Creating a sustainable and healthy plan for your children is a challenging exercise. When discussing the options available to your family, it is helpful to consider these factors:
- The needs of your children and their particular temperaments
- Current and previous arrangements to care for your children
- Health, educational or religious concerns
- Safety concerns
- Appropriate scheduling arrangements for all family members
- Maintaining connections with immediate and extended family members and friends
- Communicating with the other parent and your children to explain arrangements in the future
Fortunately, there are multiple resources that parents can use to assist them in creating a parenting plan. One of the most helpful resources has been developed by the Maryland Judiciary, the Maryland Parenting Tool which you can find under the Resource heading of this website. [guide reader to resource page of website] This document outlines the many decisions that parents must make in caring for their children and, significantly, addresses how parents are going to make these decisions. Note, however, that while the Maryland Parenting Tool is a template that provides parents with a helpful starting point, every family is different. Customization of the template may be critical to creating a successful plan.
During the course of a mediation, many people can effectively work their way through the Maryland Parenting Plan Tool. By assessing behaviors that have worked and not worked well in the past, through mediation parents can make a new beginning and reduce the likelihood of conflict in the future.