A Joint Legislative Ad Hoc Committee on Family Court Orders met on Monday to discuss reforming the family court system. The committee focused on complaints about “therapeutic intervention” (TI), when courts order a therapist to deal with parents who have split up. HB 2256, sponsored by State Representative Rachel Keshel (R-Tucson) and amended in a striker bill by State Senator Mark Finchem (R-Prescott), would prohibit a court from ordering a party against their will to pay for and work with one of these individuals.
The hearing was part of a series of hearings looking into family court problems that will extend through the summer. The Arizona Legislature issued a press release about the hearing afterwards. “As a legislator and a mother, I can’t stay silent while Arizona families are being torn apart behind closed courtroom doors,” said Keshel. “What we heard in the committee was heartbreaking — but not surprising. Parents are being silenced, children are being traumatized, and the people responsible hide behind the bench or a therapy license. We have a duty to expose this abuse and fix a system that no longer serves the best interests of the child.”
Several parents spoke to the committee about their bad experiences with TIs. Finchem, who chaired the committee, expressed his surprise that 33 had signed up to testify to the committee, which was too many to speak during the two hour hearing. Only a few parents were able to speak, and Finchem told the rest they could sign up to speak at the next meeting on May 12. Most of the parents told how the TI in their case cost them their life savings and took their children away from them, giving them to the other parent without just cause.
The first parent to testify was Rachel Barnett. She said she was abused by her ex during their marriage, and the TI who got involved got her four children removed from her home. She said in exchange for full custody of her children and being allowed to move with them to Arizona from Ohio, she gave up child support and the house. She said her ex then sold the house and used the money to hire an attorney. She ended up having to pay for supervised visitation. She said the court-appointed advisor to her case handled it poorly, and didn’t have experience in the area, coming from a background as a drug and alcohol counselor. She said her children were physically abused by her ex.
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