JANUARY 2019 | WINTER NEWSLETTER AFCC MARYLAND CHAPTER About Us The Maryland Chapter of the AFCC brings together the state's diverse, multidisciplinary professionals with family law and family justice system issues, including: judicial officers, attorneys, court administrators, service providers, psychologists, social workers, mediators, educators, researchers, academics, and students among others. The Maryland chapter focuses on developing leadership and creating an interdisciplinary forum for communication, collaboration, education and innovation. 56TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN TORONTO! UPCOMING WEBINARS What's in this newsletter:
Transcript
J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 9 | W I N T E R N E W S L E T T E R
AFCC MARYLAND CHAPTER
About UsThe Maryland Chapter of the AFCC brings together the state's
diverse, multidisciplinary professionals with family law and family
justice system issues, including: judicial officers, attorneys, court
administrators, service providers, psychologists, social workers,
mediators, educators, researchers, academics, and students
among others. The Maryland chapter focuses on developing
leadership and creating an interdisciplinary forum for
communication, collaboration, education and innovation.
56TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN TORONTO! UPCOMING WEBINARS
What's in this newsletter:
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
First, the Board early on dedicated its reach to all of Maryland, not just high-density areas such as Montgomery and Prince Georges counties. The Board also determined that to be the most relevant to the most members it must establish a grassroots’ organizing mechanism that will allow the Chapter to set goals and priorities according to the needs and interests of the membership. To reach these goals, the Board piloted its Ambassador Program which provides concrete and realistic opportunities for statewide participation in our Chapter’s educational programs. This is how it works: The chapter strives to appoint two ambassadors from each of the judicial circuits who will convene a circuit committee consisting of AFCC members within the same circuit. Ideally each committee will include at least one member from each county or region of that circuit and include members from multiple disciplines. Ambassadors will conduct circuit-wide educational events and host discussions that will not only promote collaboration, education and innovation all over the state, but will give those who attend these events an individual and collective voice on the same subjects. This feedback and data will be synthesized and submitted by the Ambassador Board to the Maryland Chapter Board of Directors for consideration when setting goals and priorities for the Chapter. To date, we sponsored an educational event in Hagerstown for the 4th judicial circuit. Continue reading the newsletter for a testimonial on that particular roadshow from the 4th circuit Ambassador, Brian Kane.
Happy New Year! As we bring in the year 2019, we also bring in the 5th year of the Maryland Chapter of AFCC. It is hard to believe. Time has marched on, as it always does no matter how many times the sky falls, and lo and behold -- we find ourselves part of a real live, earnest non-profit organization that seeks to serve all Maryland family law professionals of every stripe, and, most importantly, all Maryland families of separation and divorce.
At this five-year mark, then, I thought it would make sense to take stock of what we have accomplished these first foundational years. Let me outline the few key policy decisions that have driven the development of the Chapter’s organizational and operational structure:
PRESIDENT
Next, recognizing that most members and other family law professionals cannot attend the AFCC National Conference, we decided to incorporate its themes in our annual educational seminar. For example, last year the National AFCC Conference theme was “Compassionate Family Court Systems: The Role of Trauma-Informed Jurisprudence.” Taking our cues from there, our annual educational seminar and subsequent roadshows focused on the most severe, under-identified and underreported form of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and its Impact on Children. The Maryland Chapter put on an amazing cutting-edge program led by nationally recognized and regional experts: “Coercive Control: A Multidisciplinary Skills-Based Training for Judges, Family Court Administrators, Lawyers and Mental Health Professionals”. The program’s specific focus was the little known and under-researched topic of the impact on children who live in coercive controlling environments. We were able to have with us the creators of SAFeR, a systematic approach to decision making in IPV-related family law matters, who presented on their highly regarded system-wide approach to screening, assessing and responding to Intimate Partner Violence. Third, the Board set the ever-important goal of working on Access to Justice (A2J) issues for all families in the state of Maryland. We have had preliminary interviews with people involved in A2J in Maryland and have established a starting point whereby the Maryland Chapter can survey best practices and encourage wider acceptance of the use of social science literature in family law disputes in Maryland. We acknowledge that many novel and innovative family interventions or practices encouraged by the literature are not currently available to families who do not have the resources to pay for attorneys or experts necessary to implement best practices in family law cases. Ironically, many innovations can be cost effective in the long run, since traditional litigation and court settlements do not often address the dynamics in these families, which cause the greatest concerns. Therefore, these families continually use the court system to resolve ongoing issues in a piece-meal fashion. This ultimately results in more cost, more time, more anxiety and conflict in these families and can contribute to negative outcomes for everyone. It is my intention to focus more closely on this issue in 2019. It is my hope that these initiatives will help the members of the Maryland Chapter of the AFCC achieve the founding goals of the AFCC by incorporating into our practices an interdisciplinary, collaborative approach to solving the very difficult problems facing our clients. And I hope that the Ambassador program will allow direct participation by a large number of our members, to ultimately bring about meaningful changes to Maryland’s domestic law policies, procedures, laws and societal outlooks. Much remains to be done. With your individual help and commitment, I am certain we will make significant progress in the very near future.
Lin Delaney
AFCC EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBERSPRESIDENT Lin Delaney, JDPRESIDENT-ELECT Nolanda Kirby, MSVICE PRESIDENT Lynn E. Hawkins, JDSECRETARY Eden Terenzini, JDTREASURER Laura E. Burrows, JDBOARD MEMBER Amy Karlen, Ph.DBOARD MEMBER Christopher Lane, Ph.DBOARD MEMBER Cecilia Paizs, JDBOARD MEMBER Stanley Sack, Ph.DBOARD MEMBER Gina Santoro, Ph.DBOARD MEMBER Keith Schiszik, JDBOARD MEMBER Wendy Schwartz, JD
LET'S KEEP IN TOUCHEMAIL [email protected] (410)996-1157FAX (410) 996-5625ADDRESS AFCC-MD Chapter Cecil County Circuit Court 129 East Main Street Elkton, MD 21921
AFCC members from all over the world gathered in Washington, D.C. this past June for the 55th Annual Conference, Compassionate Family Court Systems: The Role of Trauma-Informed Jurisprudence, at the Washington Hilton Hotel. Judge Dan Michael, the plenary speaker on June 8th, shared his recommendations for making trauma-informed courthouses by implementing training for all staff, and reconstructing rooms to prevent triggering those suffering from trauma. His speech entitled "Trauma in the Trenches," focused on the necessity, process, and benefits of becoming a trauma informed court. The keynote speaker, Jaycee
Dugard, mesmerized the audience
with her strength and compassion,
despite having survived
unimaginable trauma from her
childhood abduction when she was
held captive for eighteen years.
In 1991, Jaycee Dugard was
kidnapped by two strangers from a
bus stop in her hometown of South
Lake Tahoe, California. She survived
years of physical and emotional
abuse at the hands of her assailants.
During her time as a hostage, she gave birth twice and raised the children in captivity, to the ages of eleven and fifteen before they were rescued. Jaycee was finally reunited with her mother and family in 2009. Jaycee is now the author of two New York Times best sellers, A Stolen Life: A Memoir (2011) and Freedom: My Book of Firsts (2016). She has since turned that horror into goodness through the JAYC Foundation, founded by Jaycee and her family in 2011, which provides assistance to families dealing with abduction and other trauma. The Foundation's message is "Just Ask Yourself to Care" and its mission is to help families that have suffered a familial or non-familial abduction or other trauma; to spread the message of compassion and awareness through educational programs; and to encourage the collaboration of various entities to provide protected spaces for families to heal.
The AFCC 56th Annual Conference, The Future of
Family Justice: International Innovations will be at the Westin Harbour Castle, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada,
May 29- June 1, 2019.
pa
st e
ve
nts
...
AFCC ROADSHOW SCHEDULE
2-3 HOUR CONFERENCES[ ]
4th Circuit Road Show
A L L E G A N Y | G A R R E T T | W A S H I N G T O N C O U N T I E S
On November 1, 2018, the AFCC Maryland Chapter brought its roadshow training for family law professionals to the 4th Judicial Circuit of Maryland with “Unbelievable Stories: Children’s Experience of Coercive Control” at the University System of Maryland – Hagerstown. Attendees, including trial and appellate judges, magistrates, family lawyers, child welfare lawyers, and clinicians, had the pleasure of a thought-provoking and at times heart-wrenching presentation by Lin Delaney, Dr. Katie Killeen, Dr. Paul Berman and Dr. Ruth Zitner. The event, co-sponsored by the Washington County Bar Association, provided a dynamic forum for discussions of the difficulties in uncovering, understanding, and eliciting narratives of coercive control through courtroom testimony; dealing with the effects of the skepticism with which such stories are often met with from family law and court professionals; the consequences of coercive control for children; and practical interventions for child-centered relief in court orders. Thanks to all of our AFCC MD presenters for riding circuit in Western Maryland!
Brian Kane4th Circuit Ambassador
YOU'RE INVITED TO AN AFCC MD CHAPTER NETWORKING
HAPPY HOURAPRIL 18 | 5-7 PM
AIDA BISTRO & WINE BAR6741 COLUMBIA GATEWAY DR
COLUMBIA, MD 21046
We hope to see you there!
UPCOMING WEBINARS
02/21/19: Parenting Coordination Guideline Revisions 03/19/19: Assisting Attorneys Behind the Scenes: Trial Consultation Basics 04/25/19: Set Another Place at the Grownups' Table: Child Participation in Family Disputes Resolution 05/07/19: Not Just Alienation: Resistance, Rejection, Reintegration, and Realities of Troubled Parent-Child Relationships 06/19: Negotiation Strategies for Family Law
TO REGISTER, VISIST: AFCCNET.ORG/CONFERENCES-TRAINING/WEBINARS
*Webinar archives are free to members
The 12th Annual Ann F. Matukaitis Family Law Symposium
Ways to improve Parent Communication after
separation and/or divorce
William A. Eddy, LCSW, JD.
Speaker: Topic:
Friday, April 26, 20198:30 AM-4:00 PMRichlin Ballroom
Edgewood, Maryland
14Maryland Lawyers Complete Parent
Coordination TrainingAlthough they have been permitted by the Maryland Rules for many years, Parenting Coordinators ("PC's") often suffer from a general misunderstanding of what they are, who they are, their purpose, the procedure to obtain and use them, and their overall value. Fourteen Maryland attorneys recently completed a 40-hour Parent Coordination training in Ellicott City on September 708 and 14-15, 2018, led by AFCC members, Magistrate Joanie Raymond, Esquire; Dr. Gina Santoro, Ph.D., NCSP, and Cecilia Paizs, Esquire. The AFCC published Guidelines for Parenting Coordination in May 2005. Parenting coordination is a child-focused alternative dispute resolution process in which a mental health or legal professional with mediation training and experience assists high conflict parents to implement their parenting plan by facilitating the resolution of their disputes in a timely manner, educating parents about children's needs, and with prior approval of the parties and/or the court, making decisions within the scope of the court order or appointment contract. Because the PC makes recommendations and/or decisions for the parties and possibly reports to the court, the PC should be appointed by and be responsible to the court. PC's are non-confidential, impartial individuals assigned by court order to assist with specified tasks for a specified period of time. All PC's are required to complete a minimum of 40 hours of training in addition to a minimum of 60 hours mediation skills training and have a minimum of three years family law experience. 9-207.2(c).
Many confuse parent coordination with family counseling or mediation. PC's have the authority to make these decisions, whereas mediators or counselors do not. MD. Rules, Rule 9-205.2(e). Also, unlike the confidential process involved in mediation and counseling, PC's have no duty of confidence to either party and can be called to testify at a hearing as an impartial witness to the parties' conflicts and decision-making ability. See 9-205.2(g). In Maryland, a PC may be assigned during the pendency of the action on motion of a party, on joint request of the parties, or on the court's own initiative and after notice and hearing. MD. Rules, Rule 9-205.2(f)(1). This means that Magistrates may order parent coordination for parties in contested divorce cases at the scheduling conference. Upon entry of a judgment granting or modifying custody or visitation, the court, with the consent of the parties and after a hearing, may appoint a parenting coordinator. MD. Rules, Rule 9-205.2(f)(2). The benefits of seeking a PC in your highly, contested custody cases include: 1) less expensive than a custody evaluation; 2) impartial referee to make decisions when the parties cannot get along; 3) can be called to testify at trial as a fact witness; and 4) can avoid unnecessary emergency hearings. Overall, PC's are an underutilized but extremely helpful and cost-effective option to resolve intractable problems in highly contested custody cases.
pa
st e
ve
nts
...
4th Annual Educational Event & Membership Meeting
On September 21, 2018, attorneys from all over Maryland joined a panel of distinguished practitioners for a day-long seminar to: enhance professional knowledge about coercive control and its impact on children; improve interviewing, counseling, pleading, and practice skills; and, enrich forensic investigations and reports to better analyze evidence related to claims and defenses of coercive control.
pa
st e
ve
nts
...
The event drew upon social science literature and professional expertise addressing common circumstances that make it hard for lawyers, evaluators, mediators, and judges to uncover and understand stories involving coercive control and its effects on children. The event focused on SAFeR, a framework for examining and responding to domestic abuse and coercive control, and how it can be used to uncover and understand families’ experiences of domestic violence. Attendees completed exercises that helped identify information gaps and implemented strategies to get as full and complete a story as possible while utilizing the tools and resources available to them. Finally, the event examined the parents’ narratives to the best interests of the child. The speakers and panelists provided practical tools to help attendees link parties’ experiences of domestic violence to pleading and practice, facilitating mediation, developing recommendations, and assessing a proposed parenting plan.
Event Re-Cap
Honorable Dianna Gould-SaltmanPresident of AFCC, Los Angeles, California
Loretta Frederick
Senior Legal and Policy Adviser, Battered Women’s Justice Project of
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Gabrielle Davis, Legal Police Adviser,
Battered Women’s Justice Project of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
featured speakers
Katherine Killeen, Ph.D.Lin Delaney, Esq.
Ruth Zitner, Psy.D Lisa Nitsch
Director of Training and Education House of Ruth, Maryland
Panelists
SAVE THE DATE
AFCC Maryland Chapter5th Annual
Educational EventSeptember 27, 2019
LOCATION/TIME/TOPIC TBD
MEMBERSHIPJOIN OUR EXCITING AND
INNOVATIVE ORGANIZATION
BENEFITSNATIONAL MEMBERSHIP:
$160.00
MARYLAND CHAPTER:
$35.00 FOR INDIVIDUAL/
FREE IF STUDENT
FREQUENT COLLABORATION AND NETWORKING WITH MULTIPLE DISCIPLINES
EDUCATIONAL EVENTS
PROMOTING THE RESOLUTION OF FAMILY CONFLICT THROUGHOUT
THE COMMUNITY
QUARTERLY INTERDISCIPLINARY
JOURNALS
ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL RESOURCES
COST
STAY UP TO
DATE WITH US
WEBSITE:
HTTP://AFCC-MD.ORG/
FACEBOOK:
FACEBOOK.COM/MDAFCC
VisionA justice system in which all professionals work collaboratively through education, support, and
access to services to achieve the best possible outcome for children and families.
MissionAFCC is an interdisciplinary, international
association of professionals dedicated to improving the lives of children and families through the
resolution of family conflict. AFCC promotes a collaborative approach to serving the needs of
children among those who work in and with family law systems, encouraging education, research and
innovation and identifying best practices.
ValuesCollaboration and respect among professions and
disciplinesLearning through inquiry, discussion and debate
Innovation in addressing the needs of families and children in conflict
Diversity in family structures and culturesEmpowering families to resolve conflict and make
