Child Custody and Three Case Studies of Mortality: When Child Custody Litigation Should Involve Risk Assessment

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This article presents three case studies; two cases involving suicide of a parent during or shortly after custody litigation and one case of an infant death. Common themes of mental illness and substance abuse are identified, together with a legal and child‐protective system that failed to address documented and known risk factors that formed a nexus with the deaths. The importance of collaboration between the legal and mental health systems and in‐house mental health staff is stressed so that evidence‐based risk assessment can occur and reduce the mortality risk. The article concludes with a court's response to proactively identify risk factors and triage at‐risk litigants to appropriate treatment resources in the public and private mental/substance abuse treatment sectors.

Duty to protect in child custody evaluations
Beneficence and nonmaleficence: safeguarding the welfare and rights of persons
Risk assessment in child custody evaluations
Case studies of two adult suicides and one infant death during child custody litigation
Education and training for attorneys, judicial officers, guardians ad litem, mediators, parent coordinators, and mental health professionals in high‐risk child custody cases
Need to develop policy guidelines for a risk assessment model in child custody evaluations
Need to work collaboratively and systemically in a multidisciplinary manner during high‐risk cases