The Pennsylvania Senate and many in the family law community have been engaged in a heated debate for months on proposed child custody legislation known as “Kayden’s Law.” At stake is how to make the courts more responsive to the needs of children and more sensitive to the traumatic familial experiences that children may suffer.

What’s wrong with custody courts? Plenty. Dockets are overloaded and cases delayed, often by years. Few counties have mechanisms to conduct thorough, neutral custody evaluations, so unless the parties can pay for these expensive studies, the courts are left to the narratives presented by the litigants. With no right to court-appointed counsel, thousands of parents appear pro se. Reforms are needed, but Kayden’s Law will over-correct a system because of a singular, horrible case.