A bill to increase scrutiny on the qualifications of experts on domestic violence and sexual abuse who wish to be admitted in child custody cases is headed to Gov. Jared Polis’ desk after clearing both chambers of the legislature last week. The bill codifies a new piece of legislation from the federal Violence Against Women Act that comes with financial incentives for states that adopt them.

Rep. Meg Froelich, a Democrat from Greenwood Village and prime sponsor of House Bill 23-1178, said the legislation is intended to begin correcting course on what she called a phenomenon of parents losing custody of their children when they make accusations of abuse against the other parent, and combat an imbalance of power that happens when abusive parents have financial resources to hire experts to refute accusations against them, she said.

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Courts must scrutinize the experience of professionals in working with victims of domestic violence or child abuse who seek to offer evidence about alleged abuse in custody cases, according to the bill.

“It’s all centered around abusers gaining custody in court, and the way that they are able to do that is through using parental alienation as a defense,” Froelich said, referring to a theory that parents sometimes manipulate their children to turn them against their other parent in some instances, including fabricating allegations of abuse.

It also clarifies that courts have to consider evidence of sexual or other physical abuse by an accused person, including restraining orders, arrests or convictions and other documentation. Froelich said that piece was added because lawmakers heard from parents who said judges believed abuse against them wasn’t relevant to their custody cases.

The legislation bars courts from restricting the custody of a parent who is competent, protective and not abusive solely to improve a relationship with the other parent.

The bill also prohibits reunification treatment that is predicated on cutting off the relationship between a child and a protective parent the child has a bond with. If a court orders reunification treatment, that treatment must be generally accepted and proven safe, effective, and to have therapeutic value, according to the legislation.

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Another proposed piece of legislation, House Bill 23-1108, is making its way through the legislature to create a task force for studying training on domestic violence and sexual assault provided to judicial officers around the country to determine best practices for training in Colorado. Froelich said that bill is intended to work around Colorado’s constitution, keeping the powers of each government branch separate, limiting lawmakers’ ability to actually mandate training for judges. She acknowledged the legislative gymnastics that structure has created.

Maralee McLean, the executive director of family court reform organization Moms Fight Back, expressed her frustration about the hoops the legislature has had to jump through in order to push the judiciary to implement training on abuse for judges. She said that has been a main priority for advocates of family court reform, and they originally hoped to implement it through legislation passed two years ago known as Julie’s Law.

“It’s just very frustrating. Why would any judge want to sit on the bench when they aren’t trained in domestic violence, child abuse, child sexual abuse, coercive control, any of this stuff?” McLean said.

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McLean was a key proponent of Julie’s Law, officially House Bill 21-1228, which established a mechanism of oversight for parental responsibility evaluators in the Office of the State Court Administrator.

Colorado’s network of evaluators – private professionals hired in some cases to make recommendations about custody – has historically had little practical oversight, accountability or opportunity for public scrutiny. Investigations by The Denver Gazette found judges have relied on inaccurate and biased reports by evaluators and put children at serious risk by giving custody to abusive parents.

House Bill 21-1228 directed the judicial branch to create an eligibility roster for evaluators, practice standards and a process for people to make complaints against evaluators. The legislation also established a requirement for parental evaluators and child and family investigators to complete six hours of training each on domestic violence and child abuse, and an additional four hours of domestic violence education every two years.

Denver Gazette reporter Chris Osher contributed to this report.