In Navarrete v. Navarrete, 126 AD3d 801, 802, 5 N.Y.S.3d 295 (2d Dept. 2015), the Appellate Division affirmed the Family Court's modification of the custody protocol then in place based upon evidence that included the report of the forensic evaluator but without conducting a hearing, much less requiring the testimony of the forensic.

As the Court held:

"Here immediately following the conclusion of the family offense proceeding in which the mother's inappropriate conduct toward the subject child and others, and the father's positive parental relationship with the child, were amply demonstrated at a hearing, the Family Court granted the father's petition to modify custody without conducting an additional hearing. Contrary to the mother's contention, a separate hearing and the submission of additional forensic evidence was unnecessary under the circumstances of this case, since the Family Court had adequate relevant information, including the testimony adduced at the hearing in the family offense proceeding and the report of a forensic evaluator, to enable it to render a provident and informed determination as to the petition to modify custody and the subject child's best interests."