
Illinois law requires all parents of minor children involved in any action involving custody or visitation to complete a court-authorized parent education program. Such actions include modification of custody or visitation or if moving with a child or children from Illinois. Children in Between Online is accepted throughout the state as an online parenting class.
*To see if the course is accepted in your county, please see the list at the bottom of this page

The divorce/separation of one’s parents is a major event in the life of a child. Children in Between Online ensures that the accompanying stress is minimized, the long-term psychological burden is eased, and the whole process is made more understandable and manageable for the parents so that children will benefit.


No other class has validated and documented studies to show the positive results that Children in Between Online can produce. None of the other major advertised parenting classes do the research to prove the value of their class for the children.
CONVENIENT ONLINE COURSE- CONFIDENTIAL AND SECURE
Watch to learn more!

Award Winning Class developed by noted psychologist, Donald A. Gordon, PhD
Take at home, not in a classroom
Complete the course 100% online
Accessible 24/7 on computers, smartphones, and tablets
Only 4 hours to complete
30 days access. Log in and out as needed.
What Parents are saying about
Children in Between Online:
Counties in the State are listed below. If your county is listed in red, please contact the court to see if you can take this course online.
Adams County
Alexander County
Bond County
Boone County
Brown County
Bureau County
Calhoun County
Carroll County
Cass County
Champaign County
Christian County
Clark County
Clay County
Clinton County
Coles County
Cook County
Crawford County
Cumberland County
DeKalb County
DeWitt County
Douglas County
DuPage County
Edgar County
Edwards County
Effingham County
Fayette County
Ford County
Franklin County
Fulton County
Gallatin County
Greene County
Grundy County
Hamilton County
Hancock County
Hardin County
Henderson County
Henry County
Iroquois County
Jackson County
Jasper County
Jefferson County
Jersey County
Jo Daviess County
Johnson County
Kane County
Kankakee County
Kendall County
Knox County
Lake County
LaSalle County
Lawrence County
Lee County
Livingston County
Logan County
Macon County
Macoupin County
Madison County
Marion County
Marshall County
Mason County
Massac County
McDonough County
McHenry County
McLean County
Menard County
Mercer County
Monroe County
Montgomery County
Morgan County
Moultrie County
Ogle County
Peoria County
Perry County
Piatt County
Pike County
Pope County
Pulaski County
Putnam County
Randolph County
Richland County
Rock Island County
Saline County
Sangamon County
Schuyler County
Scott County
Shelby County
St. Clair County
Stark County
Stephenson County
Tazewell County
Union County
Vermilion County
Wabash County
Warren County
Washington County
Wayne County
White County
Whiteside County
Will County
Williamson County
Winnebago County
Woodford County
Since 1991, The Center for Divorce Education has been dedicated to helping parents and children deal with the difficult process of divorce and separation. Over this period our parenting program has evolved based on continuing research in the field. Today tens of thousands of divorcing/separating parents make use of our highly effective interactive parenting class “Children in Between Online” for reducing the stress of divorce and separation.
Our interactive, skills-based approach has been recognized by experts among the top programs being offered today. Donald A. Gordon, Ph.D., the Executive Director of CDE, is also our program/curriculum developer. Dr. Gordon is a clinical psychologist with an expertise targeting the reduction and prevention of delinquency. During his forty plus years of working with families, Dr. Gordon has studied the effects that different strategies have on reducing conflict within a family, both with parents and children.
In the early 1980’s, Dr. Gordon and his colleagues at Ohio University noticed a common characteristic among the youth with whom they were working -- namely that many of them came from homes where their parents were divorced, divorcing, or never- married parents living apart. After doing some further investigation in the literature, Dr. Gordon and his colleagues confirmed that divorce is among the key risk factors for delinquency. From there, Dr. Gordon and his colleagues shifted their energy and research focus to try and identify specific strategies that could help reduce parental conflict. The goal became to change the behavior of parents who unknowingly place their children in the middle of their conflicts that create the most harmful of consequences, loyalty binds.
Based on his research in the early nineties, Dr. Gordon developed a parenting curriculum that could be standardized and offered by social service agencies, mental health agencies, and private counselors. This class “Children in Between” was purchased by hundreds of providers who, in turn, presented the curriculum to divorcing/separating parents in a classroom setting. While most parents today are taking our online parenting class, there are still more than a hundred agencies who present our material and video content in a live classroom setting.
Following the broad acceptance of our live class, Children in Between, (CIB) co- parenting program, in 2007, Dr. Gordon adapted the material into a highly interactive format that could be offered to parents everywhere via the Internet. Today, over two thousand parents monthly have access to this parenting class on their computers, smartphones, and tablets.
Since 1992, over four hundred fifty thousand parents in all fifty states have either taken our class online (100,000), or in person (approx. 350,000). The online version, Children in Between Online (CIBO), launched in 2008. Over three thousand parents each month are taking the class on their computers and smart phones in forty-five states. In a bid competition with dozens of other online classes, CIBO has been approved as the only accepted provider in some of the largest court systems in the country including: Clark County (Las Vegas) (initially), Cook County (Chicago, IL) Hamilton County (Cincinnati, OH) and Wayne County (Detroit). We are one of only two approved providers in Maricopa County (Phoenix, AZ) as well. Today, the course has been accepted in more than two hundred and fifty judicial districts.
The research evidence on Children in Between (CIB) resulted in the program's being listed on the National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices. The ratings of numerous controlled studies on CIB were above average in quality of the research and the findings. CIB is one of only two parenting classes listed on NREPP for co-parenting or divorce education.
CIB was also selected as a Model Program for SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration). This selection was based upon a review of all of the research for CIB, and the program's readiness for dissemination nationally. Only 52 programs were designated Model Programs, out of over 400 submissions.
Today, we continue to improve and revise the program based on feedback from parents, agencies, and courts. The class was completely re-filmed and revised as of late 2018 and won a Telly Award and W3 Award for content.
Although many parents do not want to complete a parenting class, 9 out of 10 parents who take our course say they would recommend it to other parents. Our class is online, it is easy to understand, and it can be taken on any internet-connected device. We are proud of the work that we have done so far and will continue to do our best to help parents and their children.
The Center for Divorce Education
877-874-1365
staff@divorce-education.com
© 2020 The Center for Divorce Education

CDE's Children in Between is a skills based program that helps children and parents deal with the children's reactions to divorce.
The program is based on research that identifies the most common and stressful loyalty conflicts experienced by children of divorce.