Programmes to Assist Court Decision-making for Children Issues

The second article of a three-part series which discusses the various programmes which the court uses to decide on custody and access issues when spouses no longer stay under one roof.

The Family Court runs a number of programmes to fulfil its mission of helping families in distress in a holistic manner. The programmes of the Family Court are run by the counsellors and psychologists of the Family and Juvenile Justice Centre (‘FJJC’). This second article of a three-part series of articles (the first article was published in the January 2003 issue of The Singapore Law Gazette) on Family Court programmes sets out information on the various programmes which are available to assist the court in making decisions on custody and access matters.

Facilitating Decisions on Custody and Access Issues

Custody Evaluation Reports and Access Evaluation Reports

The counsellors of the FJJC do two types of reports, which the court can order. One type is the Custody Evaluation Report (‘CER’), which is to assist the court in custody disputes (ie which parent should have custody, care and control of the child); and the other type is the Access Evaluation Report (‘AER’), to assist the court in access disputes (ie the questions of whether access should take place, for how long, whether it should be supervised or not, whether there should be overnight access, whether the parent should be able to bring the child overseas for a holiday, etc).

A CER requires about 40 hours of interviews with the parents, the child and any significant third parties. The interviews take place over a six-week period, at the end of which the CER will be written. An AER would take a shorter time to prepare. AERs are written after the counsellor has done three interview sessions with the parties. The counsellor interviews the parties and children, and counsels them.

The CER/AER may be prepared in a shorter time than a Social Welfare Report (‘SWR’) (done by the Ministry of Community Development and Sports). A SWR usually takes a few months to prepare. A SWR would be appropriate in those cases where the children are young (under 10 years old), and where it is important for the court to assess the home living conditions of the child and all the parties who are involved or connected to the custody dispute.

The CER/AER focuses on the interaction between the parties and the children, and the developmental needs of the child. Cases which are suitable for CER/AER are those where:

• the children are able to express themselves articulately — usually those children over 10 years old;
• there are allegations that a child is alienated from a parent, and of brain-washing of a child by one parent;
• the custody and/or access disputes are very acrimonious; and
• where home visits would be pointless, because there are no allegations of the home environment being unsuitable, the key issues being the nature of the relationships between each of the parties.
  

Please note that the CER/AER programme is subject to the availability of FJJC counsellors to do the reports.

Assisted Transfer and Assisted Access

The Assisted Transfer and Assisted Access programmes are co-ordinated by the FJJC, which not only provides these services, but also liaises with Reach Family Service Centre (‘FSC’), Serangoon Moral FSC, Tanjong Pagar FSC, and Loving Heart FSC to provide the services as well.

In the Assisted Access programme,1 the non-custodial parent can have access to the child at the FJJC or a participating FSC, under the supervision of a counsellor. Under the Assisted Transfer programme, the parents will hand over the child at the FJJC or the designated FSC. The hand-over will take place in the presence of a counsellor. The child may also be returned at the same place.

Assisted Transfer or Assisted Access are both intended as interim measures, to give a counsellor the opportunity to observe the parties and the children during hand-over or access. The counsellor will write an Assisted Access/Assisted Transfer report on his observations, and make recommendations as to what steps should be taken next. The report will be furnished to the hearing judge to assist him/her when he/she makes orders on the access issues.

The rationale for Assisted Transfer or Assisted Access is NOT to act as a long term solution to any problems that the parties may have in bonding with their children, or in relating to each other as parents, but is intended as a tool for the court to make a decision as to what kind of access orders to make, to finally dispose of the matter. (For a long term solution to access problems, see the section on Project Contact which will be published in the April issue of The Singapore Law Gazette.)

All lawyers — It should be noted that this programme is subject to the availability of supervising counsellors at the FJJC/the participating FSCs. The FJJC and most of the FSCs only have slots available within office hours on weekdays. Participants in the programme, if it is ordered to take place at an FSC, will be expected to pay fees to the FSC. There is a charge of about $50 per hour for assisted access and about $25 for a one-way assisted transfer. These charges must be borne by the clients using this programme, though the individual FSC has the discretion to waive these fees. The Pre-Trial Conference (‘PTC’) judge or the trial judge hearing the custody and access matter would have information on the addresses of the FSCs, the availability of slots and the relevant charges. The PTC judge or trial judge ordering this programme will have to make orders as to which party is to bear the costs of the assisted access or assisted transfer sessions.

Court-appointed Counsel Scheme

Under the Court-appointed Counsel scheme, the court may appoint an amicus curiae to interview the child to ascertain his views and other factors relevant to his well-being in appropriate high-conflict custody cases. Thereafter, the counsel will see both parties and act as a neutral moderator to assist parties to settle the custody issue. If the case goes to trial, the counsel will submit a report that highlights the child’s wishes as well as all other relevant factors. This scheme gives cognisance to a child’s right to be heard in a matter that affects his future and also reminds parents to seriously consider the interests of the child. This programme is suitable for cases where the children are over 10 years of age, usually if they are teenagers, and the case is extremely acrimonious.

Lim Hui Min
Deputy Registrar
Family and Juvenile Court

Endnote

1. What is the difference between the AER and the Assisted Access programme? The AER is often a prelude to the ordering of Assisted Access. The AER is a relatively quick way of assessing the situation between the non-custodial parent and child. Only a few sessions are required (about three), compared with the greater number of Assisted Access sessions. It is therefore suitable where the situation is relatively clear-cut. Where the situation is more ambiguous, particularly in cases where the relationship between the parent and child seems good, but the other parent has alleged that the non-custodial parent has drug or alcohol problems, or is physically or emotionally abusive, or where most of the difficulties regarding access seems to be stemming from the parents’ conflict, then the Assisted Access programme would be appropriate. The AER is also interview-based and hence more interactive, as far as the counsellor is concerned. The report prepared for the Assisted Access programme is based more on observation, with the counsellor taking a much more passive role.