by Barry Goldstein
Last month my article was about legislation needed to stop custody courts from routinely sending children into the custody of dangerous abusers. My meeting with a state legislator led to her request that I prepare a proposal that would be the basis of legislation to reform the broken system. I would like to thank Toby Kleinman for her assistance in drafting this proposal. Immediately below will be my proposal for a Safe Child Act and I will then discuss why I think this would make a difference. You are most welcome to post or otherwise use this proposal and this article in support of efforts to reform the system. In fact I hope many people will take the proposal for a Safe Child Act and ask their legislators to sponsor it.
Safe Child Act
Purpose: Improve the Safety of Children involved in Child Custody Cases
Child Sexual Abuse Cases
Allegations of child sexual abuse make people uncomfortable and court professionals often respond by using practices that undermine their ability to recognize and respond to valid allegations. In the findings the law specifically describes the problem of courts frequently giving custody to sexual predators and taking safe, protective mothers out of children’s lives at a time when the children most need them. The law is clear that one of the purposes is to reform the way custody courts respond to child sexual abuse allegations.
Several improved practices are specifically required. Any professionals relied on by the courts would be required to have experience and expertise in child sexual abuse. They would be required to take the time to develop a trusting relationship with the child before expecting her to reveal the abuse. Practices that treated the failure of prosecutors of child protective agencies to bring charges as proof the allegations were false would be outlawed. Courts would be forbidden to penalize parents for making good faith allegations of abuse. Courts would be required to consider common situations like boundary violations, evidence that is insufficient to determine if the allegations are true, and good faith allegations that turn out wrong. Accordingly courts would be discouraged from limiting their investigation to the possibility that the allegation is true or else assuming it is a deliberately false allegation.
The law would also take steps to prevent the blind reliance of mental health professionals who often do not have the needed expertise or worse have a bias against believing mothers’ allegations. All parties would have the right to present their own expert witnesses and the court would be required to evaluate the expert testimony based upon credentials and the value of the testimony rather than automatically give preference to the court-appointed expert. This is important as we often see courts refuse to hear domestic violence or other experts that could help the court understand the circumstances.
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