HCON 182 IH
    105th CONGRESS
    1st Session

    H. CON. RES. 182

    Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to child custody, child
    abuse, and victims of domestic and family violence.

    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

    October 30, 1997

    Mrs. MORELLA (for herself, Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. DAVIS of Virginia,
    Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, Ms. FURSE, Ms. CARSON, Mr.
    VENTO, Mr. LAFALCE, Mr. STARK, Mr. FROST, Mr. PAYNE, Mr.
    HINCHEY, and Mr. SANDERS) submitted the following concurrent
    resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

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    CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

    Expressing the sense of Congress with respect to child custody, child
    abuse, and victims of domestic and family violence.

    Whereas domestic violence has serious detrimental effects on children,
    even when they do not directly witness such violence;

    Whereas courts still hold women to higher standards of conduct than they
    do men;

    Whereas gender bias still exists within the courts, particularly those making
    and affecting child custody determinations;

    Whereas gender bias has long existed and still exists within the mental
    health system;

    Whereas, as a result of this gender bias, many myths are that women make
    false allegations of domestic violence or child abuse, and most particularly
    of child sexual abuse, during divorce and custody proceedings;

    Whereas false accusations by women are in fact rare, occurring no more
    often than do other false reports of crimes, such as bank robbery;

    Whereas the myth that women make false accusations is so widely
    believed that many child protective service agents have policies of not
    bothering to investigate such allegations when made during the pendency
    of divorce or custody proceedings or only superficially investigate such
    allegations;

    Whereas there are many myths that fathers are discriminated against in
    custody proceedings, even though studies show that fathers fighting for
    custody actually win sole custody or joint custody in 40 to 70 percent of
    these disputes;

    Whereas the American Psychological Association's Presidential Task
    Force on Violence and the Family has found in a 1996 Presidential Report
    that Congress views as authoritative on questions of domestic violence,
    child abuse, and custody determination that--

    (1) fathers who abuse their children's mothers are more likely to dispute
    custody and visitation than are fathers who are not violent;

    (2) there is no reliable data to support the phenomenon of `parental
    alienation' syndrome, although courts and custody evaluators frequently
    use that term and other inappropriate terms to discount the children's fear
    in hostile and psychologically abusive situations; and

    (3) psychological evaluators not trained in domestic violence ignore or
    minimize the violence and give inappropriate pathological labels to
    women's responses to chronic victimization, including `parental alienation'
    to blame mothers for their children's reasonable fear or anger toward their
    violent fathers.

    Whereas many courts and professionals use the baseless parental
    alienation syndrome to force mothers into joint or shared parenting
    arrangements or to give custody to fathers, especially when mothers try to
    protect themselves or their children from men who abuse them or their
    children;

    Whereas almost every custody evaluator or judge recognizes how
    important familiar routines and objects are to a child, particularly in times
    of stress, but often fails to recognize the importance for the child of
    maintaining its living arrangement with the child's primary caretaker parent;

    Whereas Congress never intended that the Parental Kidnapping
    Prevention Act be used--

    (1) to encourage forcing shared parenting arrangements when it is not in
    the child's best interest;

    (2) to prohibit an abused or protective parent from protecting themselves
    or their child;

    (3) as a tool to punish a parent, without regard for the needs of the child,
    by removing physical custody of a child from a fit abused or protective
    parent; or

    (4) as a tool to punish abused or protective parents who act to protect
    themselves or their children;

    Whereas when there is domestic or family violence or major discord
    between the parents, shared parenting arrangements, couples counseling,
    or mediation arrangements only exacerbate the difficulties of the children
    and give the abusive parent more tools with which to victimize the other
    members of the family;

    Whereas children who grow up not seeing abusive parents clearly held
    accountable for their abuse are reinforced in believing that domestic and
    family violence are socially acceptable and effective means of behavior;
    and

    Whereas every State has legislation or judicial decisions that base its
    custody determinations on what is in the best interests of the child: Now,
    therefore, be it

    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That it
    is the sense of Congress that--

    (1) for purposes of determining child custody, it is in the best interest of
    children to have a presumption that children should have their main
    physical residence with their primary caretaker parent unless that parent is
    unfit;

    (2) for purposes of determining child custody, it is not in the best interest
    of children to--

    (A) force parents to share custody over the objection of one or both
    parents or when there is a history of domestic or family violence;

    (B) punish abused or protective parents who protect themselves or their
    children;

    (C) presume that allegations of domestic and family violence are likely to
    be made falsely or for tactical advantage during custody and divorce
    proceedings; and

    (D) make `friendly parent' provisions a factor when there is abuse by one
    parent against the other or a child;

    (3) child abuse and child sexual abuse allegations should be fully and
    impartially investigated regardless of when they are raised or whether the
    child has recanted the allegation;

    (4) States should be far more protective of victims of domestic and family
    violence in custody and visitation determinations and not order mediation,
    couples counseling, shared custody, mutual orders of protection,
    unsupervised visitation, or other measures when they may endanger victims
    of domestic and family violence; and

    (5) States should provide training in domestic violence and child abuse, as
    they impact custody, child support and visitation determinations, to all
    professionals who interact with children and parents (including judges,
    attorneys, guardians ad litem, therapists, mental health professionals,
    custody evaluators, child protective services personnel, and court
    appointed special advocates).