War and P.E.A.C.E.: A Preliminary Report and a Model Statute on an Interdisciplinary Educational Program for Divorcing and Separating Parents

This Article is a report on P.E.A.C.E. (Parent Education and Custody Effectiveness), an interdisciplinary attempt to create a parent education program in New York. P.E.A.C.E. is an educational program that provides information to parents on three topics: the legal process for determining custody and child support; the effects of divorce and separation on adults; and the effects of divorce and separation on children, and how parents can help children cope with this difficult transition. P.E.A.C.E. is education-nothing more. It is not mediation or therapy.

Parents do not talk to each other directly during P.E.A.C.E. sessions and the program makes no attempt to settle individual disputes. Parents receive the information that P.E.A.C.E. provides and use it as they see fit. They can take it to heart, ignore it completely, or anything in between.