forums.”

Sec t ion 61.125 Florida Statutes, became effective o n Oc tober 1, 2009, and

provides for the parenting coordination process. Subsection 61.125(1), Florida

Statutes, defines the purpose of parenti ng coordination as follows:

[T]o provide a child-focuse d alte rnative dis pu te re s olut i on pr ocess

whereby a parenting coordinator a ssists t he parents in creat ing or

implementing a parenting plan by fac ilitating the resolu tion of

disputes between the parents by providing educati on, making

recommendations, and, with t he pri or approva l of the parents and

the co ur t, m aki ng lim ite d de c is ion s wit hin the sc op e of the co ur t 's

order of referral.

Sec t ion 61.125, Florida Statutes, establishes the sta nda r ds for the referral of

cases to parent ing coordinators by the court, qualifications for and disqualifications

of parenting coordinators, fees, confidentiality of the proc ess, emergenc y situation

reporting requirements, and liability limitations of parenting coordinators.

Implementation of the sta tute on a sta tewide, uniform ba sis is vital t o e nsur e th e

quality of both parenting coordinators and t he parentin g coor dination process.

The Committee o n Alternat ive Dispu te Resolution Rules a nd Policy

(Committee), t hrough it s Joint Parenting Coordination Subcommittee, c onsidered

and reviewed the parenting coordination statute a nd received input from parenting

coordinat ion training providers, appr oved parenting coordinator s, and subject

1. Long-Range Strategic Plan for the Florida Judicial Branch, p. 1 (2009),

The Florida Supr eme Court Task Force on Jud ic ial Branc h Planning; availa ble a t

http://www.flcourts.org/gen_public/stratplan/2009LongRangePlanMain.shtml.

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matter s specialists. The Committee recommended the adoption of the attached

Parenting Coordination Training Standar ds

. The Supre me Court concurs and

adopts the recommendations of the Committee with regard to statew ide unifor m

promul gat i on of parenting coordination training standards. Accordingly, this

administrative order hereby establishes t he following administrative proc edures:

A. Administrative Responsibil ity

Administra tive respo nsibility for the implementation of sec t ion 61.125,

Florida Statutes, and its a ttendant rules, qualifications and procedures, a nd t his

administrative orde r s hal l be placed with the chief judge or his/her desig ne e i n e ach

circuit or with the Florida Dispute Resolution Center of the Of fic e of the State

Courts Administrat or (D RC) as furthe r outlined in this administrative order or in

any Supre me Court opinions that may be issued. It is the intentio n of this Court

that such implementation shall be uniform through out the state . This uniformity

shall be accomplished through the use of standardized processes, procedures, and

forms.

B. Qualificat ions and Disqualifications

Parenting coordinators shall be qualified and disqualified pursuant to

subsections 61.125(4) and (5), Flori da Statutes, a s follows:

1. The chief judge or designee(s) in each judicial circuit shall review

eac h applica tion and determine which individuals applying to serve as

parenting coordinators meet the qualifications u nder section 61.12 5,

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Florida Statutes, to be inc l ude d on the roster of qualif ie d parenti ng

coordinators of t hat cir c ui t.

2. Each judicial circuit may conduct a crim inal background investigation

and make inquiries n ece ssary to verify an ap plicant’s eligibility to be

included on th e ro ste r .

3. The chief judge or designee(s) in each judicial circuit shall esta blish a

process to periodically review whether a parenting coordinator

continues to be qualif ied an d shall remove a parenting coordinator

immediately from the r oster if the coo rd in a tor is n o lon ger qu al if ied.

4. Any appe al pe rtaining to a pare nting coordinator’s inclusi on on or

remova l from the roster shall be heard and dec ided by the chief judge

or designee(s) in tha t judi c ia l c irc ui t, whose decisi on shall be f inal.

5. A uniform statewide par enting coordination application form is

adopted and attach ed hereto. Thi s a pplication for m sha ll be used in

ever y circuit.

C. Training

To ensure that all parenti ng co or di na tor tr a in ing courses meet the

require ments of secti on 61. 125, Florida Statutes, and qualify pu rsuant to the

Parenting Coordination Training Standards

atta che d hereto, the DRC shall be

responsible for the review a nd ap pr ova l of all pa re n ti ng coordination training

programs. Trainers desi r ing to offe r parenting coordination training must submit

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their program to the DRC for appr oval. The DRC shall be responsible for

monitoring complia nce w ith the standar ds and maintaining appropriate r ecords on

approved parentin g coordination training programs, including approved materials,

agenda, application, trainer resumes, and any changes submitted. The Committee

is dir ect e d to per io dically revi ew the training progra m standards and recommend

amendments to this Court, as ap propr iate.

An exception to the requir ement that a pare nting coordinator take an

approved training will be granted to those individuals who have completed a

parenting coordination trai ning course and are currently qualifie d by a c ourt since

the 200 9 ado p ti on of sec ti o n 61. 125, F lorida Statutes, a nd who r e-apply to be

qua l ifi ed on or be f ore Dec em be r 31, 201 4.

D. Roster of Pare nting Coordinators

Each judicial circuit s hall establish and mainta in a ro ster of parenting

co ord i nat or s from whic h t he court may appoint a qualified pare nting coordinator.

Chief judges or their designee(s) shall not institute a dditional requirements to be on

a cir cuit’s ro ster other than those listed in section 61.125, Florida Statutes, and this

administrative order.

E. Application Form

The standardized application form that shall be used by each jud ici a l circuit

for parenting coordinators who wish to apply to be qualif ied as a par enting

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coordinator by the chief judge of the judicial circuit is a ttac hed to this

administrativ e order.

The responsibility for the implementa tio n a nd qua lif ic a ti on pr oc ed ure s an d

use of the f orm conta ine d in th is a dm ini st r ati ve order, as w ell a s the attached

Parenting Coordination Training Standards

, are her eby adopted, incorporated

here in by reference, and shall be effective upo n the signi ng of this order.

DONE AND ORDERED at Tallaha sse e, Flo ri da, on November 14, 2014.

________________________

Jorge Labarga, Chie f Ju stic e

ATTEST:

____________________________

John A. Tomasino, Clerk of Court

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Parenting Coordination Training Standards

In order to attain the goa l of en suring a high level of prof icie ncy in the

perf or mance of pare n ti ng co or di na tor s, the fol low in g tra in in g standards have

been developed. T hese s tandards c on ta in tw o compone nts, th e first is h ow

the training should be conducted and the seco nd are the learning objectives.

PART I

TRAINING PROCEDURES

1. Training paramete rs (length of c omple te tr aining program re quired

is at least 2 8 hours which cover the modules as described below, span of

training program, breaks for participants, st udent-facu lty r atio)

(a) Length of Training.

(1) The total amoun t of instruc tion required for a c omplete parent

co ord i nat ion tr a in ing shall be 28 h our s of par en ti ng co or dinatio n

trainin g, including four hours of domestic violence training.

A minimum of 24 instructional hours shall be dedicate d to par enting

coordination conce pts and ethics, fa mily systems theor y and

application, fa mily dy namics in sepa ration and div orce, child and

adolescent development, the parenting coordination proc ess,

parenting coordination tech niques and F lorida family law and

procedure . A minimum of four hours of instruc tion on domestic

violenc e relating to the parenting coordination proc ess shall be

offe r ed in ad di ti on to a nd a s a compliment to the 24 hour paren t

co ord i nat ion tr a in ing.

(2) An instructional hour is defined as 50 minutes.

(b) Tr ain ers sh o ul d pro vi de appr o pri ate bre a ks duri ng the ir tra in in g

sessions which shoul d be in additio n to the number of required hours for

training.

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2. Training methodology (le cture, group discussion, writ ten exe rcises

including development of a parenting plan, parenting coordination

simulations and role plays)

(a) Pedagogy. A complete par e nt ing c oor din a ti on traini ng pr og ra m

should include, but i s not limited to, the f ollowing: lec ture, group

discussion, written e xercises, simulations and role plays. In addit ion,

rea din g s sho uld be pr ov ide d by the trai ner to su pple ment the tr a ini n g.

(b) Role Play Requirements.

(1) At a minimum, every part icipant should parti cipate in a role

play of a parenting coordination session for no less than 50 minutes.

The role play should be practical in time and scope.

(2) At the conclusion of each role play, time shou ld be a lloca ted for

oral or written feedback to the partic ipants.

parenting pl an based upon a fact pattern and mater ial presented in the

course. Prior to the c onclusion of t he tra in in g, course par tic i pan ts

should re ceive fe edback either individually or via group discussion of

the written exercise s.

(d) Simulation. A c omplete pare nting coordin ation tra ining should

present a role play simulation of a parenti ng coordination session (either

live or by video) prior to the participant’s role play expe rie nce.

(e) Ethics.

(1) A complete parenting coor dination training progr am should

review pa ren ting coordination ethics for at lea st two hours which

should include applicati on of Rules f or Qualified and Court

App oi n ted Pa re nt in g Co ord i nat or s.

(2) In ad dition, parenting coordinator ethics shou ld be woven

thr o ugh ou t the pr ogr a m.

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3. Primary t rainer q ualifications

(a) Primary Trainer. A primary trainer shoul d demonstrate the following

qualifications:

(1) Par ent Coordination Training Received: Succe ssful completi on

of a c omplete pa re nt i ng c o or dina ti on tr a ini ng th at is the eq uivale nt

of a parenting coordination training taught in accordanc e with

Florida standards for a comple te parenti n g coor di na ti on traini ng.

(2) Par ent Coordinator Qualificatio ns: Be a qualified parenting

coordinator in accordance w ith section 61.125, Fl orida Stat utes, be

licensed as a mental healt h prof essional und er chapte r 490 or cha pter

491 or be licensed as a physician under chapter 458, with

cer tification by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neur ology or

be a member in good standing of The F lorida Bar .

(3) Par ent Coordination Experienc e: Participation in a minimum of

five paren t coor dination case s, of at least six months duration, wit h a

minimum of two active cases within the last two yea rs.

(4) Continuing Education: A parenting coordination trainer should

complete a sufficient amount of continuing educ ation in order to be

curr ent with rules, statutes an d research applicable t o parenting

coordination.

(b) A primary trainer should be present throughout the entire cour se.

4. Use of guest lecturers (such as attorneys, judges, mediators, ment al

health professionals, and guardians ad litem, including qualifications of

presenters)

(a) A guest lectur er should have a s ubstantial part of his or he r

professio nal practice in the a rea about wh ich the spec ialist is lecturing

and should have the ability to co nnec t his or her area of expertise with

the par e n tin g coor di n ation process.

(b) Lectures on Florida family law should be presented by a member of

The Florida B a r with family law e xperience .

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adolescent de velopment should be presented by a mental hea lt h

professionals licensed pursuant to chapters 490, 491, 458, Florida

Statutes.

5. Completion of traini ng and evaluation of students

(a) Participants should complete the 28 hour parenting coordination

trainin g requirement by physically attending one entire live training

program.

(b) The primary trainer is responsible for e nsuring that the integrity of

eac h portion of the program is not compromised.

written documentation of c omplet i on to pa rti c ipa nt s wh o successf ul ly

complete the pro gra m .

6. Records reten t ion policy

The primary trainer shou ld be responsible for maintaining recor ds of

those who comple ted the program for no l ess than f ive years.

7. Program evaluati on

At the c ompletion of the course, e ach parti c ipant shou ld complete a

co urse e va l uat ion w h ich s ho ul d be revie w e d by the trai ner as part of qu al ity

assurance.

8. Course content requirements

(a) Learning O bjec tives. A complete parentin g coordination tra ining

shoul d incorpor a te the learning objectives co ntained in Part II.

(b) Require d Tra ining Materials. At a minimum, tr ainers sh ould provide

eac h of the participants with the fol lowin g written ma terials:

(1) An agenda annotated with the lear ning objectives to be covered

in eac h sec ti o n;

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(2) Tr ain ers sh o ul d pro vi de a tr ai nin g m a nual t hat i ncl u des t he

fol l owi ng re qui r ed re a din gs in t heir curr e nt forms:

(A) Sec t ion 61.125, Florida Statutes;

(B) Section 61.13001, Florida Statutes;

(D) Sec t ion 39.201-206, Florida Statutes;

(E) Section 415.1034, Florida Statutes;

(F) Any Florida Family Law Rule of Procedure currently

identified as 12.74 2;

(G) All appr oved Florida Family Law Forms relevant to

parenting coordination;

(H) An exercise for cr e ating or modif ying a pare nting pl a n or

inte r ve nt i on str ate gy ;

(I) Role play simulation mater ials;

(J) Rules for Qualified and Court Appointed Parenting

Coordinators; and

(K) Most recent Parenting Coordinator Qualifications

Administra tive Or der adopted by the chief justice.

(3) Require d Reading s. Time spent on re ading re quire d materials

should not count toward the required number of hours of training.

Trainers should incorpor ate some method of ensuring that the

require d readings are completed.

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