Kayden's Law child reform is back before PA legislators. Will it advance this time?

The Pennsylvania Senate could vote later this month on a revised version of child custody reform legislation named after a Lower Makefield girl murdered during an visit with her father, a crime that focused national attention on the family court system.

Senate Bill 55 passed unanimously out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Oct. 17, said Bucks County Sen. Steven Santarsiero, D-10,of Lower Makefield, one of the bill's primary sponsors.

“When courts fail to read the signs of domestic abuse and award custody of a child or visitation rights to an abuser the consequences can be dire,” Santasiero wrote in a co-sponsorship memo last month. “Far too often, courts overlook signs of abuse and rely on unscientific factors to make decisions that jeopardize a child's life.”

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The bill, known as Kayden’s Law, is named after 7-year-old Kayden Mancuso, who was murdered by her biological father on Aug. 5, 2018.

What happened to Kayden Mancuso

Kayden died after her father, Jeffrey Mancuso, struck her in the head at least three times with a 35-pound dumbbell during a court-ordered weekend visit at his Manayunk home.  Mancuso left a two-page note on her body that said, "You all get what you deserve," and then killed himself.

The murder-suicide happened three months after Bucks County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Trauger issued a final custody order that reduced visitation rights for Mancuso, but allowed unsupervised visits, something Kayden's mother, Kathy Sherlock has said she vehemently opposed.

Following Kayden’s murder, it was learned Mancuso was diagnosed by a court-ordered psychiatrist as narcissistic, depressed, antisocial, and with suicidal ideation. He also had a history of assault charges, erratic behavior, threats, abused alcohol and prescription drugs, but he had no allegations involving violence against Kayden.

A court-ordered evaluation recommended Mancuso only be awarded unsupervised visits “contingent” on his entering mental health treatment, but Trauger did not mandate it. It was also learned that Trauger, who has served as a judge since 2016, did not have any family law experience prior to sitting on the bench.

After the murder, Sherlock devoted herself to changing child custody laws and advocating for family court reform and strengthening laws to protect children in similar situations as her late daughter.  Her family created the nonprofit, Kayden’s Korner, to advocate for legislative changes nationally.

Sherlock and her husband, Brian, also filed a wrongful-death suit in Bucks County Common Pleas Court against Trauger and 12 other agencies alleging they failed to protect Kayden, and violated her civil rights when they didn’t follow the court-appointed evaluator’s recommendation. The couple, who represented themselves, withdrew the case in 2021.

Since Kayden’s murder, each year on her birthday, Sherlock, family, friends and supporters have gathered outside the Bucks County Justice Center in Doylestown to bring attention to what happened to Kayden and the need for family court and child custody reforms.

At least 50 people attended the most recent protest on Sunday Oct. 15, two days before Kayden's Law passed out of the state Senate Judiciary Committee. Kayden would have turned 13.

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What is the history of Kayden’s Law in Pennsylvania

The bill was first introduced in 2019, and it passed in the Senate in 2021 with bipartisan support.

The bill encountered opposition during a House subcommittee including claims it would disproportionately negatively affect poor families and created conditions for supervision of custody visits that would severely interfere with healthy parent-child interactions.

The House version of the bill did not make it out of committee before the end of the last session effectively killing it.

It was reintroduced in September by Santasiero and Republican Sen. Lisa Baker, the judiciary chair who represents counties in northeastern Pennsylvania. The senators were also the prime sponsors of the 2021 legislation known as Senate Bill 78.

What would Kayden’s Law do?

It would require courts to hold an evidentiary hearing and consider criminal convictions, criminal charges, child abuse and involvement with protective services for any household member, as well as certain custody factors first, when making a determination and ensure any custody order includes safety conditions and restrictions, if necessary.

Under the latest bill, if the court finds an ongoing risk of abuse or violence to a child, any custody order must include safety conditions and restrictions which can include supervised visitation only.

The bill encourages the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to implement an annual educational and training program for judges and relevant court personnel on child abuse, adverse childhood experiences, family violence, domestic violence, and its impact on children.

The law also expands the types of criminal convictions the court must be consider against a parent or household member in custody proceedings. Those new crimes are:

• Simple assault

• Recklessly endangering another person

• Cruelty to animals

• Animal fighting

• Possession of animal fighting paraphernalia

• Interference with custody of children

How does the law direct courts to decide custody matters now?

Pennsylvania requires Common Pleas judges address 16 factors when considering custody or visitation and explain decisions about them in final orders.

Past violent and criminal behavior involving a parent are among the factors that judges weigh, but the law weighs those factors as equal to others they consider such as distance between parents’ homes or availability of extended family.

What in Kayden’s Law has changed since the last version?

In the latest version a judge can require supervised visitation only if ongoing threat of abuse or violence against a child exists. The previous version made supervised visitation the presumption if there was any history of past abuse or violence of a household member, even if there was no ongoing threat.

The court would be limited to consider only protection from abuse orders where one party opposed the order and a judge issued a finding of an ongoing threat of violence.

Another change involves when supervision visitation can be required. A criticism of the previous bill is that it would negatively hurt parents who cannot afford professional supervision or do not live close to a center that offers it.

In those circumstances, Senate Bill 55 would allow the court to appoint a non-professional supervisor, such as a family member or friend, but the person must appear before the court for approval and sign an affidavit of accountability.

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Is there opposition to Senate Bill 55?

“At the moment we are not aware of outside groups opposing this version,” Santasiero said.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania and PA Coalition of Against Domestic Violence, which previously opposed the bill, are now neutral on it, he added.

Santasiero added that the unanimous approval of the judiciary committee is a positive sign.

“I think we have a better chance of getting the bill brought up (for a floor vote) in the House.”

What happens next with Senate Bill 55

The bill will go to the Senate floor for a vote, which Santasiero said he expected would happen  “relatively soon.”

Bucks County Reps.  Perry Warren, D-31 of Newtown,  and Tina Davis, D-141 of Bristol Township, are working on drafting a companion bill, and they plan to introduce it soon in the House.

How the Bucks County Court responded

On behalf of Judge Jeffrey G. Trauger and the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas the following statement is issued: The Court’s decision in the Mancuso case was made in compliance with Pennsylvania law and based on the facts of the case and was not appealed by either party.

The court provided a Dropbox link containing the complete record of the Sherlock-Mancuso case.

The documents can be accessed here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3wt0ctdax39o0r8/AACS629JWdZHRzJ_V2MgIIGra?dl=0

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This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Revised "Kayden's Law" passes PA Senate committee again.What is new.