Child and Family Investigator Training Program CLE

Child and Family Investigator Training Program

May 2010

Child and Family Investigator Training Program

May 3, 4, 5, 10 and 11, 2010

Program Highlights

CFI Training

- Attendance is Limited! Register Today!

- Training designed and provided by professionals

- Highly interactive, participatory learning experience

Co-sponsored by the CBA Family Law Section, the Metropolitan Denver Interdisciplinary Committee, the Boulder Interdisciplinary Committee, the Colorado Chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, and the Office of the Child Representative.

Program Description

This 40-hour child and family investigator training program is designed to meet the training requirements for new CFI's as defined in Chief Justice Directive 04-08. Les Katz and Andrew Loizeaux of Katz & Loizeaux Forensic Services, LLC have developed a skills training program that presents both theoretical and practical information pertinent to the CFI role. Previous training programs have attracted new CFIs, experienced CFIs, and family law attorneys and counselors who work with CFIs.

What is a CFI?

Child and family investigators are Court appointed professionals who "investigate, report, and make recommendations" regarding the best interests of children in domestic relations cases when the children's parents or guardians have been unable to come to agreements themselves. The child and family investigator role is defined in C.R.S. 14-10-116.5 and the professional standards that clarify the role and the accountability of child and family investigators are detailed in Chief Justice Directive 04-08 (the Child and Family Investigator Standards).

Agenda

Please note: The program will run from 8:30 am until 5:00 pm all five days. There will be 2-3 breaks per day and an hour lunch on your own each day. Registration on May 3rd will begin at 8:00 am. A continental breakfast, mid-morning and mid-afternoon refreshment breaks will be provided each day.

Daily Agenda:

8:00 am - Registration & Continental Breakfast

8:30 am - Program begins

12:00 pm - Lunch on your own

1:00 pm - Afternoon program begins

5:00 pm - Program concludes each day

Day One - May 3: Overview of The CFI Role

- Overview of the CFI Role

- Best interests of the child

- Legal foundations

- Moving a case from start to finish

Day Two - May 4: Theory & Research: Families, Children and Divorce

- Attachment and child development

- Understanding parents and families

- Divorce research and resources

- Overnights and relocation

Day Three - May 5: CFI Skill Development

- Assessment of children and parent/child relationships

- Assessment of adults & Psychological testing in CFI investigations

- Assessment of families in family law matters

- Becoming a CFI & choosing and using a CFI

- Establishing a CFI practice

Day Four - May 10: High Conflict and Psychopathology

- Child abuse and abuse allegations

- Domestic violence and substance abuse

- High conflict and parent alienation

- Adult psychopathology and parenting

Day Five - May 11: Putting it all Together

- CFI standards

- Developing parenting plans

- Courts and expert testimony

- Developing an ethical CFI practice

Training Program Faculty

Les Katz, PsyD, is a licensed psychologist and a partner with Dr. Andrew Loizeaux in Katz & Loizeaux Forensic Services, LLC. He serves as a parental responsibilities evaluator, child and family investigator (CFI), and consultant to attorneys and other professionals. He has served on the Colorado Supreme Court Standing Committee on Family Issues, and the Colorado Psychological Association's Ethics Committee.

Andrew Loizeaux, PsyD, is a licensed psychologist and a partner with Dr. Les Katz in Katz & Loizeaux Forensic Services, LLC. He has performed over 250 forensic assessments over the past 20 years, and testified as an expert witness throughout Colorado. An engaging speaker, he frequently presents workshops and consults with a variety of legal, mental health, and educational organizations. Dr. Loizeaux serves as an evaluator, CFI, consultant to attorneys, and psychotherapist. He serves on the Colorado Psychological Association's Ethics Committee.

Katz & Loizeaux Staff:

Laura Hockman, PsyD joined Katz & Loizeaux in 2005 and provides child and family investigator services and collaborates on Parental Responsibility Evaluations. Dr. Hockman also provides psychological assessment services both on Katz & Loizeaux cases and as a consultant to other CFIs. Dr. Hockman is a licensed psychologist who also works in private practice, providing psychotherapy and assessment services. In addition, she is Adjunct Faculty at the University

of Denver's School of Professional Psychology, teaching and supervising on psychological testing.

Lee Hockman, PsyD, is a licensed psychologist and psychotherapist in private practice. He joined Katz & Loizeaux in 2003 and provides child and family investigator services and parental responsibility evaluations. Dr. Hockman has worked on a variety of cases at Katz & Loizeaux with particular skill at assessing family dynamics and parent/child relationships. Dr. Hockman is also Adjunct Faculty at the University of Denver's School of Professional Psychology.

Mary Hoefler, MS, LCSW received her Master of Science in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin in 1987, and has been licensed since 1993. She joined Katz and Loizeaux in 2008 as a child and family investigator and co-evaluator. She also serves as a liaison in the Emergency Department at the University of Colorado Hospital providing trauma and psychiatric consultation. Ms. Hoefler also maintains a private practice treating individuals and couples, with a specialty in addiction and dual diagnosis.

Kathryn Kilian, MA, LPC is a licensed professional counselor and psychotherapist in private practice. She joined Katz & Loizeaux in 2007. She serves as a child and family investigator, co-evaluator, and parenting coordinator. She is the specialist at Katz & Loizeaux in alcohol and substance abuse evaluations.

Stacy Nolan, PsyD is a licensed clinical psychologist and psychotherapist in private practice. She joined Katz & Loizeaux in 2006, where she collaborates on Child and Family Investigator services and Parental Responsibility Evaluations, and consults on issues related to young children and parent-child interactions. Dr. Nolan previously served on the faculty of the Irving Harris Program in Child Development and Infant Mental Health at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Attorney Faculty:

Steven B. Epstein, JD is a family law attorney and shareholder at Litvak, Litvak, Mehrtens and Epstein, P.C. Mr. Epstein presents often at workshops, and he and his group are renowned for presenting a Family Law case update on a regular basis to groups of Judges, family law attorneys and mental health professionals. Mr. Epstein was named a 'Colorado Super Lawyer" from 2006 to present.

Ronald D. Litvak, Esq. is the Managing Shareholder of Litvak, Litvak, Mehrtens and Epstein, P.C. Mr. Litvak graduated from Northwestern University in 1979 and received his J.D. from the University of Denver College of Law in 1986. He is a member of the CBA Family Law Section, having served on the Executive Council for five two-year terms, the Colorado Bar Association, the Denver Bar Association, and the American Bar Association, and is a Fellow and past President of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. Mr. Litvak has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America since 1995 and has been a Colorado Super Lawyer since 2006.

Randall C. Mustain-Wood, MA, JD is a partner in the law firm of Mustain-Wood, Walker & Schumacher, LLC. His practice emphasizes representing people in parenting time and parental responsibility cases where the child or children have special needs. He also emphasizes the issue of spousal maintenance where the party requesting maintenance has special needs. Presently he is engaged in developing an article as well as a book tentatively titled Practicing Domestic Relations Law in the New Depression.

Gay Niermann, JD is a sole practioner and has been practicing law for 30 years. Currently her practice emphasis is on child-related matters, including Child and Family Investigator, Child's Legal Representative, Decision-Maker and Arbitrator. She is a member of the Denver and Arapahoe County Bar Associations and frequently lectures at CLE seminars. She is a single mother of two children.

Brenda L. Storey, JD, is a partner in the law firm of McGuane and Hogan, LLP, specializing in family law. She is an officer of the Executive Council of the Colorado Bar Association's Family Law Section, as well as on the legislative committee of the Section. She has authored many publications such as the "Dissolution of Marriage" chapter of The Practitioner's Guide to Colorado Domestic Relations Law published by Continuing Legal Education in Colorado, Inc.

Gina Weitzenkorn, JD, is a partner in the law firm of Mills & Weitzenkorn, P.C. Her practice includes serving as child and family investigator, child's legal representative, and arbitrator, as well as representing parties in dissolution of marriage matters. She served on the Colorado Supreme Court Standing Committee on Family Issues and is a current member of the Colorado Child Support Commission. She has been an adjunct professor at the Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver where she taught family law.