Institute for Advanced Professional Learning

Kids First was established with the goal of uniting professionals from various fields—especially legal and mental health—to collaborate towards a shared objective: enhancing the lives of children by reducing their exposure to conflict during their parents' divorce and separation. 

The Kids First Center is excited to introduce the Kids First Institute for Professional Learning. Throughout the year, the Institute will explore important topics for professionals supporting families with children raised by separated parents. This initiative includes four 2-hour webinars and a culminating in-person conference in Fall 2025, gathering experts to enhance co-parenting practices across various disciplines.

  2024-2025 Institute: Reimagining Parallel Parenting

The theme for the 2024/2025 Institute is "Reimagining Parallel Parenting." Many professionals are concerned that "Parallel Parenting" contradicts shared parenting principles by limiting parental interaction, leading them to question its benefits for children and its alignment with public policies supporting shared parenting. They wonder if it represents a regression from the legal ideal of shared parenting. However, in certain situations—such as high-conflict cases or those involving abuse—a parallel parenting plan that allocates parental rights may be the most effective approach. In Maine, there is currently no shared definition or standardized framework for "parallel parenting," often resulting in ad hoc solutions by professionals and judicial officers. 

The theme of parallel parenting encourages us to consider whether emphasizing the "best interest of the family" could lead to more favorable outcomes for children experiencing divorce and separation compared to focusing exclusively on the "best interest of the child." Parenting plans are crafted to balance the interests—and, more broadly, the constitutional rights—of parents, aiming to provide structure and stability to family systems. These plans blend legal and emotional health principles to advance the state’s goal of protecting children from conflict and fostering a more harmonious community for everyone.    

We will evaluate the "one-size-fits-all" approach to determine whether it systematically overlooks some children, preventing them from having the best possible environment to thrive. Reevaluating parallel parenting might offer a new path to prioritizing children's needs and keeping kids first. 

  Moderators

     Karen MacDonald, LCSW

Karen MacDonald is a licensed clinical social worker and therapist based in Gorham, Maine. She is dedicated to creating a non-judgmental space for individuals to heal and grow. Her strengths-based practice employs various evidence-based modalities to empower clients, emphasizing that they are the experts of their own lives. 

Karen specializes in two areas: working with adolescents facing co-occurring disorders and co-parenting coaching. She has experience in residential settings with teens and young adults who have experienced trauma, using motivational interviewing and authenticity to build therapeutic relationships. Additionally, as a trained mediator, she employs a directive approach in co-parenting coaching, focusing on communication and conflict resolution to help divorced or separated parents establish respectful new relationships.

Karen earned her MSW from the University of Southern Maine School of Social Work.

Karen facilitates the First Step: Foundations in Co-Parenting, the Next Step, ICOPE, and Kids First for Kids! at the Kids First Center. 

More about Ms. MacDonald is found at Psychology Today. 

   Christopher Leddy, Esq.

Christopher Leddy is an attorney with Ainsworth, Thelin & Raftice in South Portland, Maine.  Having started his Family Law and Criminal Defense practice with ATR in 2010, Chris is a regular speaker at family law and guardian seminars throughout Maine and teaches classes at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy to police cadets.  The early years of his legal career were spent in service to the State of Maine as an Assistant District Attorney in Cumberland County, and with the Attorney General’s office in the Child Protective Division.  He became a rostered Guardian Ad Litem in 2004 and was appointed to the initial Guardian Ad Litem Review board by the Law Court in 2015.  

Attorney Leddy earned his JD from the University of Maine School of Law in 1996 and appears in Maine courts from Bangor to York.    

More about Attorney Leddy at the  Ainsworth Thelin & Raftice website.

 Webinar 1: Now Available On Demand, click here.

Insights from Research: A Review of Academic Literature and the Law

  Webinar 2: Now Available On Demand, click here.

High Conflict and Domestic Abuse: The Case for Parallel Parenting Plans

 Webinar 3: Thursday, April 17, 2025 2:00 to 4:00 pm (ET)

Effectively Using Family Systems Approaches in the Development of Parallel Parenting Plans

This webinar presented by Meg MacDougal, Esq and Dr. Daniel Puhlman, LMFT, will explore the use of Family Systems Theory for determining parenting plans in families experiencing custody disputes resulting from divorce and separation.  Parallel parenting is an innovative way of thinking about and managing challenging coparenting situations. Family Systems approaches provide a core foundation for evaluating and understanding families, hinging on the premise that the “whole is greater than the sum of its parts”.  Using family systems principles in the development of parallel parenting plans can ensure that the needs of the entire family system are prioritized and integrated into effective solutions. This webinar will examine the challenges and benefits of using family systems theory in both a legal and clinical context when working with complex family situations. 

$50.00, 2.0 hours CLE; 2.0 hours CPE (pending)

  Presenters

  Daniel Puhlman, Ph.D, LMFT

Daniel is an Assistant Professor in the Human Development and Family Studies program at the University of Maine, part of the School of Educational Leadership, Higher Education and Human Development. As the Head of the Parenting Relationships Research Lab, his research is focused on family processes and relationships related to parenting. Specifically, he looks at co-parenting relationships, how parents influence one another in raising children, clinical interventions related to working with families experiencing high conflict, and the use of technology to support families. 

Daniel’s work centers around the development of theoretical and conceptual models and engaging in empirical explorations of these family processes. He has published in top-ranked family science journals and presented at numerous conferences nationally and internationally. He is also a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, has worked clinically with families for the past 25 years, and is a rostered Gaurdian Ad Litem in Maine practicing with JNM Family Consulting, his private practice located in Bangor.  

 He received a PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy from Florida State University and was a faculty member at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Daniel comes to the University of Maine since 2018 with his wife Jane and 3 children, Max, Nathyn, and Jack. He is originally from Pittsburgh and is an avid hockey fan (Go Penguins!) and loves to be outdoors. 

 

For more about Dr. Puhlman, click here.

  Meg MacDougal, Esq.

With 20 years of experience, Meg MacDougal, Esq. is a skilled divorce mediator and Guardian ad litem supporting families and children through challenging legal situations. Meg has extensive experience assisting high-conflict families to interrupt harmful dynamics and patterns of conflict to reach child-centered solutions. In her early years of litigation practice, Meg dedicated herself to representing low-income parents in high-risk family violence situations. Meg regularly collaborates with mental health professionals, social services, and other community organizations to help families receive tailored community support and interventions through difficult transitions. 

Meg earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bates College in 1999 and graduated from the University of Arizona, College of Law in 2005. Meg regularly contributes her expertise as a rostered member of the Court Alternative Dispute Resolution Services and as a Guardian ad Litem for the State of Maine judicial Branch. Meg is an active member of the Maine Bar and the Maine Association of Mediators and sits on the Judicial Advisory Committee for the Court Alternative Dispute Resolution Services. 

Originally from Cumberland, Maine, Meg has lived in various locations across the country but returned to her home state in 2011. Outside of her professional endeavors, she enjoys exploring the outdoors, reading, cooking, and spending time with her family.

For more about Attorney MacDougal, click here.

  Registration

Click to register.

  Sponsors

The Kids First Institute is underwritten in part by the generous support of: