Judiciary bill H36 would form work group on family forensic evaluators; OPR, psychologists urge narrow scope and support

Jennifer Cohen, general counsel for the Office of Professional Regulation (OPR), and Linda Marshall, executive director of the Vermont Psychological Association, testified on H36, a bill to study family forensic evaluators and potential protections, reporting requirements, and supply-and-demand barriers.

Nut Graf: Both witnesses supported a judiciary-led report and work group but advised against rushing a statutory definition; OPR offered administrative support and said it found no recent enforcement prosecutions tied to family forensic evaluators, while the psychological association asked the committee to avoid a statutory clinical definition in the bill’s findings section.

Cohen told the committee OPR regulates licensees who perform family forensic evaluations and can provide enforcement and licensing context, but it is not the lead on judicial practice or the content of forensic reports. OPR fields about 800 complaints per year across all licensee areas; after a records review, Cohen’s enforcement team could not find a case where OPR prosecuted a practitioner specifically for unprofessional conduct arising from a family forensic evaluation. She said that fact suggests ethical complaints are unlikely to be the primary barrier deterring evaluators from doing this work, though OPR will participate in and inform the study, particularly if the bill asks whether ethical-complaint protections are warranted.

Linda Marshall said H36’s current draft includes a brief statutory definition of “family forensic evaluator” and recommended removing or deferring a clinical definition from the bill’s findings. She suggested the legislature keep the bill at a high level and allow the work group to develop clinical and procedural recommendations, including clarifying who is the client in evaluations and which standards (beyond "best interest of the child") should guide evaluators. Committee members agreed the judiciary should lead the report and that OPR and professional associations should provide technical input.

Ending: The committee did not adopt final statutory language at the hearing; members asked staff and stakeholders to refine the bill’s text and report structure before H36 moves further in the process.