The Working Group to Revise Child Protection Evaluation Guidelines (WG-CPE), in consultation with the Board of Professional Affairs (BPA) and Committee on Professional Practice and Standards (COPPS), seek member and public comments on the revision of Guidelines for Psychological Evaluations in Child Protection Matters (APA, 2013).

The Guidelines' purpose is to promote evidenced-based and psychologically informed methods in conducting child protection evaluations. These evaluations address the impact of such factors as child maltreatment, parenting capacity, risk management, and the nexus between a parent’s (in)action and any significant harm or imminent risk of harm to a child. The Guidelines keep pace with research and legal developments on an increasingly wide range of evaluation issues. They also offer broad suggestions for psychologists who want to improve their awareness, expertise, and capabilities in conducting child protection evaluations. They pertain to evaluations of children as to any psychological harm/risk of harm by parents or caregivers, including by foster parents, guardians, and agencies that act in place of parents. They apply whenever a child is being evaluated as to harm/risk of harm by parents or other familial/institutional caregivers as a psycholegal issue.

The Guidelines are intended for use by psychologists conducting forensic evaluations related to child protection matters. They may assist or inform others, including attorneys, judges, other professionals, decision makers, administrators, and consumers. They do not guide psychological treatment or interventions (e.g., psychotherapy and counseling) provided to families, children, and adults, or address the activities of psychologists who are consulting or acting as non-evaluating investigators in child protection cases.

Comments Welcome

The Working Group seeks comments on 1) importance, relevance, and adequacy of the proposed revision of the guidelines, 2) suggestions for additional content to address critical topics not covered in this update; and 3) expressions of support and/or approval of this proposed update of the guidelines. The Working Groups welcomes comments on

• Overall importance/relevance of the Guidelines.
• Terminology and concepts used in the document.
• Citations and references used in the document.
• How the guidelines inform practice or address specific issues.
• Insights or examples from practice that find support in the Guidelines.
• Gaps or opportunities that may need to be addressed in this update.
• Special issues, hot topics, or trends that need to be addressed in this revision.

The Working Group invites APA governance groups, specifically, among others, to offer support and approval where appropriate, and appreciates these actions and feedback.  (See General Comments that may accomodate these actions or comments.)

Where a new guideline section or topic is proposed, we ask you to include suggested wording. Where modifications are proposed, we ask that you reference the relevant section, title, or line number. All comments will be shared with the developers for further review and consideration. 

Thank you for your actions and feedback. The deadline for submitting comments is May 5, 2024.