Forensic Assessment and Treatment Services
At Assurance Behavioral HealthCare, our highly trained and dedicated professionals have collectively provided services for 500+ cases and counting. We have field expertise, providing our services to over 50+ attorneys in different fields, multiple probation and parole departments, individuals, school districts, law enforcement officers. We are setting the standard for forensic psychological services in New Jersey.
Our team is experienced in the legal arena and is familiar with the needs of attorneys and their clients. Our evaluators and treatment providers are experts in their fields of study; expertise that has been recognized in court.
ABH provides the following assessments:
Violence and Sex Offender Risk Assessment
Violence and its impact on individuals and communities is of great concern. Reflecting that concern, courts and other community stakeholders often seek an expert assessment of the risk individuals pose to commit acts of violence. Assessments of this kind typically involve a thorough and systematic analysis of an individual’s history, alleged offense behavior and other factors to generate an understandable and empirically-driven assessment of risk. At ABH, our knowledgeable experts have worked with school administrators, the Administrative Office of the Courts, judges, attorneys and members of the community to effectively assess and manage violence risk.
Parental Capacity
Sometimes courts are concerned with the psychological functioning of one or both parents. Further, they require an expert’s assessment of the extent to which one or both parents is psychologically and otherwise capable of parenting their children safely and effectively. Utilizing psychological testing, interview and trained observation, our experts have completed expert reports and provided testimony that assisted courts in determining parental capacity.
Parental Bonding
As infants, human beings form emotional attachments to those in their immediate environment. Most often, but not always, those early attachment figures are parents. Not all attachments, however, are the same; they differ in strength and quality. In family court, the strength and quality of emotional attachments between children and adult caregivers is often of paramount importance. Utilizing trained observation, analysis of historical and developmental factors and sometimes psychological testing, our experts assess the quality and attachments between children and adult attachment figures.
Child Custody Evaluations
Perhaps the most comprehensive of the expert evaluations in the family law arena is the Child Custody (or as it is sometimes called the Best Interest Evaluation). The Child Custody Evaluation is a comprehensive Assessment of nearly every important facet of a divorcing family. Utilizing a thorough review of records, psychological testing, in-home and in-office observations and multiple interviews evaluators assess among other things family dynamics, parental capacities, emotional attachments and parental behaviors. Most importantly, experts offer specific recommendations to courts regarding residential custody, relocation, parenting time, treatment needs and more.
Psychological Fitness for Duty
Sometimes, employers become concerned about the extent to which their employees are psychologically fit to perform the duties of their job. Those employers may seek an expert opinion about the extent to which an employee’s psychological functioning is sufficiently adequate. Considering job related data including past psychological evaluations, historical job performance, current job duties and psychological testing, experts determine whether and under what conditions employees are capable of safely and effectively performing the duties of their position. At ABH, we have helped police departments, school districts and private businesses identify employees whose emotional functioning is preventing them from completing their work related tasks and, often, providing recommendations and/or for restoring their ability to return to work.
We also offer treatment services for Domestic Violence, Parental Reunification, Anger Management, and Sexual Compulsivity.