Parent Education and Other Court Requirements

Parent Education

Family Court Services offers a Court-mandated class called “Helping Your Children Cope with Family Change.”  The class provides information to parents about legal issues, child development, co-parenting strategies, conflict resolution and community resources.  The class is required by the Court (ORS 3.425) for all people who are parties in a domestic relations (family law) case that decides the custody of a child.  

Due to COVID 19 Virus, Multnomah County is not holding in-person parent education classes.  Instead, we are offering the class virtually, through Zoom. 

We offer one or more Zoom-platform virtual classes per week, either on a Thursday afternoon (1:00 - 4:30 PM), Thursday evening (5:30 - 9:00 PM) or Saturday (9:00 AM - 12:30 PM).

You can register for a virtual parent education class and pay the registration fee by filling out this form: Parent Education Registration Webform. If you need special accommodations, including free language interpretation, have questions or concerns, or if you are not able to use the Zoom platform call 503-988-3037 and leave a detailed message including your name and phone number.  We will call you back within about a day. 

Fee waivers based on low income are available  Low Income Fee Waiver - Parent Education (542.04 KB)

Low Income Fee Waiver - Parent Education (542.04 KB)

The companion booklet to the class includes a great deal of information about child development, co-parenting and the legal process of separating/divorce, as well as available local resources, websites and booklists you may find useful.  You can download it here:

Parents Helping Children Cope With Family Change Booklet (3 MB)

Policy for rescheduling a parenting class

It is free to reschedule a parent education class for any reason so long as you notify Family Court Services (FCS) at least 24 hours before your scheduled class time.  You can notify FCS by phone – (503) 988 – 3037 (leave a message if necessary) or email – multco.parented@multco.us. A maximum of two free reschedules are allowed per person.

  • “No Shows” - If you do not attend your class as scheduled, you will be charged $70 to reschedule unless you notify FCS 24 hours before the class starts. The $70 fee will apply even if your registration fees were waived.
  • “Same Day Reschedules” - If you contact us to reschedule your class less than 24 hours before the class, the reschedule fee is $25
  • Class Fees are NOT refundable

Get information about mediation

  • Mediation is free and available to both voluntary and court-ordered parents regarding child custody and parenting time issues in Multnomah County. Get more information about mediation here.

Find out what to expect in court

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