Services:  Divorce

Prior to 1960 approximately one in nine children saw their parents divorce.  In the 1990's experts predict that nearly 50% of children will see their parents disunited.  Clearly, no other social, physical, or psychological adversity affects the number of children as does the experience of parental divorce.

The healthy, wholesome development of children is at risk when parents divorce.  Parental divorce has been linked to the probability that many childhood problems will subsequently emerge, including:

• aggressive behavior
• impaired self esteem
• deterioration in academic performance
• juvenile criminality, delinquency, and gang membership
• substance abuse
• impairment in the ability to establish intimate relationships during adolescence and adulthood

Divorce education for children.  While state law mandates divorce education for parents, children are rarely provided the opportunity to benefit from divorce counseling, education, or intervention.  Research has shown that children utilize minimal outside resource in their adjustment to parental divorce.

Divorce education for adults.  While divorcing parents have found value in being educated on ways to minimize the effects of divorce on children, resources beyond a brief education are minimal, or may be quite costly.  Given the extensive participation of extended family in the lives of children, divorce education can also be utilized by caretakers and other participants in the children's lives.

Post-divorce intervention.  Those who have experienced divorce, and have children, know that divorce is a developmental process.  Consequently, solutions to problems require change over time and often represent a source of conflict between parents.  Post-divorce intervention represents a potential non-litigious, less expensive, solution to on-going divorce problems.