VOCATIONAL CONSULTING

Vocational Assessments in Divorce

What We Do:

Cheryl Foden and Associates follows established industry protocols and methods to provide an opinion as to the earning capacity of an evaluated person. Typically, we can provide an expert opinion in any number of situations. Some examples are the following: 

  • The stay-at-home spouse
  • The former breadwinner who left a high paying position in the corporate sector who post-divorce left to join a low paying start-up
  • A self-employed person who is felt to be underemployed
  • A person now working part time that originally worked full time
  • Someone that is making less than what he or she typically earned in the past. 

There are also questions about a person’s medical ability to work. We are not medical doctors, but we can consider the opinions of medical professionals in reviewing that person’s ability and opportunity to work. 
 
In accordance with Family Law 4320, our firm seeks to provide objective, documented, carefully researched opinions as to an evaluated person’s ability and opportunity to work. We consider 4320 factors such as the person’s age, time out of the job market, health barriers, level of education and the need for retraining, level of computer expertise, past work experience, and the needs of children in evaluating that person’s ability to work. We conduct careful labor market research which includes calls to recruiters and employers with that person’s profile discussed. We also conduct several job searches based on that individual's profile. Finally, we review several sources of salary data. 

With this information, we are also able to provide opinion as to that person’s opportunity to work. At times, we are also asked to provide an opinion as to a person’s willingness to work and, for this assignment, are asked to look at their work efforts over time. Please note that although we will provide background information to the recruiter we speak with to better understand that person’s individual marketability, at no time do we provide that person’s confidential name or other identifying information to protect their privacy.

Generally, it is necessary to meet on phone or in person with the evaluated person to provide an opinion of their ability and opportunity to work. This meeting is not always possible. In some cases, the evaluated person will not meet, yet input is still needed in order to finalize the case. In such cases, the expert can look at reliable background documents about that person, as well as conduct labor market research labeling our ability to provide preliminary opinions. We always prefer to conduct a full vocational assessment whenever possible.

Our Process: 

 A full vocational assessment usually consists of many parts: 

  • Meeting(s) with the evaluated person,
  • A review of documents about that person’s background for greater accuracy, 
  • Career testing, 
  • Vocational research and evaluation, 
  • And a report which details our research and findings. 

Meetings usually take place in person at our Los Gatos office, however, we also have a Santa Cruz County location. There are usually several meetings with the evaluated person. Each meeting is usually one to three hours in length. At that initial meeting we will inform you of our role as the vocational evaluator in this matter. We typically ask that the evaluated person supply background documents such as: 
  1. Their resume, 
  2. Social Security Earning Statement, 
  3. College transcripts, 
  4. Pay stubs, 
  5. Employment efforts
  6. And if alleging health limitations, health records. 

We will then review the documents you provide. Following the meeting with the evaluated person, we typically send links for the individual to take several online tests. The tests that are given measure interest, values and personality variables as related to employment. We do not conduct psychological testing. Some academic or aptitude testing is needed, and must be done in the office. Vocational research into that person’s employment options will begin after the initial meeting. During that meeting, we will also look at training options.

Vocational testing and labor market information is typically shared with the evaluated person so that they can benefit from the process. We will also look at your resume/employment efforts and provide feedback. There will be a second meeting which can be in person or by phone to go over the labor market research originally completed to fine-tune the job search. For those whose skills are out of date, training may be required. There will likely be phone calls and emails to that person during this time to gather additional information. The final call to the evaluated person will be to go over the background of the report to be certain the information is correct and nothing has changed. The end product is a report that goes to both parties per agreement. The process generally takes about 14 to 16 hours in time including the research hours. 

What We Stand For:

We stand for the following: fairness, objectivity, and concern for the welfare of the both parties involved in the divorce. 

Every effort is made to review foundational data that forms our opinions. We carefully check facts and are careful to cite accurate sources. We do not assume – we check. One step, which increases objectivity, is to call recruiters for their input as to the market value of the evaluated person. This helps us fairly gauge how that person would fare in the job market. In additional to calling recruiters and employers, we also conduct employment searches in which we note the number and types of jobs available. In addition, we review employment statistics and salary data on both "court-tested” private subscription websites such as Economic Research Institute, as well as state and federal salary and employment data.

Every effort is made to listen to the person that is being evaluated as well as other parties to help make the process as accurate as possible. This is why we will ask that the evaluated person provide comments on jobs that are found, and ask for their input. We may also obtain information from other sources, apart from the evaluated person. We review the actual documents to clarify the facts of the situation such as the deposition transcript, resume, and salary history. We do not provide personal names to outsiders without written approval. We are aware that going through a divorce can be very uncomfortable for all parties involved and try not to add to the strain that is being felt. We welcome feedback so we can continue to improve our process. 
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