Child custody recommending counseling in Los Angeles is a new court process where a Family Court Services specialist interviews both parents and sends the judge a written custody recommendation. It applies to certain contested dissolution cases at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse starting August 25, 2026. Mediation comes first.
If you are filing for divorce in downtown Los Angeles and custody is contested, this changes something important. For years, what you said in your court-connected mediation session stayed between you, your spouse, and the mediator. The judge never heard it. Under the new pilot program, if mediation does not produce a full agreement, a second session follows, and that one ends with a written recommendation going straight to the bench.
Here is what the order actually says, who it applies to, and what it means for how you prepare.
What Is Child Custody Recommending Counseling in Los Angeles?
Child custody recommending counseling, often shortened to CCRC, is a court service in which a trained Family Court Services (FCS) specialist meets with both parents, hears each side’s position on custody and visitation, and then writes a report recommending a specific parenting plan to the judge.
It exists under California Family Code section 3183, which permits a court mediator, consistent with local court rules, to submit a custody or visitation recommendation to the judge, so long as the parties and their attorneys receive that recommendation in writing before the hearing. When a mediator has that authority, the statute calls the process child custody recommending counseling and calls the mediator a child custody recommending counselor.
Many California counties have used this model for years. Los Angeles has not. Until now, the Court used a non-recommending model, where the mediator stayed confidential and simply reported whether an agreement was reached.
The Superior Court of Los Angeles County issued General Order 2026-GEN-011-00 on August 19, 2026, establishing the pilot. Presiding Judge Sergio C. Tapia II signed it, and it took effect August 25, 2026. The Court’s stated goals include promoting the best interests of children, encouraging parental agreement, reducing the trauma of prolonged litigation, and letting the Court compare a recommending model against its current one.
Which Cases the Los Angeles CCRC Pilot Program Covers
The pilot is narrow. Reading the applicability section carefully matters, because most Los Angeles custody cases are not affected at all.
The general order applies to a case only when all of these are true:
- It is a dissolution proceeding, meaning a divorce case
- It is filed at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse in the Court’s Central District
- There are minor children with a contested custody or visitation dispute
- No prior custody or visitation orders have been issued in the case
- The request for order seeking custody or visitation was filed on or after August 25, 2026
The Court’s announcement describes the pilot as applying to initial Requests for Orders seeking custody or visitation filed on or after the effective date. If your custody request was already on file before August 25, 2026, the pilot does not reach it.
The fourth condition is the one people miss. If a judge has already made a custody or visitation order in your case, even a temporary one, the pilot does not apply. This is aimed at the first contested custody decision in a new divorce.
If your case is at Van Nuys, Torrance, Pomona, Long Beach, or any of the Court’s other family law locations, the standard non-recommending process still applies to you. The general order describes this as a pilot that lets the Court assess the recommending model and compare it against its current non-recommending approach. It does not say what happens after that, so parents outside the Central District should watch for updates rather than assume the change is countywide.
How the Two-Step Custody Process Works Under the Pilot
The pilot does not replace mediation. It adds a second step behind it.
Step one, confidential mediation with an FCS specialist
You and the other parent first attend court-connected mediation with a Family Court Services specialist, run under the Court’s existing Local Rule 5.19. This session works the way it always has. It is confidential, the specialist stays neutral, and the goal is a full agreement on custody and visitation.
If you reach that agreement, you are done. Nothing goes to the judge except your agreement, and the recommending step never happens. That alone is a reason to take the first session seriously.
Step two, the recommending counseling session
If mediation does not produce a full agreement, the parties must participate in good faith in a CCRC session. A partial agreement is not enough to stop the process.
A few details from the order are worth knowing:
- The CCRC session is conducted by a different FCS specialist than the one who mediated
- You are told the date, time, and location of the CCRC session at the end of your mediation
- The session should take place at least 10 calendar days before your custody hearing when possible
- The specialist interviews both parents and gives each of you the opportunity to present your position
Failure to participate in good faith can carry consequences. The order states it may result in sanctions authorized by law or adverse evidentiary inferences, which means the judge may be permitted to draw a negative conclusion from your conduct.
What Goes Into the CCRC Report and Who Can Read It
The specialist’s report has to explain the reasoning behind the recommended parenting plan, not just state a conclusion. Under the order, the recommendation focuses on the best interests of the child, including child safety and stability, developmentally appropriate parenting arrangements, continuity of school and healthcare, reducing the child’s exposure to parental conflict, and compliance with statutory presumptions.
The specialist may also look beyond what the two of you say in the room. If there is a significant concern affecting a child’s health, safety, or welfare, the order permits consideration of collateral contacts and additional information, which can include criminal history, contacts with the Department of Children and Family Services, and non-party witnesses including the children themselves.
On confidentiality, the report occupies an unusual middle ground. It is non-confidential as between the FCS specialist, the Court, the parties, and their attorneys, but it stays confidential as to the public. Family Code sections 3025.5 and 3177 control who may see it.
That distinction has teeth. The report may not be attached to or referred to in material part in a public filing. It may not be submitted in other case types. Improper disclosure can result in monetary sanctions against the party or the attorney, in an amount sufficient to deter repetition, and the sanction may include attorney’s fees and costs.
The order does build in an exception. A sanction should not be imposed if the Court finds the disclosing party or attorney acted with substantial justification, or that other circumstances would make the sanction unjust, such as an unreasonable financial burden on the person being sanctioned. Treat that as a narrow safety valve rather than a reason to be casual with the report.
Deadlines and Objections in the Recommending Counseling Process
The general order builds a tight calendar around the hearing. Missing a date can cost you the ability to challenge the report at all.
- 10 calendar days before the hearing: the specialist must disclose the report and recommendations to the parties, their counsel, and the Court
- 5 calendar days before the hearing: any evidentiary objections must be in writing and served
- Objections that reference the content of the report must include a Confidential Report Coversheet and be filed under seal
If you do not file and serve timely objections, the judge may consider the report at the hearing and may use it as the basis for a custody or visitation order. The order states plainly that untimely objections are deemed waived.
You can ask the Court at the hearing to subpoena the recommending counselor. That process runs through Government Code sections 68097.1 and 68097.2 and requires service on the Office of Court Counsel at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, along with a $275 deposit for witness fees at least 10 calendar days before the hearing unless a witness fee waiver is on file. Getting FCS documents produced is harder still, because the Court will not order production without an in-camera review first.
How Child Custody Recommending Counseling Changes Your Approach in Los Angeles
The practical shift is this. In a non-recommending county, your FCS session is a settlement conversation. Under this pilot, if the first session does not settle, the second one becomes something closer to your first real presentation of the case, and it happens before you ever stand in front of the judge.
That matters most in high-conflict cases. When one parent is skilled at appearing calm and reasonable while the other is exhausted, frightened, or reacting to years of pressure, a single interview can read very differently than the underlying facts warrant. Parents divorcing a controlling or narcissistic spouse often learn this the hard way. Preparation is not about performing. It is about being able to state your position clearly, keep it focused on the children, and support it with specifics rather than adjectives.
A few things the order restricts, which are worth understanding before you try to get ahead of the process:
- Neither party, their attorney, nor minor’s counsel may contact the FCS specialist before or after the appointment for anything other than scheduling
- There are no peremptory challenges to an FCS specialist, so you cannot simply request a different one
- A specialist may be challenged for cause, such as a personal acquaintance with a party or child or a conflict of interest
- After the report is filed and served, any challenge to the specialist must be raised by a request for order in the case
Working with a child custody lawyer in Los Angeles who has read the general order and understands these limits gives you a realistic view of what can and cannot be contested, and when.
What the Judge Can Still Do After the Recommendation
A recommendation is not an order. The general order is explicit that nothing in it limits a judicial officer’s authority to:
- Adopt, modify, or reject the specialist’s recommendations
- Order a custody evaluation under Evidence Code section 730
- Conduct an evidentiary hearing
- Enter temporary emergency orders
- Appoint minor’s counsel
- Refer the parties to additional services
In practice, a written recommendation from a court-appointed specialist carries real weight with a busy family law bench. Treat it as influential rather than final, and treat the objection deadline as the moment that determines whether you get to challenge it at all.
What to Do If Your Custody Case Falls Under the CCRC Pilot Program
If you have a contested custody dispute in a dissolution case at Stanley Mosk with no prior custody orders, a few steps put you in a stronger position.
- Confirm whether the pilot applies. Check the filing date of your request for order, the courthouse, and whether any custody or visitation order already exists in your case.
- Take mediation seriously. A full agreement in step one ends the process. Decide in advance which issues you can be flexible on and which you cannot.
- Prepare a child-focused position. Schedules, school logistics, healthcare, and the child’s routine land better than a history of grievances against the other parent.
- Calendar the deadlines the day you get the report. You have five calendar days to serve written objections, and anything referencing the report has to be filed under seal.
- Do not contact the FCS specialist. Scheduling only. Anything else risks an improper ex parte communication.
Los Angeles has run a non-recommending custody model until now, and this pilot is a meaningful departure for the families it touches. If your case is headed for a contested custody hearing at Stanley Mosk, speaking with an attorney who handles child custody matters in Los Angeles can help you understand how the new process applies to your situation and how to prepare for a session that now carries far more weight than it used to. If your goal is to resolve custody without a contested hearing at all, child custody mediation is worth considering early.