The project is committed to educating Montana citizens and leaders of the importance of understanding the impact of long term exposure to domestic violence and protecting our most vulnerable citizens through prevention early on in family law.
Montana Family Law
The Data Base
The Truth About ACE’s
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) is a term used to describe any traumatic event during childhood such as divorce, violence, emotional abuse, neglect, substance abuse, or even an environment that undermines a child’s sense of bonding or stability.
ACE’s can have a long-term negative impacts on health, opportunity, and well-being. These experiences are common and some groups experience them more than others.
The ACE Study (The Center for Disease Control and Kaiser Permanente) should be the courtroom bible for judges and other family court professionals who are tasked with the responsibility of acting in the best interest of children.
Adverse Childhood Experiences[CDC]
Pseudo Theory of Parental Alienation
Parental Alienation (PA) has no place in family law, even as many cases to date have used it as a legal strategy for abusers. But don’t take it just from Montanans’ struggling against this junk science, here are quotes from national and international organizations on PA.
”One of the biggest obstacles to custody courts protecting children from dangerous abusers are alienation distraction tactics (ADT). Richard Gardner concocted Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) based only on his personal experience, beliefs and bias and without any outside research. His extreme bias included many public statements that sex between adults and children can be acceptable. The purpose of ADT is to give unscrupulous lawyers and mental health professionals an approach to favor abusive fathers in child custody disputes. The mother is the primary attachment figure and the safe parent, so under proper practices any attempt by the father to seek custody would properly be recognized as frivolous.” Alienation Distraction Tactics: by Barry Goldstein - Center for Judicial Excellence
“There is no commonly accepted clinical or scientific definition of “parental alienation”. Broadly speaking, parental alienation is understood to refer to deliberate or unintentional acts that cause unwarranted rejection by the child… It has been dismissed by medical, psychiatric and psychological associations, and in 2020 it was removed from the International Classification of Diseases by the World Health Organization.” UN Human Rights Council, Report on Custody Violence April 2023
Federal “Kayden’s Law”
The Keeping Children Safe From Family Violence Act or "Kayden’s Law" in the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA ) provides federal funds to states which improve their child custody laws to better protect at-risk children by:
Restricting expert testimony to only those who are appropriately qualified to provide it,
Limiting the use of reunification camps and therapies which cannot be proven to be safe and effective:
Providing evidence-based ongoing training to judges and court personnel on family violence, including: (i) child sexual abuse; (ii) physical abuse; (iii) emotional abuse; (iv) coercive control; (v) implicit and explicit bias; (vi) trauma; (vii) long and short-term impacts of domestic violence and child abuse on children; and (viii) victim and perpetrator behaviors.
Requiring that family courts making parenting time decisions consider past evidence of abuse, including protection orders, convictions and arrests for domestic violence or child abuse.
National Family Violence Law Center
Judicial Training
While there are many resources available to victims of DV during the relationship, the only resource available to victims of post-separation abuse is the family court system itself (judges, mediators, minor’s counsel, custody evaluators, therapists, co-parenting counselors, parenting coordinators and attorneys).
It is so important for those in the family court system to be educated on post-separation abuse, ACE’s, and current peer-reviewed standards. And to for those individuals to be able to recognize it in high-conflict divorces, custody battles and paternity cases.
The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges revised their own trainings with the understanding of how relevant any and all abuse can be when determining the best interests of the children involved.
“The Revised Chapter Four of the Model Code requires courts, as part of the best interest of the child analysis, to assess the nature, context, and effects of any domestic abuse that has been identified and to craft parenting arrangements and interventions that address these features of the abuse…” -National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, Revised Chapter Four: Families and Children, May 2024
Domestic Violence Impact in Family Law Matters
The rates of domestic violence in Montana stood at 37% for women and 34% for men in 2019 [NCADV 2019]. That data only covered for physical/ sexual violence, and stalking which does not account for those who face other forms of domestic violence (DV).
DV is more than just physical abuse. During the relationship, domestic violence can, in addition to physical abuse, also include;
Coercive control
Verbal abuse
Emotional abuse
Psychological abuse
Sexual abuse
Financial abuse
Use of children or pets
When the relationship ends, the abuse does not stop. It just transitions to a new form of abuse referred to as post-separation abuse or Domestic Abuse by Proxy. The Project has noticed a disturbing pattern in high-conflict cases with post-separation abuse where the children are used as pawns and given no voice.
The Project aims to help further legislation to ensure children have and can use the right to speak, and be heard in the case.
Scientific Based, and Peer-Review Standards
The Project has spent three years researching and collecting information about family law cases, the use of PA as a legal tactic, documented history of abuse, and the admission and acceptance of said evidence within the family courts. There has been an alarming pattern throughout the cases;
Failure to consider past abuse as an evidence standard
Lack of family violence prevention and signs of domestic violence training for court personnel
Use of unqualified “expert witnesses” in custody matters
Use of scientifically unsound theories and unethical trauma inducing therapeutic tactics (such as PA)
It is not just the Project taking a notice, as consulting with many well-know mental health professionals, family law attorneys, judges, and victims lead to the same patterns showing up time and time again. Congress has even moved towards committing to relevant and scientific expertise and theories.
“Evidence from court-affiliated or appointed fee-paid professionals regarding adult or child abuse allegations in custody cases should be considered only when the professional possesses documented expertise and experience in the relevant types of abuse, trauma, and the behaviors of victims and perpetrators;” - H. Con. Res. 72 — 115th Congress (2017-2018)
“Evidence from court-affiliated or appointed fee-paid professionals regarding adult or child abuse allegations in custody cases should be considered only when the professional possesses documented expertise and experience in the relevant types of abuse, trauma, and the behaviors of victims and perpetrators; Scientifically unsound theories that treat abuse allegations as likely false attempts to undermine one parent are frequently applied in family court to minimize or deny reports of abuse of parents and children. “ - 2022 US Congressional findings
The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges also has made these conclusions.
“…The qualifications which should be required of a custody evaluator in these case. It calls for an evaluator to be a licensed mental health professional with the described training, skills, and expertise, including completing a full custody evaluation.” -National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, Revised Chapter Four: Families and Children, May 2024