Report Title:
Family Law; Child Custody Evaluators
Description:
Requires the judiciary to convene and obtain assistance from a child custody advisory task force to define the employment requirements, standards of practice, policies, procedures, and court-enforced oversight of investigators and professional personnel that assist with child custody evaluations. (CD1)
THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
2055 |
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008 |
S.D. 2 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
H.D. 2 |
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C.D. 1 |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO FAMILY COURT.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. Existing law allows the court to order an investigation and report concerning the care, welfare, and custody of a minor child of the parties in a contested custody case. In such a case, investigators or professional personnel attached to or assisting the court conduct investigations and prepare reports that are made available to all interested parties and counsel before the hearing.
The purpose of this Act is to define the requirements of court-appointed investigators and professional personnel that assist the courts with child custody evaluations who shall hereafter be referred to as "child custody evaluators".
SECTION 2. Section 571-46, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§571-46 Criteria and procedure in awarding custody and visitation. In the actions for divorce, separation, annulment, separate maintenance, or any other proceeding where there is at issue a dispute as to the custody of a minor child, the court, during the pendency of the action, at the final hearing, or any time during the minority of the child, may make an order for the custody of the minor child as may seem necessary or proper. In awarding the custody, the court shall be guided by the following standards, considerations, and procedures:
(1) Custody should be awarded to either parent or to both parents according to the best interests of the child, and the court may also consider frequent, continuing, and meaningful contact of each parent with the child unless the court finds that a parent is unable to act in the best interest of the child;
(2) Custody may be awarded to persons other than the father or mother whenever the award serves the best interest of the child. Any person who has had de facto custody of the child in a stable and wholesome home and is a fit and proper person shall be entitled prima facie to an award of custody;
(3) If a child is of sufficient age and capacity to reason, so as to form an intelligent preference, the child's wishes as to custody shall be considered and be given due weight by the court;
(4) Whenever good cause appears therefor, the court may require an investigation and report concerning the care, welfare, and custody of any minor child of the parties. When so directed by the court, investigators or professional personnel attached to or assisting the court, hereinafter referred to as child custody evaluators, shall make investigations and reports which shall be made available to all interested parties and counsel before hearing, and the reports may be received in evidence if no objection is made and, if objection is made, may be received in evidence; provided the person or persons responsible for the report are available for cross-examination as to any matter that has been investigated; and provided further that the court shall define the requirements to be a court-appointed child custody evaluator, the standards of practice, ethics, policies, and procedures required of court-appointed child custody evaluators in the performance of their duties for all courts, and the powers of the courts over child custody evaluators to effectuate the best interests of a child in a contested custody dispute pursuant to this section. Where there is no child custody evaluator available that meets the requirements and standards, or any child custody evaluator to serve indigent parties, the court may appoint a person otherwise willing and available.
(5) The court may hear the testimony of any person or expert, produced by any party or upon the court's own motion, whose skill, insight, knowledge, or experience is such that the person's or expert's testimony is relevant to a just and reasonable determination of what is for the best physical, mental, moral, and spiritual well-being of the child whose custody is at issue;
(6) Any custody award shall be subject to modification or change whenever the best interests of the child require or justify the modification or change and, wherever practicable, the same person who made the original order shall hear the motion or petition for modification of the prior award;
(7) Reasonable visitation rights shall be awarded to parents, grandparents, siblings, and any person interested in the welfare of the child in the discretion of the court, unless it is shown that rights of visitation are detrimental to the best interests of the child;
(8) The court may appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the interests of the child and may assess the reasonable fees and expenses of the guardian ad litem as costs of the action, payable in whole or in part by either or both parties as the circumstances may justify;
(9) In every proceeding where there is at issue a dispute as to the custody of a child, a determination by the court that family violence has been committed by a parent raises a rebuttable presumption that it is detrimental to the child and not in the best interest of the child to be placed in sole custody, joint legal custody, or joint physical custody with the perpetrator of family violence. In addition to other factors that a court must consider in a proceeding in which the custody of a child or visitation by a parent is at issue, and in which the court has made a finding of family violence by a parent:
(A) The court shall consider as the primary factor the safety and well-being of the child and of the parent who is the victim of family violence;
(B) The court shall consider the perpetrator's history of causing physical harm, bodily injury, or assault or causing reasonable fear of physical harm, bodily injury, or assault to another person; and
(C) If a parent is absent or relocates because of an act of family violence by the other parent, the absence or relocation shall not be a factor that weighs against the parent in determining custody or visitation;
(10) A court may award visitation to a parent who committed family violence only if the court finds that adequate provision can be made for the physical safety and psychological well-being of the child and for the safety of the parent who is a victim of family violence;
(11) In a visitation order, a court may:
(A) Order an exchange of a child to occur in a protected setting;
(B) Order visitation supervised by another person or agency;
(C) Order the perpetrator of family violence to attend and complete, to the satisfaction of the court, a program of intervention for perpetrators or other designated counseling as a condition of the visitation;
(D) Order the perpetrator of family violence to abstain from possession or consumption of alcohol or controlled substances during the visitation and for twenty-four hours preceding the visitation;
(E) Order the perpetrator of family violence to pay a fee to defray the costs of supervised visitation;
(F) Prohibit overnight visitation;
(G) Require a bond from the perpetrator of family violence for the return and safety of the child. In determining the amount of the bond, the court shall consider the financial circumstances of the perpetrator of family violence;
(H) Impose any other condition that is deemed necessary to provide for the safety of the child, the victim of family violence, or other family or household member; and
(I) Order the address of the child and the victim to be kept confidential;
(12) The court may refer but shall not order an adult who is a victim of family violence to attend, either individually or with the perpetrator of the family violence, counseling relating to the victim's status or behavior as a victim as a condition of receiving custody of a child or as a condition of visitation;
(13) If a court allows a family or household member to supervise visitation, the court shall establish conditions to be followed during visitation; and
(14) A supervised visitation center must provide: a secure setting and specialized procedures for supervised visitation and the transfer of children for visitation and supervision by a person trained in security and the avoidance of family violence."
SECTION 3. (a) The judiciary shall submit to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2009, a report of its findings, recommendations, and resource requirements to implement the following:
(1) Appointment of child custody evaluators who meet education, experience, training, professional licensing, continuing education, and other requirements;
(2) Enforcement of comprehensive standards of practice and ethics for investigations, evaluations, and reporting, as related to child custody;
(3) Monitoring and administrative practice and procedures as applicable, to process complaints against child custody evaluators and to take appropriate action; and
(4) An administrative appeal process for both parties and child custody evaluators.
(b) The judiciary shall convene and obtain assistance from a child custody advisory task force to review and make findings and recommendations relating to standards, education, and regulatory oversight and control. Members of the task force shall be representatives from the following organizations:
(1) National Association of Social Workers-Hawaii Chapter;
(2) Hawaii Association of Marriage & Family Therapists;
(3) Hawaii Psychological Association;
(4) Hawaii Psychiatric Medical Association;
(5) Hawaii Nurses Association;
(6) Family Law Section of the Hawaii State Bar Association;
(7) Child Law Section of the Hawaii State Bar Association;
(8) Honolulu Family Court Professionals;
(9) Department of the attorney general;
(10) Child welfare division of the department of human services;
(11) Professional and vocational licensing division of the department of commerce and consumer affairs;
(12) Educational institutions with child and family expertise; and
(13) Other organizations deemed appropriate by the judiciary.
(c) Task force meetings shall be open to the public but public testimony shall be allowed only upon request of the task force. The task force shall terminate upon the submittal of the judiciary's report to the legislature pursuant to this section.
SECTION 4. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.