Child Custody Outcomes in Cases Involving Abuse and Alienation Allegations: What Do the Data Show?

Join Light Up DARVO for an important CLE & CE webinar featuring professor and attorney Joan S. Meier as she presents findings from the only national empirical study of its kind examining child custody outcomes in cases involving abuse and alienation allegations. The program will also challenge common assumptions about “high-conflict” custody cases, followed by an exclusive live Q&A with Professor Joan S. Meier, Esq.

Date: Thursday, July 23, 2026

Time: 12 PM Central (1PM ET)

Format: Live Webinar on Zoom

Credit: 1 Hour Texas Ethics CLE and 1 hour CE for Texas social workers, LPCs, LMFTs, and psychologists, recognized toward the 50% rule

Zoom Registration Link: CLICK HERE

Program Summary

Family courts routinelymake life-changing decisions in cases involving domestic violence, child abuse, coercive control, and parental alienation allegations. This program examines what the research reveals about those decisions.

The National Institute of Justice-funded Child Custody Outcomes in Cases Involving Abuse and Alienation Allegations study is the only national empirical study to examine child custody outcomes in cases involving abuse and alienation allegations across the United States. Drawing on electronically published family court opinions from across the country over a ten-year period, the study analyzed allegations of abuse and parental alienation, what judges believed, and the custody decisions they made.

Professor Joan S. Meier will present the study’s findings on family court responses to abuse allegations, parental alienation claims, and gender bias, as well as the implications for legal advocacy, judicial decision-making, forensic evaluations, and clinical practice.

Following the presentation, Professor Joan S. Meier will join attendees for an exclusive

live Q&A.

Participants Will Learn To:

• Explain how the Meier study was designed and conducted to examine child custody outcomes in cases involving abuse and alienation allegations.
• Describe trends in family court responses to mothers’ and children’s allegations of abuse and crossclaims of parental alienation.
• Examine how gender bias may manifest in family court cases involving abuse and alienation allegations and consider the implications for legal, judicial, and clinical practice.

Joan S. Meier, Esq.

Joan S. Meier, Esq. is the founding director of the National Family Violence Law Center and the NFVLC Professor of Clinical Law at George Washington University Law School. She has been teaching, litigating, researching and educating professionals nationally and internationally for over 30 years. While directing the Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Appeals Project (DV LEAP) from 2003-2019, she litigated numerous appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court and state appeals courts. Her team’s 2019 federally funded empirical study is the only national study to examine and quantify family court responses to abuse and alienation claims.