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 Our Custody Evaluation Expertise
 Brief Overview of Parenting Plans / Custody Evaluations
 Our Tiered Approach to Parenting Plan Consults & Custody Evals
 Frequently Asked Questions & Raised Concerns
 A Word On Cost, Our Unique Expertise, And Quality
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OUR CUSTODY EVALUATION EXPERTISE

FULL-SERVICE TESTING FACILITY & THE RIGHT KIND OF EVALUATORS (that is, combined CHILD & FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGISTS)
The breadth of specialty areas of our Associates makes us truly a full-service evaluation site. We can perform in-depth psychological testing, educational testing, substance abuse testing, etc. Thus regarding just about any issue raised in a custody case, we have experts who can address the issue. Having such a broad range of experts in-house allows the evaluation process to flow smoothly, and results in a comprehensive custody evaluation service.

It would surprise many attorneys and parents to learn that the forensic expert doing your custody evaluation is not a child psychologist, or that the child psychologist doing your custody evaluation has no forensic training, yet that is often the case. The majority of psychology degree programs teach adult psychology, and one must choose to add a child psychology track and/or seek out being trained as a child psychologist in practicum, internship and post doc training experiences. So the vast majority of psychologists graduate educated and trained only in adult psychology. One possible screening question would be to ask if the psychologist currently or has ever done play therapy with pre-teen children as a regular part of their practice. Generally the answer would be no because it would be unethical to do so since children are outside of their area of expertise. Forensic training is just as rare, and one must again seek out coursework and training experiences in forensic psychology. A simple question about forensic training can elicit this information.

At Lepage Associates, we believe that (1) if you are going to be evaluating what is in the best interests of children, you ought to be a child psychologist, and (2) if you are going to be providing evaluations for the court, you ought to be trained in forensic evaluation. All of our lead evaluators meet these important standards.

Expertise of Dr. Tina Lepage:

Dr. Lepage is a Licensed Psychologist and has worked as a Court Psychologist in family law cases, employed previously by two Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts before starting Lepage Associates. In addition to a Doctorate and a Master's in clinical psychology in which she studied both child and forensic psychology, Dr. Lepage also holds a Bachelor of Science in child development and family relationships. This is an ideal combination. From the very beginning of her career, Dr. Lepage has been focusing on families. When working on custody evaluations the breadth and depth of her expertise is bolstered by her undergraduate in child development and family relationships. She brings the expertise of keenly understanding the unique developmental needs from birth through the teen years, and understanding the dynamics of family relationships.

Dr. Lepage completed both her clinical master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation in the area of assessing the best interests of the child in custody evaluations. In her master’s thesis, she reviewed the statutory criteria of all 50 states for determining the best interests of the child, and then cross-referenced these criteria with the clinical literature on the psychosocial needs of children. Thus Dr. Lepage is well prepared to address the factors the court may be most likely to focus on and view as important, while also including and bringing focus to other important developmental needs that may not be addressed in the statutory criteria. Building on this, in her dissertation she reviewed the methods and measures typically used in custody evaluations, analyzing how well these are actually able to assess the psychosocial needs of the child, the parents’ abilities to meet those needs, and parenting skills in general. Thus Dr. Lepage is very knowledgeable regarding what methods and measures are best suited to provide information relevant to custody. She is also a certified Juvenile Forensic Evaluator, trained by the University of Virginia Institute of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policy, a premier nationally recognized training institute for forensics. Having completed the Parent Coordinator (PC) Training by the Center for Cooperative Parenting in Chapel Hill, Dr. Lepage is certified to act as a PC in NC family law cases.

In her clinical practice, Dr. Lepage has a special interest in working with children and teenagers dealing with divorce or marital conflict in the family, and also works with their parents to help lessen conflict and minimize the impact of the divorce process on the child. She applies this broad knowledge with continuing research of divorce, marital conflict, and developmental concerns to her clinical and evaluation cases. Because her clinical interests focus on divorce, marital conflict, and parenting issues, Dr. Lepage is in a unique position to help families make the best decision about custody and visitation for their particular family situation.

Expertise of Dr. Gina LaFrazza:

Dr. Gina LaFrazza has experience with custody and substance abuse evaluations for families involved with the court system and/or social services, and has testified as an expert witness. Dr. LaFrazza has many years of experience conducting comprehensive psychological assessments in a variety of areas. She has specialized experience assessing psychiatric disorders and has a large depth of knowledge from which to draw when working on difficult, complex cases that involve a great deal of diagnostic clarification. In addition to her doctorate in Clinical Psychology, Dr. LaFrazza also has a Master’s in Education, and has worked with students and teachers as early as kindergarten. Her additional background in education includes a wide range of experiences that enhance the breadth and depth of her understanding of children. Continuing her interest in children into her doctorate and following her interest in becoming a forensic expert, she completed her post doc year in a combined Child Psychology & Forensic Psychology training program.

She has worked with clients across the lifespan and has experience working with both children and adults involved in custody disputes. Dr. LaFrazza also works with couples on a range of issues, including those who are contemplating or seeking divorce. To this end, she can work with parents to create effective co-parenting arrangements and on how to talk about divorce with children in an appropriate and adaptive way. Additionally, Dr. LaFrazza has worked in the academic arena and has provided psychoeducational assessments across the academic spectrum, to include special needs in children and teenagers such as learning disabilities, AD/HD, autism and giftedness. As a child psychologist Dr. LaFrazza provides play therapy and talk therapy to children of all ages, as well as family therapy and parent coaching.

In addition to child custody and parental capacity, examples of her broader work as a forensic expert include evaluations for: mental status assessment, substance abuse assessment, immigration and adoption issues, disability, and risk assessments. Forensic work is a passion for Dr. LaFrazza and she is regularly adding to the breadth of evaluations she provides.

Expertise of Dr. Katy Sampson:

Dr. Katy Sampson is a Licensed Psychologist who is experienced conducting custody evaluations and has testified in court as an expert witness. In addition to her forensic evaluation work providing custody evaluations for private clients, she also has specialized experience in conducing psychological evaluations for families involved with social services as a means to determine appropriate custody arrangements, child placement, and social service interventions.

Dr. Sampson’s training and experience have included several years as a child psychologist and family therapist. Her work has included being a therapist for children, teens, and families via in-home services and private practice settings, as well as providing comprehensive psychological and substance abuse evaluations to adults, children and teenagers. She is well-educated in child development, and keenly aware of how family dynamics and parent functioning impact the child. Dr. Sampson has extensive experience in working with parents to create effective co-parenting plans that help keep children protected, and enhance communication between parenting partners.

In addition to child custody and parental capacity, examples of her broader work as a forensic expert include evaluations for: mental status assessment, fitness for duty/return to work, legal decision making and financial capacity assessment, substance abuse assessment, immigration and adoption issues, and risk assessments.

Expertise of Dr. Colleen Hamilton:

Dr. Colleen Hamilton is a Licensed Psychologist and holds a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology with training focused on work with children, adolescents, and families. She has several years of experience working as a child psychologist, and has testified as an expert witness in family court. Dr. Hamilton is a child specialist with in-depth experience assessing children of all ages; through direct observation and/or parent descriptions of very young children, and testing with preschool children and older, she assesses children ages birth through 18. Dr. Hamilton is one of few child psychologists specialized in the birth to preschool years as well as K-12 children. She has extensive experience conducting comprehensive psychological and behavioral assessments, trauma assessments, and educational evaluations of children, teens, and adults, and has provided court-ordered therapeutic supervised visitation and reunification coordination for families. In addition to evaluations she provides play therapy to children, therapy for adolescents, and family therapy, as well as parent coaching. From the very beginning of her career, Dr. Hamilton has been focusing on children and families. The impressive breadth and depth of her understanding of child and adolescent development, combined with her understanding of family and individual dynamics, allows her to holistically view the custody situation and the uniqueness of each family.

Expertise of Additional Team Members:

Dr. Nicole Imbraguglio has provided psychological evaluations for adults and children involved in custody disputes, and has testified as an expert witness in court. She has extensive experience in conducting psychoeducational evaluations across the academic spectrum, to include evaluating for learning disabilities and AD/HD as well as gifted children and adolescents. She also has unique experience in the ability to provide non-verbal intelligence tests. She is an excellent resource when school issues are raised and need to be evaluated and addressed. Dr. Imbraguglio provides counseling and evaluation services to individuals of all ages, having worked with children from the age of three through adults into their 60s. She has a special interest in therapy with children dealing with divorce or marital conflict in the family, and also works with their parents to help lessen conflict and minimize the impact of the divorce process on the child.

Dr. Jonathan Ross is an expert in evaluating for autism spectrum disorders, with nearly 20 years of experience. If questions of diagnosis or treatment of Autistic Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, or other Pervasive Developmental Disorders arise, Dr. Ross is an excellent resource.

Dr. Ashley Freeman has conducted psychological evaluations for use in custody cases. She is skilled at diagnostic interviewing with both children and adults and writing integrated assessments reports for all age groups and settings. Dr. Freeman has completed numerous emotional/personality test batteries for the purpose of diagnosis as well as treatment planning. She also has experience assessing intelligence, memory, achievement, developmental issues, learning issues/disorders, and attentional problems (AD/HD, ‘ADD’) with clients ranging in age from five to 89. Examples of her broader work as a forensic expert include mental status assessment, disability assessment, and immigration and adoption issues.

Dr. Kevin Metz has experience providing psychological evaluations to both children and adults. He has been trained in and has extensive experience with regards to diagnostic interviewing in order to provide an accurate and comprehensive assessment of a client’s symptom picture and thus make informed recommendations. Dr. Metz specializes in substance abuse assessments, and is a great resource in evaluating to what extent substances are impacting daily functioning.

Colette Segalla is a former educator with substantial training and experience testing children for possible Learning Disabilities (LD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD, ‘ADD’). She also has extensive experience assessing and working with delinquent behavior in adolescents. In addition, Colette is experienced in full psychological testing for children, adolescents and adults to assess possible mental health disorders, maladjustment, or difficult behavior.

Dr. Janet Savia is a health psychology specialist with extensive experience in conducting behavioral/psychological evaluations with chronically ill patients. She is an excellent resource to assess for psychosocial factors that may support or interfere with a chronically ill person’s course of treatment. When a child or adult involved in the custody case is chronically ill, she is expert in identifying both strengths (social support, healthy self- image, and capacity for insight) and potential risk factors (substance abuse, compliance issues, and serious psychopathology) that may support or interfere with one’s life. In addition Dr. Savia provides general psychological and psychoeducational evaluations for adults.

Dr. Rhonda Karg is a specialist in substance abuse evaluations and treatment. She works full-time as a research psychologist, researching the effectiveness of substance abuse assessment tools and of substance abuse treatment programs, and works part-time as a clinician at Lepage Associates. She is an excellent resource when substance abuse is raised as an issue and needs to be evaluated and addressed.

Related Clinical Experience of the Lepage Associates Team:

Within our specialty area of children, adolescents, and families, we have experience in both therapy and evaluation with children and adolescents with a variety of common childhood and teen issues such as AD/HD, LD, behavior problems, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder, substance use, social problems, body image concerns, Asperger's, depression, bi-polar, anxiety, dealing with divorce, and family and school difficulties. Our experience extends to working with parents and families as well, on parenting issues, family dynamics, and helping parents and family members to support the child or teen experiencing difficulties. This broad clinical experience allows us to speak to various facets of custody decisions, such as how different custody arrangements might affect a child with AD/HD, LD, or other special or unique educational needs, or whether certain custody arrangements might elicit, exacerbate, or reduce depression or anxiety in a child. In addition, we have experience in both therapy and evaluation with adults and can speak to how a parent’s mental health may affect the parent-child relationship and parenting abilities.

We stay abreast of the most recent research data as it applies to custody considerations. We stay current on all literature related to parenting plan schedules and the pros and cons of various schedules for various age groups..

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF PARENTING PLANS / CUSTODY EVALUATIONS

. To determine the best interests of the child and a good fit for the family.
. Can be used informally by parents to aid in their amicable decisions regarding
  custody and visitation.
. Can be used in court proceedings.

PARENTING PLANS

We provide assistance to help parties reach decisions on the various issues involved in parenting plans and custody arrangements. We can assist you with the parenting plan, that is, making decisions about arrangements as to where the child will live, visitation, etc., by working with you in making informed decisions based on the best interests of the child and the unique needs of your family. We will give you our verbal expert opinion as to arrangements that might work best based on our knowledge of your child and family; however, of course you make the final decisions that are then written into the divorce or separation agreement.

CUSTODY & VISITATION EVALUATIONS

Some couples decide that they want an evaluation to help determine what is in the best interests of the child with regard to the parenting plan. Psychologists who are knowledgeable in the areas of child development, family relationships, and custody can be very helpful to parents in deciding what might be the best parenting plan for their child. An evaluation does not have to be a lengthy, expensive, or adversarial process. Lepage Associates offers various types of evaluations in our tiered approach, designed to meet various information needs and cost parameters of each family. The evaluator looks at the child’s psychosocial needs, which are related to developmental age and the unique personality and temperament of the child, then looks at each parent’s strengths in meeting that child’s needs and at the unique needs of the family as a whole, and also takes into account how well the social environments of each parent (school, neighborhood, social supports, community, etc.) meet the current needs of the child. Lastly the evaluator factors in empirical data on psychosocial needs and on various custody and visitation arrangements at different ages. With that the evaluator generates an opinion as to what would likely be the best custody and visitation arrangement possibilities at this time. The evaluator provides a wealth of information and a professional opinion, but does not make the final decision. The parents utilize the expert opinion provided by the evaluator and make the final decision, and the parenting plan agreement is written into the divorce or separation agreement. If the parents cannot come to an agreement, the written report can be used in court, where the judge will make the decision. We will also be deposed by both lawyers should the case proceed to court, and will appear in court if necessary. (We encourage people to utilize the information to come to their own agreement whenever possible.)

TIERED APPROACH TO PARENTING PLAN
CONSULTS AND CUSTODY EVALUATIONS

Our unique, tiered approach meets the information and cost needs of every family.

PARENTING PLAN CONSULTS