HOUSE BILL NO. 6008
September 26, 2024, Introduced by Reps. Hope, Young, Brabec, Miller, Price, Edwards,
McKinney, Neeley, MacDonell, Byrnes, Brenda Carter, O'Neal and Aiyash and referred to the
Committee on Judiciary.
A bill to amend 1961 PA 236, entitled
"Revised judicature act of 1961,"
(MCL 600.101 to 600.9947) by adding section 152a.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
1 Sec. 152a. (1) The state court administrative office, under
2 the direction and supervision of the supreme court, shall provide
3 training to relevant court personnel as required under this
4 section. The training must be designed to improve the relevant
5 court personnel's ability to recognize domestic violence and child
6 abuse in custody proceedings and make appropriate custody decisions
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1 that prioritize the child's safety and well-being.
2 (2) The training required under subsection (1) must be not
3 less than the following:
4 (a) An initial 20 hours.
5 (b) Every 5 years after the initial training under subdivision
6 (a), an additional 15 hours.
7 (3) The training under subsection (1) must be provided by a
8 professional and must include information on all of the following
9 topics:
10 (a) Child sexual abuse.
11 (b) Physical abuse.
12 (c) Emotional abuse.
13 (d) Coercive control.
14 (e) Implicit and explicit bias.
15 (f) Trauma.
16 (g) The impact of domestic violence and child abuse on
17 children.
18 (h) Victim and perpetrator behavior, including, but not
19 limited to, common relationship patterns within the cycle of abuse,
20 postseparation abuse, litigation abuse, and DARVO.
21 (4) The information provided on the topics under subsection
22 (3) must not include any theory, concept, or belief system that is
23 not supported by evidence-based research.
24 (5) As used in this section:
25 (a) "DARVO" means deny, attack, and reverse victim and
26 offender.
27 (b) "Professional" means an individual who has substantial
28 experience, as determined by the state court administrative office,
29 in assisting survivors of domestic violence or child abuse.
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1 (c) "Relevant court personnel" means all court employees or
2 volunteers involved in child custody proceedings, including judges,
3 magistrates, guardians ad litem, custody evaluators, friend of the
4 court facilitators and investigators, and referees.
5 Enacting section 1. This amendatory act does not take effect
6 unless Senate Bill No.____ or House Bill No. 6006 (request no.
7 04151'23) of the 102nd Legislature is enacted into law.
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Statutes affected:
House Introduced Bill: 600.101, 600.9947