How to Become a Child Custody Evaluator

You've probably seen a divorce up close, maybe your own, a friend's, or a client's, and wondered who tells the judge what's best for the kids. In many custody disputes, that person is a court-appointed evaluator. Becoming one usually takes four steps. First, earn a graduate degree and a state license in a mental health profession. Second, complete the custody-specific training your state requires. Third, learn the professional guidelines courts expect you to follow. Fourth, if you want, add a private certification. Here's what each step involves and what the work pays.

What the job actually is

A child custody evaluator is a forensic role. You work for the court's decision, not for either parent. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics describes forensic psychologists as working with judges, attorneys and related specialists on the psychological aspects of legal cases. Custody evaluation is one version of that work.

The American Psychological Association's Guidelines for Child Custody Evaluations in Family Law Proceedings set the scope. They cover disputes over three things:

• Decision-making: who decides matters such as schooling and medical care.
• Caretaking: who looks after the child day to day.
• Access: how much time the child spends with each parent.

The guidelines exclude child protection evaluations, which are a separate kind of work.

California's court rules show what the job demands in practice. The required training includes these topics:

• children's psychological and developmental needs
• assessing parenting capacity
• neutrality and objectivity
• report writing
• mandatory reporting
• court testimony
• ethics

Because the role sits inside a legal process, each step below is about proving to a court that you are qualified to do it.

Step 1: Earn a graduate degree and a mental health license

The foundation is a clinical license. A bachelor's degree is not enough for court-appointed work in the states that set clear rules.

- California: Under California Rules of Court, rule 5.225, a court-appointed evaluator must hold one of these licenses: - physician who is a board-certified psychiatrist or has completed a psychiatry residency - psychologist - marriage and family therapist - clinical social worker - professional clinical counselor - Texas: Senate Bill 820 (2015) raised the minimum education for custody evaluators. The old minimum was a bachelor's degree plus a human-services license. The new minimum is a master's degree, according to the Legislature's bill analysis. - New York: The state's Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence says court-ordered forensic custody evaluations must be done by a New York-licensed psychologist, social worker or psychiatrist who is certified as a Forensic Custody Evaluator.

If you plan to become a psychologist, BLS notes that most psychologists need at least a master's degree and many need a doctorate. Every state and the District of Columbia requires a license for independent practice. In practice, the path runs through graduate school, supervised clinical hours and licensure before you write your first custody report.

Step 2: Complete your state's custody-specific training

A license alone often isn't enough. Many states add training requirements on top of it, and the details vary a lot.

California is a well-documented example. Rule 5.225, which implements Family Code section 3110.5, sets three requirements:

• 40 hours of initial training. You must complete this before your first appointment. It must cover the topics the rule lists, from child development and parenting capacity to testimony and ethics.
• 8 hours of update training. You need this to stay eligible. Private evaluators must complete it within the 12 months before they are appointed to a case.
• Domestic violence training. You must also meet the separate domestic violence requirements in rule 5.230.

New York's certification requirement is another model. Texas regulates evaluators through its Family Code. Before you take a case, read your own state's statute and court rules, and check with the family courts where you plan to practice. Requirements change, and local courts may keep their own lists of approved evaluators.

Step 3: Learn the professional guidelines

Courts and opposing attorneys will judge your work against published standards. These are the main documents to know.

• AFCC Model Standards of Practice for Child Custody Evaluation (2006). The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts published these standards. Later, AFCC appointed a task force to revise them.
• AFCC Guidelines for Parenting Plan Evaluations in Family Law Cases (2022). This is the task force's output. The AFCC Board approved it on May 11, 2022. The new title reflects the field's shift from "custody" toward "parenting plans."
• AFCC Guidelines for Examining Intimate Partner Violence (2016). This is a supplement to the Model Standards. Allegations of partner violence are among the hardest issues an evaluator faces, so it is worth studying closely.
• APA Guidelines for Child Custody Evaluations in Family Law Proceedings. The APA adopted the current version as policy in February 2022, after revision by a working group chaired by Helen T. Brantley.
• Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology. The APA Council adopted these on August 3, 2011. They were published in American Psychologist in 2013 (volume 68, issue 1, pages 7–19) and replaced the 1991 version. According to the American Psychology-Law Society, APA extended the current guidelines through December 31, 2026. Check AP-LS for any revision or further extension.

These documents are guidelines, not laws. They are generally treated as aspirational rather than binding. Even so, an evaluator who can't explain how their methods line up with them will have a hard time in cross-examination.

Step 4 (optional): Add a private certification

Some evaluators add a credential from the National Board of Forensic Evaluators (NBFE), a private certifying body. Its Certified Child Custody Evaluator (CCCE) credential is not a government license. NBFE's pages do not say any state requires it. Treat it as a résumé addition, not as a substitute for your state's rules.

NBFE builds the CCCE on top of its base credential:

1. Earn the CFMHE first. The Certified Forensic Mental Health Evaluator credential requires a current mental health license that you have held for at least one full year in the state where you practice. 2. Complete the CCCE coursework. NBFE's CCCE page lists: - a 5-hour CCCE home study ($75) and its post-test - an 8-hour on-demand Child Custody Evaluation Certification Workshop ($200) - a 7-hour on-demand webinar, "The Forensic Evaluator's Guide to Parental Reunification" ($80) 3. Submit NBFE's Specialty Credential Examination Request Form.

The listed course fees add up to $355. The CCCE renews automatically when your CFMHE renews, and NBFE lists no separate renewal fee. NBFE's own pages have shown different figures for the home study, so confirm current hours and prices with NBFE before you enroll.

Where to get training

Your state's rules decide which training counts. Some options in the field:

• AFCC courses. AFCC has run a 24-hour online course, "The Fundamentals of Conducting Child Custody Evaluations." It was offered in March 2022, so check AFCC for current dates.
• Practitioner texts. Philip M. Stahl, listed with Forensic Programs at Steve Frankel Group, LLC, wrote Conducting Child Custody Evaluations: From Basic to Complex Issues (SAGE, 2010). It walks through the work from routine cases to difficult ones.

Before paying for any course, confirm that it meets your state's requirements, such as California's 40-hour topic list. Also confirm that your licensing board accepts it for continuing education.

What the work pays

No federal data series tracks custody evaluators on their own. The closest benchmark is psychologists in general. BLS reports a median pay of $99,110 per year ($47.65 per hour) for psychologists in 2025. Custody evaluators come from several licensed professions and include both private practitioners and court employees. That means individual earnings will vary with your license, location, caseload and fee structure. Salary figures far below that benchmark, such as estimates in the $40,000s and $50,000s, don't match the master's-level or higher licensing that states require.

The path, in short

1. Earn a graduate degree in psychology, social work, counseling, marriage and family therapy, or medicine with a psychiatry track.
2. Get licensed in your state and build clinical experience.
3. Complete your state's custody-evaluator training, such as California's 40 hours plus domestic violence training. Keep it current with update hours.
4. Study the AFCC, APA and forensic psychology guidelines until you can defend your methods under oath.
5. If you want, add a private credential such as NBFE's CCCE, knowing it supplements your state's requirements rather than replacing them.

Sources (18)

• National Board of Forensic Evaluators, CCCE requirements: nbfe.net
• National Board of Forensic Evaluators, Certification Requirements: nbfe.net
• National Board of Forensic Evaluators, CFMHE Certification Requirements: nbfe.net
• California Rules of Court, rule 5.225: courts.ca.gov
• Texas Legislative Reference Library, S.B. 820 bill analysis (2015): lrl.texas.gov
• Texas Legislative Reference Library, S.B. 820 bill analysis (introduced): lrl.texas.gov
• New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence: opdv.ny.gov
• AFCC Practice Guidelines: afccnet.org
• AFCC, Guidelines for Parenting Plan Evaluations in Family Law Cases (2022): afccnet.org for Parenting Plan Evaluations in Family Law.pdf
• AFCC Task Force for the Revisions of the Model Standards: afccnet.org
• AFCC, Guidelines for Examining Intimate Partner Violence (2016): niwaplibrary.wcl.american.edu
• APA, Guidelines for Child Custody Evaluations in Family Law Proceedings (2022): infocop.es
• Infocop, on the APA custody guidelines: infocop.es
• American Psychology-Law Society, Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology: ap-ls.org
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Psychologists: bls.gov
• SAGE, Philip M. Stahl author page: collegepublishing.sagepub.com
• SAGE, Conducting Child Custody Evaluations: collegepublishing.sagepub.com
• AFCC, March 2022 custody evaluation training: afccnet.org