Colorado’s bill restricts “reunion treatment” in custody cases and requires training and expertise
family law
Colorado’s bill restricts “reunion treatment” in custody cases and requires training and expertise
May 30, 2023 3:37 pm (CDT).
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Family courts in Colorado child custody cases cannot cut a child off from a protective parent to whom they are attached solely to mend the relationship with a rejected parent accused of abuse or domestic violence, according to a bill passed came into force last week.
Also, by law, Colorado courts cannot order “reunion treatment” for children based on severing contact with the protective parent. And reunion treatment cannot be ordered at all unless there is generally accepted and scientifically valid evidence of the therapeutic value and safety of such treatment, according to the legislative summary of House Bill 23-1178.
Other provisions of the law require family investigators and custody experts to complete annual training focused on domestic violence and child abuse. The law also states that Colorado courts should consider the testimony of an expert in such cases if the expert has expertise and experience working with victims of domestic violence or child abuse. And courts deciding custody must consider evidence of prior sexual or physical abuse by the accused parent.
ProPublica and the Denver Gazette report on the provisions of the bill.
The new law makes Colorado the first state to pass legislation equivalent to the federal Keeping Children Safe From Family Violence Act, also known as the Kayden Act, according to ProPublica. Federal law provides funds for states to improve their child custody laws.
The bill was passed following a ProPublica investigation into court-ordered reunification camps, which found that some programs attempt to coerce children into compliance through “physical restraints, threats and the removal of personal items — including food, clothing and shower paraphernalia.” to force.
Many reunion programs are based on the notion that the children are suffering from parental alienation caused by the influence of a protective parent intent on undermining the other parent. According to ProPublica, parental alienation “has been dismissed by mainstream academic circles but continues to influence custody decisions.”
In another ProPublica story, it was reported that some Colorado custody assessors have been accused of domestic violence.
Colorado law goes into effect immediately, but does not overturn current court orders on reunification programs. However, the protective parents can invoke the law when appealing orders to remove children from their custody.
Kayden’s Law is named for 7-year-old Kayden Mancuso of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, who was killed by her father while in court-ordered custody. Kayden’s mother had presented evidence of the father’s criminal record and a protection order against him to the court. Nevertheless, the father was in unsupervised contact with Kayden.
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