If you have filed a contested custody request in Sonoma County, you will be given two dates: one for a Child Custody Recommending Counseling (CCRC) session with Family Court Services, and one for your hearing in front of a judge. The counseling session comes first, and what happens there often shapes what happens at the hearing.
Most parents walk into that appointment knowing almost nothing about it. This guide explains what the session is, how to prepare, and what happens to the counselor’s recommendation afterward.
What is Child Custody Recommending Counseling?
CCRC is a meeting between both parents and a trained Family Court Services counselor, and its purpose is to help you build a parenting plan yourselves rather than have one imposed on you. The counselor’s role is to reduce conflict between parents and reach a plan that serves the children’s best interests.
You may still hear this called “mediation” or “Family Court Services mediation,” including from people who have been through the process before. California renamed it Child Custody Recommending Counseling, and the distinction matters. Sonoma County is a recommending county, which means that if you do not reach an agreement, the counselor writes a recommendation that goes to the judge deciding your case. This is not a private settlement conversation that disappears if it fails.
The counselors are not volunteers or court clerks. California requires a master’s degree in counseling, social work, or a related field, at least two years of post-graduate work experience, and ongoing annual continuing education.
You must complete the orientation before your appointment
Sonoma County requires two things to be finished before you show up, and parents miss this constantly.
First, you must watch the court’s full orientation video, which covers helping children through separation and building a parenting plan. Second, you must complete the court’s online intake form. Both are available on the Family Court Services page of the Sonoma County Superior Court website, and both are mandatory.
Under the local rules, contested custody matters generally will not be heard until the parties have had the opportunity to attend orientation and a Family Court Services appointment. Skipping the prep work does not just start you off badly with the counselor — it can slow your entire case down.
How long does the session take?
Plan for up to two hours and clear your schedule accordingly.
That two hours is a ceiling, not a guarantee. The court is explicit that parents who arrive late or show up unprepared may get less time. Since this session may be your only chance to shape the recommendation before it reaches the judge, losing thirty minutes to a late arrival is a genuine cost.
What the counselor will and won’t discuss
The session covers custody and visitation only. The counselor will not address child support, spousal support, division of property, or enforcement of an existing order. If those issues are live in your case, they belong in front of the judge, not in this room.
Two other limits surprise people. The counselor will not recommend which school your child should attend, treating that as a decision for the parents. And in a move-away case, the counselor will not make a recommendation on whether the children should be allowed to relocate — that determination is left to the judge.
What documents can you bring?
Anything you want the counselor to actually review needs to be filed with the court in a timely way beforehand. You cannot arrive with a folder of evidence and expect it to be considered.
There is one narrow exception. Documents showing that you have complied with prior court orders — proof of counseling, completion of a parenting class, AA attendance records — may be brought directly to the session without serving the other side first. No other documents will be accepted at the appointment.
Be aware that Sonoma County’s local rules allow the court to impose a financial penalty on a party or attorney who fails to provide documents to the opposing side. Getting this timing right matters.
Will the counselor interview your child?
Do not bring your children to Family Court Services unless the court or the counselor has specifically asked you to.
If you and the other parent cannot resolve things during the session, the counselor may ask to interview your child to clarify issues that came up. If you reach an agreement on your own, interviewing the children may never be necessary.
California law requires the court to consider and give due weight to the preferences of a child who is old enough and mature enough to form an intelligent preference. The judge decides when a child has reached that point, and the court must consider a child’s wishes without being bound to follow them. A child who is 14 or older, or their parent, may request that the child be interviewed by a counselor or provide testimony directly to the court.
If there has been domestic violence
Sonoma County Family Court Services treats safety as a priority, and you do not have to sit in a room with someone who has abused you.
If you are protected by a restraining order, or you declare under penalty of perjury that there is a history of domestic violence even without an order in place, you may ask to meet separately with the counselor and you may bring a support person with you. You will need to complete the court’s Family Court Services domestic violence form and submit it at your appointment.
This is not only about comfort during the session. If the court finds that one parent committed domestic violence against the other, Family Code section 3044 can affect both legal and physical custody. Concerns about drug or alcohol use should also be raised directly with the counselor, since habitual use is a factor the court weighs in the best-interest analysis.
What happens after the session
If you reach an agreement, the parenting plan goes to the judge before your hearing, and you and your attorney receive copies. Parents who build their own plans tend to be more satisfied with them and more likely to follow them, which is a large part of why the court structures the process this way.
If you do not reach an agreement, the counselor writes a recommendation to the judge on the disputed issues, along with a report on anything you did agree on. That recommendation often includes a narrative explaining the reasoning behind it. You or your attorney will receive a copy before or at the hearing.
Recommendations can go beyond a schedule. They may include therapy for family members, drug or alcohol treatment, appointment of an evaluator to prepare a written report, or appointment of an attorney or Special Master to represent your child’s interests — often at the parents’ expense.
What if you disagree with the recommendation?
The recommendation is not the ruling. A judge is not required to adopt it, and you have the right to argue against it at your hearing.
Doing that well takes preparation. You will typically have a short window between receiving the recommendation and appearing in court, and in some cases you receive it the day of the hearing. Challenging a recommendation means being ready to show the judge where the counselor’s reasoning does not fit the evidence in your case — which is difficult to do on the spot and without counsel.
One thing you cannot do is call the counselor to talk it over. Local rules prohibit recommending counselors from having contact with the parties before or after the session, and they will not give legal advice. Questions need to go to an attorney, the Family Law Facilitator’s office, or Legal Aid.
What if you miss your appointment?
Take this one seriously: if you miss your CCRC session, the court will not give you another one, regardless of the reason.
You should still attend your scheduled hearing, where the judge will tell you how to proceed. But you will have lost the chance to shape a parenting plan before your case reaches the courtroom.
Where the appointment takes place
Sonoma County Family Court Services is located at the Civil and Family Law Courthouse, 3055 Cleveland Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA 95403. Phone hours run from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM, Monday through Friday, and office hours run from 8:00 AM to 3:30 PM.
Talk to a Santa Rosa custody attorney before your session
Your CCRC appointment is one of the most consequential two hours of a contested custody case, and it happens early — often before parents fully understand what is at stake. Preparing properly means having your declarations and supporting documents filed on time, knowing which issues the counselor can actually act on, and going in with a specific parenting plan rather than a general sense of what you want.
At Conway Law, our Santa Rosa child custody attorneys help parents throughout Sonoma County prepare for Family Court Services and, when a recommendation does not go their way, make the case to the judge. Contact us to talk through your situation before your appointment.
This article provides general information about Sonoma County court procedures and is not legal advice. Court procedures change; confirm current requirements with the Superior Court of California, County of Sonoma.