| CONTACT: |
Mark
R. Quigley
Administrative Attorney
617-788-6600 |
|
FOR
RELEASE ON: July 28, 2003 |
Probate and Family Court Announces New Dates for
the Mandatory Domestic Violence Training for All Guardians Ad Litem
in Child Welfare Cases
The
Probate and Family Court Administrative Office in conjunction
with the Administrative Office of the Trial Court,
Boston Medical Center, the University of Massachusetts
Medical School, Western New England College and Stonehill
College will be presenting the second in a series of
mandatory six (6) hour domestic violence training program
for guardians ad litem. The first training was held
in Boston on April 15 and 29, 2003 at the Massachusetts
Continuing Legal Education training facility and one
hundred and fifty-seven people attended.
There will be no charge to attend this training.
All
guardians ad litem certified in either Category E,
guardians ad litem/evaluators or under Category F,
guardians ad litem/investigators, guardians ad litem/next
friend, pursuant to Supreme Judicial Court Rule 1:07, must
attend one of the training sessions in order to receive
further appointments under Categories E and F.
Some
of the topics that will be covered will include the
impact of domestic violence on children, the role of
the guardian ad litem in cases involving allegations
of domestic violence, the impact of domestic violence
on parenting, the custodial presumption statute, report
writing and parental alienation. Chief Justice Dunphy
said "We believe a uniform training concerning domestic
violence for guardians ad litem involved in child welfare
cases will be beneficial to all guardians ad litem
and better enable them to assist the judges in making
decisions in the best interests of the children affected
by litigation in the Probate and Family Court."
For
persons who were on the Category E or F lists
prior to January 1, 2003, this training will satisfy
the six-hour continuing professional education requirement
for 2003. Any person who has applied and been accepted
to either the Category E or F lists
after January 1, 2003, must also take another six-hour
professional education course during 2003 in either
the child custody/visitation field for Category E or
the domestic relations/custody, adoption fields for Category F.
The
following is the schedule of trainings:
- November 15, 2003 at Stonehill
College, Easton
- November 18, 2003 at University
of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester
- November 19, 2003 at Western
New England College, Springfield
All
trainings will be held from 9:00 A.M. until 4:00
P.M. Registration will begin at each location
at 8:30 A.M.
For
persons who did not attend the Boston session, attendance
at one of these sessions is mandatory in order to
satisfy the six-hour continuing professional education
requirement for 2003. To register for one
of the trainings, please reply to Jamie Ann Sabino
at the Administrative Office of the Trial Court via
email at sabino_
j1@jud.state.ma.us* or
send your reply to Ms. Sabino at the Administrative
Office of the Trial Court, Two Center Plaza, 5th
Floor, Boston, MA 02108 by October 31, 2003.
* please note that the email address listed
above has an underscore ( _ ) in between the "sabino" and "j1"
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