Back-to-School Season and Parenting Time Disputes: What Evaluators Look For
David Lombard, PhD | Licensed Psychologist | 30+ Years of Clinical and Forensic Experience
Each September, a quiet pressure builds in many separated families. Backpacks are packed, bus routes are sorted out, and a parenting schedule that worked well enough over the summer is suddenly asked to carry weeknight homework, early mornings, and a full calendar of practices and rehearsals. For the child at the center, the change is not only logistical. A new grade, a new teacher, or a new school is a significant transition on its own, and it arrives while the adults around that child are still learning how to share the load.
This can be the season when small frictions become formal disputes. Pick-up times, school-night routines, and questions about who attends which event may start to carry more weight than they did in July. When a parenting time disagreement reaches the court, the practical question becomes: what does this child need, and what schedule best serves it?
A consistent theme, in the research and in my own years of this work, is that the families who fare best are not those without disagreement. They are the ones who keep returning to the child's needs, even when the conversation is hard. This article explains what evaluators look for when a parenting time dispute reaches the courtroom, and how parents and attorneys can approach the school year with steadiness and clarity.
Why the School Year Puts Parenting Time Under Pressure
The start of school tests a parenting schedule because it adds fixed obligations that the summer did not have. The Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines describe their own provisions as "the minimum recommended time a parent should have to maintain frequent, meaningful, and continuing contact with a child," and they note that "the best parenting plan is one created by parents which fulfills the unique needs of the child and the parents" (Section II.A). Once school begins, those unique needs include transportation, homework routines, and, for older children, extracurricular and social commitments. The Guidelines specifically ask a parent to "make reasonable efforts to accommodate a teenager's participation in his or her regular academic, extracurricular and social activities" (Section II.E.2).
The research helps explain why the way parents handle these details matters so much to children. A meta-analysis of 115 studies covering 24,854 children from divorced families found that interparental conflict, parenting behavior, and child adjustment were significantly related, though most of the individual associations were small in size. Hostile parenting showed a stronger association with child problems than supportive parenting did, and the link between parental conflict and role diffusion (children drawn into the middle of adult disputes, or into adult roles) was notably larger, which the authors identify as a particular risk after separation (van Dijk et al., 2020, Clinical Psychology Review).
In practical terms, a child asked to carry messages about pick-up times, or to explain a schedule change to the other parent, is being asked to carry something that belongs to the adults. Children tend to take their cues from the steadiness of the people around them, and the first weeks of a school year are when that steadiness is most visible.
What Evaluators Look For
A well-conducted evaluation is not a search for the better parent. It is an effort to understand this child, in this family, and what arrangement fits. The AFCC 2022 Guidelines for Parenting Plan Evaluations in Family Law Cases, published in Family Court Review in 2023, set the framework most evaluators follow, and several of its provisions bear directly on school-year disputes.
The child's own experience. Evaluators are directed to interview all children who reside in the home in a developmentally appropriate, culturally sensitive, and trauma-informed manner (Guideline 6.6). For a child in the middle of a school transition, this means listening for how school mornings, homework, friendships, and activities are actually going in each household.
Each parent with the child. The Guidelines call for observing each parent and their children together, to assess the parent-child interaction and each parent's skills and ability to respond to the children's needs (Guideline 8.1), and for assessing each child's relationships with all adults living in a residence (Guideline 6.7). Evaluators are watching for warmth, consistency, and attunement, more than for polish.
Multiple, diverse sources of information. Evaluators are to use multiple and diverse methods of data gathering so that more than one plausible explanation can be explored (Guideline 6.3). The same guideline cautions that adding more instruments or longer interviews does not necessarily yield more reliable information. In a school-related dispute, this can include school records and communication with teachers or counselors, where the parents' consent and the court's order allow.
How each parent handles the practical details. In my work, the questions that tend to matter most are ordinary ones. Does each parent know the child's teachers, homework demands, and schedule? Are handoffs on time and calm? Does each parent support the child's relationship with the other parent, or does the child hear criticism? These observations connect to the research above: the van Dijk et al. meta-analysis points to hostile parenting and to children being pulled into parental conflict as the patterns most closely tied to child difficulty.
An evaluator's opinions are only as strong as the information behind them, which is why a careful evaluator states what was reviewed, what was not, and where the limits of the data lie.
Parenting Time Evaluations and Parenting Plan Evaluations: A Helpful Distinction
Families and attorneys sometimes use several names for the same court-ordered process, so a word about terminology may help. In 2022, the AFCC moved the field from "child custody evaluation" to "parenting plan evaluation." The stated reasoning is that "custody" suggests possession and control of children, while the newer term points to responsibility for their care. Under the AFCC Guidelines, "parenting plan" serves as the umbrella term for evaluations addressing parenting time, parental decision-making, and related issues (AFCC, 2022).
A Parenting Plan Evaluation therefore looks broadly at the family. A Parenting Time Evaluation, as I offer it, is narrower: it addresses the schedule question, such as how time should be shared during the school year, over holidays, and across transitions, without taking on every decision-making issue. The AFCC Guidelines note that they are not intended for briefer, issue-focused models, and that the AFCC has separate guidance for brief focused assessments. Which service fits a given case depends on what the court is asking, so it is worth clarifying the referral question early. Attorneys and judges considering a referral can find an overview of my evaluation services at davidlombard.com.
Either way, the Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines remain the starting point that the court and the evaluator work from. They describe a recommended minimum and invite parents to build something better suited to their child.
What Parents and Attorneys Can Do Now
None of this requires perfection. It requires attention, patience, and a willingness to put the child's needs first. A few practical steps tend to help:
1. Put school-year logistics in writing early. Transportation, pick-up and drop-off times, and who handles which school-night responsibilities are easier to settle in August than in October. Clear, written arrangements leave less room for misunderstanding.
2. Keep the child out of the middle. Use a direct, businesslike channel with the other parent, such as a co-parenting app or email, rather than sending messages through the child. The research on role diffusion is a reminder of why.
3. Share school information with both parents. Both parents can stay connected to teachers, schedules, and events. Supporting the child's relationship with the other parent is itself something evaluators notice.
4. Make room for the child's activities. The Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines ask parents to make reasonable efforts to accommodate a teenager's regular academic, extracurricular, and social activities (Section II.E.2). Flexibility in small matters often prevents larger conflicts.
5. Attorneys: define the referral question early. A clearly stated question (schedule only, or broader parenting plan issues), a realistic timeline, and early access to relevant records help the evaluator do careful work and help the court receive it when it is needed.
If you are a parent in the middle of a dispute, be gentle with yourself and with your children. The weeks after school starts are hard on many families, and asking for help early is a sign of good judgment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a Parenting Time Evaluation and a Parenting Plan Evaluation? A Parenting Plan Evaluation is the broader process, addressing parenting time, decision-making, and related issues under the AFCC's 2022 terminology. A Parenting Time Evaluation is narrower and focuses on the schedule. The court's referral question determines which is appropriate.
Will the evaluator speak with my child? Usually, yes. The AFCC Guidelines direct evaluators to interview all children who reside in the home, in a developmentally appropriate, culturally sensitive, and trauma-informed manner (Guideline 6.6). Interviews are conducted with care, and children are never asked to choose between their parents.
Does the evaluator decide the schedule? No. An evaluator offers findings and recommendations to assist the court. The judge makes the decision.
How should I prepare my child? Keep it simple, calm, and honest. Let your child know that someone is helping the court understand the family, that they are not in trouble, and that they do not have to say anything particular. Please do not coach your child or ask what was said afterward.
Can school information be part of an evaluation? Often, yes. The AFCC Guidelines call for multiple and diverse sources of information (Guideline 6.3), and school records or teacher input can be one of them, in keeping with the required consents and any court order.
What should an attorney include when making a referral? A clearly stated referral question, the relevant court orders and filings, and contact information for both parties' counsel. Early clarity helps the evaluator work efficiently and helps the court receive the report when it is needed.
A Note for Referring Attorneys and Courts
If you are considering a referral for a Parenting Time Evaluation or a Parenting Plan Evaluation, I welcome a conversation about the referral question, scope, and timeline. You can learn more about my work and reach me through davidlombard.com.
This article is provided for general educational purposes. It is not legal advice and does not create a professional relationship.
References
• American Association for Family and Conciliation Courts. (2023). AFCC 2022 Guidelines for Parenting Plan Evaluations in Family Law Cases. Family Court Review, 61(1). https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/fcre.12700. Guideline text: AFCC PDF
• Indiana Supreme Court. Indiana Parenting Time Guidelines. https://rules.incourts.gov/Content/parenting/default.htm. Section II, Specific Parenting Time Provisions: https://rules.incourts.gov/Content/parenting/section2/current.htm
• van Dijk, R., van der Valk, I. E., Deković, M., & Branje, S. (2020). A meta-analysis on interparental conflict, parenting, and child adjustment in divorced families: Examining mediation using meta-analytic structural equation models. Clinical Psychology Review, 79, 101861. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2020.101861