North Georgia
Forensic Evaluators
Services
What is a Forensic Evaluation?
A forensic mental health evaluator conducts a forensic evaluation, which includes a thorough clinical interview, comprehensive review of records, case law, collateral data, as well as assessment protocols and tests. Forensic evaluations can be utilized by the court to address legal issues such as competency to stand trial, criminal responsibility, transfer to adult court, parental fitness, risk for violence and sexual dangerousness. Both adult and juvenile offenders may require evaluations for many reasons. When requested by the attorneys or ordered by the court, forensic mental health professionals conduct these evaluations for civil or criminal court cases.
Defining the Work
Our Offerings
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Court-Ordered Evaluations
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Co-Parenting Planning
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Families experiencing Divorce: therapy for Children and Family
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Custody/Visitation Issues
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Working with Guardian Ad Litems
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Trauma-Based Therapy
Most Common Evaluations
1.
Juvenile Justice Evaluations
Juvenile justice cases are often sensitive in nature and require the assistance of ​an evaluator skilled in working with adolescents.
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2.
Psychosexual Evaluations
This evaluation helps assess the risk of a criminal sexual offense, but can also point the way to potential treatments to lower that risk.
3.
Parental Fitness Evaluations
Divorce and custody cases often require fitness evaluations if one or more parents is potentially incapable of performing adequate parental duties.
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4.
Child Custody Evaluations
For cases involving abuse, drug use, mental illness or other questionable parenting practices or issues, a child custody evaluation can be requested by a judge or one of the parents involved in divorce proceedings.
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Who are the clients in Forensic and Clinical Evaluations?During clinical evaluation, the adult under assessment is the client, but for a child’s assessment, the parent or guardian acts as the client. In a forensic evaluation, the retaining party, which is often an agency, court, or attorney, acts as the client. Additionally, for clinical evaluation, the client receives their test results, but for a forensic assessment, the report, recommendation, and opinions are directed to the referral source. The interview may involve standardized and other mental health tests. The type of test is specific to the case and is often determined from the interview content. Tests of intelligence and cognition, personality, malingering, anger, abuse potential, trauma history, and recidivism are common. Some tests are adapted or modified to guide the interview, but most tests are conducted under standardized conditions by qualified persons. Many tests cannot be administered with others present.
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What’s the difference between Clinical Evaluations and Forensic Evaluations?Understanding the difference between forensic and clinical mental health evaluations requires you first to know what each involves. Both clinical and forensic providers perform evaluative practices with their clients, but their ethical obligations are different. While clinical evaluation consists of applying mental health research techniques and principles in the treatment and analysis of human behavior, forensic evaluation applies this knowledge to assist the legal system in making decisions. Below are some differences between the two evaluations.
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Who are the referral sources for each evaluation?Clients who undergo clinical evaluations follow their doctor’s or therapist's advice mainly because they deem the exercise helpful to their health or that of their child. Conversely, individuals who undertake forensic evaluations receive an order from a government agency or attorney for legal purposes. In some cases, the request comes from employers who need test results to act as a pre-employment evaluation.
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What is a forensic evaluation for custody?The process entails assessment of the parent’s mental health and child-rearing practices and their willingness to foster their child's relationship with the other parent. Considerable time must be spent interviewing children who may be slow to warm up to a stranger. Custody or visitation schedules are always based on the best interests of the child.