The Weinstein Bill: Improved Access to Custody Reports

Child custody reports submitted to family and supreme courts by forensic professionals have the potential to profoundly affect the trajectory of a child's life. There is ample case law and support in the forensic literature for the notion that these documents are valued by courts as tools to promote settlement, to facilitate investigatory fact-gathering and to provide guidance for the judiciary. Attorneys for children and for litigants, as well as parents themselves, have a vested interest in being able to fully explore the forensic report ' and the underlying data for the conclusions the report contains ' in order to make informed decisions about how to proceed with a case and prepare for trial.