Mental health professionals will encounter a wide range of ages and situations and should consider the limitations of their training, interests, and comfort in assessing various age groups. To overcome problems of bias, confidentiality, and maintenance of the patient-therapist alliance, the court evaluator should not be someone who has had an ongoing therapeutic relationship with the child or family. The psychiatrist should also not assume that individuals are telling the truth. They must clearly explain their role, the purpose of the evaluation, and the lack of confidentiality to each person being interviewed. The evaluation techniques should match the type of evaluation: delinquency and status offense evaluations, child abuse and neglect cases, and competency to stand trial. 7 references