Menu
Log in

Log in

    • 7 Jun 2022
    • 1 Jun 2027
    • Virtual (on demand via Zoom)

    MAGAL is excited to announce it's Spring 2022 virtual Conference:
    Now Available for Rebroadcast!


    OPERATING IN THE SHADOW OF THE LAW:

    A COMPENDIUM OF CASE LAW FOR THE GAL AND PC

    Understanding the impact of Massachusetts case law on custody and parenting decisions is essential in working effectively and responsibly as a GAL, PC, mental health professional or family law attorney involved with the Probate and Family Court.  As professionals, we must be familiar with Massachusetts prevailing case law and the basis for the different standards for cases in the areas affecting our practices.  Dr, Robert A. Zibbell’s 2021 Compendium of Family Law Cases presents the critical cases that we all should know about, covering areas including custody, parenting, removal, expert testimony, domestic violence, grandparent visitation and more.  The role of this important case law in our work will be presented with commentary from our distinguished panel.

      

    Dr. Zibbell’ s compendium evolved because lawyers and mental health professionals speak two different languages. One of the goals he had in mind was to try and find a bridge to help all professionals in the field identify the data needed by the law. Are clinical impressions relevant, and, if so, when?  How can the law guide the investigative effort?  What are the “facts”?  How is the data communicated, and how do we maintain transparency and apply the data to legal standards?  These questions will be explored in this important conference.


    Speakers and Panelists:

    • Hon. Amy Blake, Associate Justice,  Appeals Court;
    • Hon. Richard Simons, First Judge Berkshire Probate and Family Court, Chair of the Probate and Family Court’s Ed Committee and a Trustee of Flaschner; 
    • Robert A. Zibbell, Ph.D., author of Case Law Compendium, is a psychologist whose specialty is in the area of child and family forensic mental health; and
    • Jennifer Durand, J.D., Director of Legal Training for the Child and Family Forensic Evaluation Service (CAFFES) at the Center of Excellence for Children, Families and the Law at William James College, and trial attorney.
    • Moderator

    Linda Minkoff, J.D., Family law attorney, GAL, current President of MAGAL, Inc,

    Topics to be covered during the conference:

    • Ways in which understanding case law is important and helpful in conducting investigations, collecting data, and complying with Standing Order 1-05 and 1-06;
    • The Court’s expectations regarding the information and data to be included in GAL reports and how that expectation is informed by Mass case law;
    • Understanding the relevancy of specific factors and how knowing the law is essential in making certain recommendations (e.g. Petitioner met the real advantage standard);
    • Covering key areas/standards that professionals might not be aware of and providing best practices regarding how such standards should be applied;

    ·        Learning how to read judicial opinions, legal reasoning (jurisdiction, precedent, etc.), and following issues, rules, and applications, leaving the conclusion to the judge!

    CE Credits

    • 4.0 CE Credits have been awarded  for licensed psychologists; independent clinical social worker;
    • 4.0 CE Credits have been awarded for Category V Parenting Coordinators
    • 3.5 CE Credits have been awarded for marriage and family therapists
    • 4.0 CE credits are being sought for mental health counselors, CPCS/CAFL.

    Registration and Cost

    • $65 for members and non-members


    • 9 May 2024
    • 8:30 AM - 1:00 PM
    • Conference Center at Waltham Woods
    Register


    Presents:

    They’re Watching you… The Purpose and Practice of Supervised Parenting in Family Court

     ThursdayMay 9, 2024

    8:30am-1:00 pm

    (Breakfast and snacks included)


    The Conference Center at Waltham Woods, Waltham, MA

    (The conference will be in person and virtual)


    Supervised parenting is often recommended as a straightforward and logical intervention when a child requires protection from a compromised parent and/or when a parent wants to be protected from unwarranted allegations from the other parent. It is important to recognize, however, that supervised parenting can have a profound effect on a family. This conference will explore the pivotal role which supervisors play and the potential impacts (both positive and negative) of supervised parenting.  

    The Massachusetts Probate and Family Court has recognized the need for those who conduct supervision to adhere to professional standards. This conference will present the new rules for fee generating supervision appointments. There will also be discussion of appropriate criteria for determining when supervision is required and when it is no longer necessary.  

    Presenters will include experienced GALs, professionals who provide supervision services. a retired judge, and attorneys who litigate the cases in which supervised parenting is often utilized.  

    Learning Objectives:

    This conference will address the following question:

    • What triggers the need for a parent’s contact to be overseen by a professional supervisor? And for terminating supervision?
    • What are the legal and mental health implications for scrutinizing parent-child interactions?
    • How does professional supervision differ from more informal supervision, and when is each appropriate?
    • What are the parameters and protocols for effective supervised parenting time?
    • What are the new Court rules for supervised parenting in Massachusetts?
    • What steps can the courts take to ensure that supervision is conducted in a professional, standardized manner?
    • What role might a visitation supervisor play in a custody evaluation?
    • How can orders be crafted to ensure appropriate supervision and a timeline for such supervision?

    Conference Schedule

    8:30-8:45

    President’s Remarks, Sheara Friend, Esq. MAGAL Board President

    Introduction, Donald G. Tye, JD, M.S.W. Education Committee Chairperson

    8:45-10:45  Supervised Parenting Time: Exploring the history, the practice, and current issues  in family law cases. 

    Moderator Thomas D. Ritter, Esq; Guidelines Committee members: Diane Beswick, Esq. (Managing Attorney, Probate and Family Court); Lisa Danovitch (Senior Court Clinician, Probate and Family Court); Denise Fitzgerald, Esq.(Manager of Legal Research Services, Probate and Family Court;, and Marguerite Riley (Statewide Supervisor Probation, Probate and Family Court Probation);  Julia Brice, Fairplayedu; Howard Yaffe, LICSW, Supervised Visitation Network president, and Director at Meeting Place Supervised Visitation Center.

    10:45-11:15 Break (Refreshments served)

    11:15-12:30  Court Involvement in Supervised Parenting Time Cases: Drafting Court Orders,  supervision and GAL investigations,  court testimony, and the termination of services.  

    Moderator, Linda A. Ouellette, Esq and, Category F GAL; Hon Judge Susan Ricci (Ret.); Katie Rice, LMHC and Category E GAL; Nicole Robinson, LICSW Category E GAL, and former supervisor at Department of Children and Families


    Panelists

    Howard Yaffe, LICSW has more than 30 years of clinical experience working with children and families experiencing complex trauma, families affected by intimate partner violence, and court-involved families.  He has worked in various settings including residential programs, accredited special needs schools, and outpatient clinics.  He is currently the Director of Domestic Violence Services and Meeting Place Supervised Visitation Services at Riverside Community Care. He has served as the President of the Supervised Visitation Network, and is a member of NASW, the Massachusetts Association of Guardians ad Litem, and the Association of Family and Conciliatory Courts. In addition to working with couples, families, and individuals in his private psychotherapy practice, he co-facilitates court-ordered High Conflict Co-Parenting Classes at William James College.

    Nicole Robinson, LICSW is the owner of Robinson and Associates Therapeutic Services, a forensic mental health practice in Stoneham, Massachusetts. In addition to conducting Guardian ad Litem evaluations and Parent Coordination services, Robinson and Associates also offers individual and group therapy, coaching and parenting time supervision by professional and licensed clinicians in various geographical areas across Massachusetts. As a former social worker, response worker (investigator), supervisor and manager with the Department of Children and Families, Ms. Robinson has built her practice with the safety and wellbeing of children at the forefront. Ms. Robinson is a consultant with The Comprehensive Family Evaluation Center at Tufts University School of Medicine. She works as part time faculty at the Boston College School of Social Work and holds an appointment as a Clinical Associate Professor at Tufts School of Medicine.   

    Lisa Danovitch, LICSW, is the Senior Court Clinician at the Family Service Clinic at the Middlesex Probate & Family Court. She received her MSW from Boston University. Ms. Danovitch has over 25 years of experience working with children and families. She has previously held various clinical leadership roles in a multi-service residential care agency specializing in intensive services for children, youth and families with complex emotional, behavioral and learning challenges. She also developed an acute residential treatment program for young children and has been the Clinical Director at a therapeutic day school and has provided psychiatric services in hospital emergency rooms. Ms. Danovitch currently oversees the Family Service Clinic and provides forensic evaluations for the court regarding custody, mental health and family related issues.

    Linda A. Ouellette, Esq. is a partner with Kates & Barlow, PC. Attorney Ouellette has over thirty-five years of experience focused exclusively in family law and probate litigation. She is well-known for her formidable trial skills, particularly in cases involving complex financial matters and custody issues. She wrote the brief for the prevailing party in the case of J.S. v. C.C., 454 Mass. 652 (2009), the seminal Massachusetts case concerning the treatment of subchapter S distributions in child support cases. She also successfully represented the appellant in the case of Akinci-Unal v. Unal, 64 Mass. App. 212 (2005), establishing precedent for the exercise of long-arm jurisdiction over out-of-state litigants in divorce matters. 

    Marguerite Riley is the Statewide Supervisor for the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court Probation Service and is responsible for providing oversight to the twelve Probate Probation Departments across the Commonwealth.  Prior to her appointment as the Statewide in June 2018, Ms. Riley was employed at the Suffolk Probate and Family Court Probation Department, where she served as a Probation Officer, Assistant Chief Probation Officer, and Chief Probation Officer.  Ms. Riley holds a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Child and Family Studies from Syracuse University, and a Certificate of Judicial Administration from Michigan State University.

    Denise M. Fitzgerald, Esq. is the Manager of Legal Research Services for the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court.  Ms. Fitzgerald has spent her legal career at the Probate and Family Court.  She has worked on various committees, working groups and task forces.  She was the project manager for the 2016-2017 and 2020-2021 Child Support Guidelines Task Force.  Prior to her current position, Ms. Fitzgerald served as a judicial law clerk and the Chief Law Clerk to the justices of the Probate and Family Court, as well as an administrative attorney for the Probate and Family Court.  She is a graduate of Tufts University and an honors graduate of New England School of Law. 

    Katie Rice, LMHC, has been a Licensed Mental Health Counselor since 1992, having earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Boston College. She began her career working with abused and neglected infants and toddlers and their families with the Parents and Children’s Services in Boston before becoming a Probation/Family Service Officer with the Middlesex Probate and Family Court. For six years she ran the Guardian ad litem Practicum Program for the Middlesex Probate and Family Court where she trainined graduate level social work students from Boston College to provide GAL services to indigent clients. She has been conducting GAL investigations and evaluations since 1994 and has been a member of MAGAL since 1993. She has served on the MAGAL board from 1994 to 1997 and from 2007 until the present. She has worked as a Director at large as well as MAGAL’s Judicial Liaison, President, and Membership Chair. She is currently in private practice in Woburn providing GAL services in Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex counties. 

    Thomas D. Ritter, J.D., Ph.D., has been with the Boston law firm of Atwood & Cherny since 2003, where he concentrates in the area of Family Law. His law practice includes working as a Guardian ad Litem in the Probate and Family Courts of the Commonwealth. Attorney Ritter is also a Clinical Assistant Professor of Public Health and Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine where is a consultant to the Comprehensive Family Evaluation Center. Prior to attending law school, Attorney Ritter was an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts.  He received his Ph.D. from Purdue University and his law degree from Boston University School of Law. He is also a board member of the Massachusetts Association of Guardians ad Litem and is currently the President-Elect.

    Hon. Judge Susan Ricci (Ret.) graduated Suffolk Law in 1984. She practiced family law from 1984 to 1993 and was then appointed to the Probate and Family Court bench.  She sat as Associate Justice from 1993 to 2014.  She currently does private mediation, conciliation, arbitration and case consultation, and she volunteers on The Child Focused Facilitation Team mediation team with child psychologists and trial attorneys for high conflict families referred by Court. She is a Board member on the Mass Judges Conference; a Board Member on the Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee; a Board Member on the BBA Family Law Steering Committee; and Chair of the Judicial Guardianship and Mental Health Committee. 

    Diane J. Beswick Esq. is the managing attorney for the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court Administrative Office. Most recently, she was an assistant regional counsel for the Department of Children and Families in the Probate and Family Court and the Juvenile Court. Previously, she was an assistant district attorney in Plymouth County. Ms. Beswick is a graduate of Suffolk University Law School and Wheaton College.

    Registration:

    Those who prefer to mail a check may do so by sending one to MAGAL Inc. PO Box 304 Franklin, MA 02038.

    Early Bird Registration (until April 10th, 2024): $100 for MAGAL members, $125 for non-members or $175, with cost of membership for one year included.

    Late Registration (after April 10th, 2024) $115 for members, and $140 for non-members.

    CE Credits

    • 4.0 Credits are being sought for licensed psychologists,
    • 4.0 Credits are being sought for licensed independent clinical social workers,
    • 4.0 CE Credits are being sought for MA for Category V - Parenting Coordinators.
    • 4.0 CE credits are being sought for licensed mental health counselors, and licensed marriage and family therapists.
    • 4.0 Credits have been sought for CPCS/CAFL.

Copyright © 2021 Massachusetts Association of Guardians ad Litem, Inc.

Massachusetts Association of Guardians ad Litem, Inc.
P.O. Box 304, Franklin, MA 02038

(781) 329-9729

Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software