Last year, Pennsylvania adopted SB 55, named “Kayden’s Law” after a 7 year-old child who was brutally murdered by her father after a court had awarded him partial custody. Signed into law by Governor Josh Shapiro on April 15, 2024, Kayden’s Law took effect last August, making sweeping changes to the statutes that govern child custody.
The crux of Kayden’s Law is a greater emphasis on child safety. The most impactful changes to the law can be summarized broadly as follows:
- The court must include safeguards to protect the child when awarding custody to anyone who has a history of abuse, even where the court has not necessarily found that there is an ongoing risk of harm to the child.
- If the court does determine that there is an ongoing threat of harm, then there is a presumption that any custodial time awarded to the party will be supervised. The court must provide a rationale in its order if unsupervised custody is awarded.
- The law now favors professional supervision when feasible, and provides new requirements for the appointment of non-professional supervisors.
- The victim of the past or current abuse need not be the subject child. Kayden’s Law will be triggered if the victim of the abuse is any child or any other household member of the abuser.
- Safeguards are also required where a current household member of a party has a history of abuse.
- If the court finds a history of abuse based upon an indicated report by child protective services, it must conduct its own separate hearing and make its own finding regarding the circumstances that led to the indicated report.
- The list of specific crimes that a court must consider when assessing risk of harm has been expanded to include simple assault, reckless endangerment, interference with custody of a child, and certain crimes against animals.
- The definition of “abuse” now includes stalking, and specifically excludes the justified use of force to protect oneself or another from the other party.
Kayden’s Law also addresses the accusations of “parental alienation” that are commonly made by abusive parties in custody litigation. In making a custody determination, the court must consider certain factors, including the willingness of each party to encourage frequent and continuing contact with the other party, as well as any attempts to turn the child away from the other party. In recent years, abusers have used these factors to their advantage, claiming that the other party has been alienating the child from them. Kayden’s Law provides that a party’s efforts to keep the child safe shall not be weighed against them, provided that their actions are reasonable and necessary to ensure safety.
The above list is generalized and far from exhaustive. If you have questions about how the law applies to your own custody matter, you should discuss the specific facts of your case with an attorney.
