What’s Next for Britney?

It's been reported that Kevin Federline will be calling on the testimony or the reports of the firefighters and police that arrived on the scene when Britney was taken to the hospital. Is that usual?
Yes. This whole case is going by the book, except, of course, that the media is involved. I'm assuming that Federline is going in to seek a court order to modify the prior order that she have supervised access to the children, so he's going try and show that she's unable to care for them.  

What would they ask the police and other witnesses in a case like this?
They ask, "What did you observe? What is the condition of the parent? What was said? What was done? Where exactly were the children—what did they see?" It can make a significant difference if the inappropriate behavior, like intoxication, poor choice of words—the use of expletives or things like that—was in front of the children. That kind of contact could severely negatively impact the children. 

Would the court-appointed monitor be called on to testify in a case like this?
The court could call on her, yes, but what a monitor typically does is do a report, put it all in writing. I know the monitor in this case, and she's a family therapist with a lot of experience. She's not at all prone to overreaction.

Are they evaluating the state of Spears's children in the wake of this incident?
I wouldn't be surprised that if any custody evaluation were suspended because Britney is not stable. I believe she may be in what we call serious and chronic distress.

How do these evaluations work?
They're really evaluating the parents, not the kids, to see how they interact with the children.  Normally, in advance of the custody trial [due to start in the spring in the Spears case] you'd have these evaluations, but in Britney's case they're probably not happening. 

How long does it take to show a judge that a parent is the on mend and able to care for her children?
Depending on the severity of the situation, involving the parent's illness or problem, it might be as little as 90 days or it could be two years. Let's say you get a DUI. I had a case where the mother hit four parked cars as she was leaving a restaurant and got arrested. Well, of course, the next day the dad was in court seeking a modification of custody. In that case the same judicial officer that's now handling the Spears case did what he needed to do, and that was to, on a very temporary basis, was to have Dad have custody.