The purpose of parenting coordination is to provide a child-focused alternative dispute resolution process whereby a parenting coordinator assists the parents in creating or implementing a parenting plan by facilitating the resolution of disputes between the parents by providing education, making recommendations, and, with the prior approval of the parents and the court, making limited decisions within the scope of the court’s order of referral.

The impact of high-conflict divorce/litigation on children can be devastating, traumatic, and stressful. Children can survive divorce and separation; however, they cannot survive unharmed by the extended, chronic, high conflict fighting that occurs between parents in difficult litigation. Chronic fighting between the parents can harm the relationship between children and one or both parents, and children who experience high conflict divorce can suffer serious psychological and social problems.

The objective of parenting coordination is to assist high conflict parents creating or implementing a court ordered parenting plan, to monitor compliance with the details of an already created parenting plan, to resolve conflicts regarding their children and the parenting plan in a timely manner, and to protect and sustain safe, healthy, and meaningful parent-child relationships. Parenting Coordination is a quasi-legal, mental health, alternative dispute resolution process that combines assessment, education, case management, conflict management and sometimes decision-making functions.

Parenting Coordination is appropriate for families just starting the divorce or paternity process, or who are currently struggling through the divorce/paternity process, or find themselves unable to resolve parenting issues even after the divorce/paternity action is final.

Parenting Coordination can take many forms, by agreement of the parties. They can choose for the process to be confidential, or not – meaning the Parenting Coordinator can testify before the Court. They can choose whether the Parenting Coordinator can have non-substantive decision-making authority – meaning the Parenting Coordinator can make decisions for the parties on small matters when they cannot agree on how to resolve an issue.

Parenting Coordination can last for a short time period (for example, to create a Parenting Plan), or for longer periods of time (some parties choose to keep their PC for times when new issues crop up as their children get older and start moving through new developmental stages).

Parenting Coordination is done via separate and joint meetings with the parties. Sometimes the input of the children or other third parties (extended family, teachers, doctors, counselors) is also helpful to the process.