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Corman's Bill Limiting Frivolous Complaints
During Child Custody Hearings Passes Senate
HARRISBURG -- Today
the State Senate unanimously passed legislation that will curtail the filing of
frivolous complaints in child custody hearings and provide limited immunity for
child custody evaluators, according to the measure's author, Senator Jake Corman
(R-34).
Corman's Senate Bill 845
would prohibit any person who is a party to a child custody hearing from filing
a complaint against a court-appointed health care or behavioral health care
practitioner who is making recommendations on the child custody agreement or
court order. This prohibition would be in effect prior to the issuance of the
final order and for 60 days after.
Corman said a survey done in
2001 showed that psychologists who conduct custody evaluations are at a high
risk to be reported to disciplinary boards. Most of these complaints are
frivolous and the large majority are never accepted by the Bureau of
Professional and Occupational Affairs as formal complaints. Although
psychologists do the majority of child custody evaluations, other professions,
such as psychiatry and social work, have had similar problems, Corman noted.
Corman said that many
attorneys view these complaints as a tactic to attempt to disqualify a court
appointed evaluator who is likely to make an unfavorable report to the court.
By filing a complaint, the parent can claim that there is an inherent conflict
of interest so that the court appointed evaluator can no longer be objective and
that another evaluator has to be appointed.
"Often the allegations are
distorted, misleading, or are complete fabrications," Corman said. "Some
evaluators have been reported to the licensing board for making a report of
suspected child abuse, even though Pennsylvania's Child Protective Services Law
requires them to do so."
The current system,
according to Corman, creates a shortage of qualified court-appointed evaluators,
drives up the costs of doing business in order to defend against frivolous
complaints, and bogs down the judicial process.
Corman's Senate Bill 845
would not preclude aggrieved persons from filing complaints. However, it
attempts to balance the rights of consumers to file complaints with the needs of
the court for objective information in order to determine the optimal placement
of a child in a child custody dispute. It would require that those who want to
file complaints to the evaluator's licensing board would have to wait for 60
days, after which they could file a complaint.
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