Family conciliation courts: evaluator training.

Existing law establishes the family conciliation court, which may be implemented by the superior court in each county, to provide means for the reconciliation of spouses and the amicable settlement of domestic and family controversies. In each county in which a family conciliation court is established, the superior court may appoint one supervising counselor of conciliation and one secretary to assist the family conciliation court in disposing of its business and carrying out its functions. Existing law defines an "evaluator" for purposes of family reconciliation court proceedings to include a supervising or associate counselor, a mediator, a court-connected or private child custody evaluator, or a court-appointed investigator or evaluator, as described. Existing law requires an evaluator to participate in specified training requirements, including 16 hours of advanced training within a 12-month period. Existing law requires 12 hours of that advanced training to include, among other topics, the unique issues in a family and psychological assessment in a domestic violence case, such as the nature and extent of domestic violence, and the relationship of gender, class, race, culture, and sexual orientation to domestic violence, and the influence of alcohol and drug use and abuse on the incidence of domestic violence. This bill would require the risks associated with access to firearms and ways to reduce those risks to be included on the list of issues in a family and psychological assessment in a domestic violence case for purposes of the advanced training.