Research, Policy and Practice About Children’s Contact and Shared Care in Child Custody and Child Protection

The topic of how much time a child spends with their non-resident parent has been subject of considerable discussion and research in both child custody and child protection forums. This chapter summarises research findings on the topic of children spending time with their non-resident parent. The chapter identifies topics where there is good agreement in the field of child custody between researchers, and topics where further research is required. The chapter summarises practices followed by some child protection services in Australia. The chapter concludes that perspectives and practices used in child protection systems about contact between children and parents can vary considerably from perspectives and practices used in child custody.