Family Court

INTRODUCTION
DEVELOPMENT OF THE GUIDELINES
The following guidelines for the disposition of custody and visitation disputes where there has been domestic violence between parents were developed through a process of community involvement and dialogue among concerned professionals and administrators of public and private agencies. The goal of this process was (a) to review relevant research findings in order to specify the problems to be solved, (b) to develop consensus about the principles that should guide any intervention, (c) to propose specific strategies for resolving the problems, and (d) to discuss the pragmatics of instituting the proposed changes in court policies and procedures. As the guidelines were drafted, representatives from two domestic violence agencies within the two counties were the study reported in Section I was conducted were consulted regularly. These agencies were the Marin Abused Women’s Services and the San Mateo Battered Women’s Services. In addition, information about other states’ laws, policies, and procedures were obtained from Battered Women’s Coalitions in seven states (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Minnesota,...