PSYCHOLOGISTS RATINGS OF THE BEST-INTERESTS-OF-THE-CHILD CUSTODY AND ACCESS CRITERION - A FAMILY SYSTEMS ASSESSMENT MODEL

Custody and access assessment is a complex, litigious, and ethically c hallenging area of clinical practice. Eighty-eight qualified psycholog ists completed an exploratory survey, the Best Interests of the Child Questionnaire (BICQ), by rating the importance of 60 specific criteria in three areas of assessment relevant to custody and access evaluatio ns: (a) structural (relational assessment), (b) developmental (needs-o f-the-child assessment), and (c) functional (abilities-of-the-parents assessment). The value of the BIC assessment model, developed through this study, is explored as a framework for advancing practice in custo dy and access assessment.