Welcome to Austin Child Custody Services, dba
William G. Austin, Ph.D., Ph.D. Licensed Psychologist

Dr. Austin and Austin Child Custody Services provide a broad range of forensic services to attorneys and courts within Colorado and in other states. He is licensed in North Carolina. He provides services in other states only if permitted by state law. Almost all states allow out-of-state licensed psychologists to provide services on a temporary basis. Dr. Austin specializes child custody cases when there are issues concerning relocation and domestic violence/intimate partner violence.

Forensic evaluation services: Dr. Austin provides Child Custody Evaluations. In Colorado, custodial evaluations include Parental Responsibility Evaluation and Child & Family Investigator. All evaluations are neutral, impartial evaluations conducted with an appropriate court order. Parties involved in the litigation must sign a Statement of Understanding that describes issues involved in the evaluation, procedures, and fees.

Dr. Austin has adopted a new practice model for the forensic services of court-appointed expert Child Custody Evaluations (North Carolina) and Parental Responsibility Evaluations (Colorado), effective July 1, 2019.

Only one parenting evaluation case at a time will be accepted in each state in my interstate practice, Austin Child Custody Services. The goal is to have a completed report for the Court at the end of 60-days from the time of court appointment and payment of the required retainer. A new case will not be commenced until the report for the ongoing custody case is delivered to the Court. Some exceptions may occur due to extenuating, case-specific circumstances.

The financial side to the new practice model is that each case is taken on a flat fee basis, exclusive of a separate flat fee for a forensic court day for expert testimony and also the same for a deposition if one is requested. The flat fee for a child custody evaluation in North Carolina is $14,000; and is $12,000 Colorado. The fee can be paid in two installments. The fee differences reflect the costs incurred by Dr. Austin in his two states of primary practice. The established fees are based on a comparative analysis of usual, customary expert fees assessed by colleagues in light of Dr. Austin's training, experience, and unique accomplishments in the field. Dr. Austin believes the new practice model will serve well both the practical needs of the Court and the best interests of children. The underlying principles are (1) selectivity in accepting complex custody evaluation cases; (2) the quality of the forensic work product and (3) the practical realities of busy Court dockets.

It is anticipated that most of the evaluation cases accepted will call for the application of one or more of Dr. Austin's forensic analytical models that are widely accepted and utilized by evaluators and courts, both nationally and internationally. These include special and complex issues that professional standards suggest should be addressed via a systematic approach: cases involving (1) relocation; (2) allegations of intimate partner violence; and (3) parental gate keeping and allegations of parental alienation; (4) crafting parenting plans for young and very young children.

Attorney Consultation: Dr. Austin provides several forensic consultation services.

(1)     Work Product Review: an objective review of the court-appointed child custody/parental responsibility evaluation. Candid feedback is provided to the retaining attorney on the strengths and weaknesses of the evaluation after a thorough review and analysis of the custody/PRE report. If there are serious deficiencies in the evaluation, the retaining attorney may request Dr. Austin to provide expert testimony as a Reviewer and rebuttal expert. The testimony sometimes is intended to affirm the report and testimony of the court's expert who has conducted an evaluation of sound forensic quality. Consultation services may be requested to facilitate expert testimony so as to be helpful to the court. Dr. Austin's testimony is expected to be objective and balanced and aligned with the data and issues in the case.

(2)     Instructional Expert Testimony: Dr. Austin sometimes is retained by attorneys to provide testimony on research and the professional literature on issues that are central to a case. He often provides testimony on relocation and intimate partner violence and the forensic models he has developed for custody evaluators and courts on these two issues. He often provides testimony on the relocation risk assessment model and research on the effects of relocation on children of divorce. His forensic models on partner violence include how to assess the credibility of allegations of partner violence and violence risk assessment in custody cases. He is currently developing with colleagues an integrated theoretical framework for considering partner violence in custody cases that revises the new typology of partner violence and emphasizes behavioral dimensions and research-based risk factors in developing parenting plans. Instructional or educational testimony may be combined with testimony as a Reviewer.

(3)   Trial Consultant: Dr. Austin sometimes is retained to provide only consultation services and not as a testifying expert. He may assist with the development of trial strategy; preparation of questions for the examination of witnesses, including expert witnesses; review of expert reports; and education of the attorney on research and professional issues.

Dr. Austin has published numerous professional articles and book chapters on forensic approaches to conducting child custody issues. The publications are available in pdf form from this website.

He is a recognized national expert on relocation and domestic/intimate partner violence as issues that arise in custody cases, and on child custody methodology. Dr. Austin has given over 50 professional workshops and lectures on child custody evaluation for mental health and legal professionals, and law schools.

Dr. Austin was the co-chair of the task force that developed the Model Standards of Practice for Child Custody Evaluation that is published by the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC).