BOISE, ID – As a group of Idaho lawmakers looks to improve the state’s child custody laws, at least one legislator believes a group of reforms passed in wake of tragedies in Utah and Pennsylvania may present a template.

In 2024, the Utah Legislature passed Om’s Law, a bill meant to prioritize child safety in custody proceedings that was named for 16-year-old Om Moses Gandhi, who was killed in a murder-suicide by his father during an unsupervised, court-mandated visit in 2023.

Months before Gandhi’s death, his mother Leah Moses, had gone to Utah lawmakers seeking the legal reforms because of her yearslong custody battle in which she felt the courts did not consider her evidence of Gandhi’s father’s abuse, the Utah News Dispatch reported.

Utah’s law adopts provisions of a federal Keeping Children Safe From Family Violence Act, known as Kayden’s Law for Kayden Mancuso, a 7-year-old girl shot and killed by her father during a court-mandated visit in Pennsylvania in 2018.

Idaho Sen. Carl Bjerke, R-Coeur d’Alene, first heard about Kayden’s Law through his work as a member of the legislative Child Custody and Domestic Relations Task Force. 

“It just seemed to fit into exactly what we were trying to get at with this task force, if you’re really looking at the No. 1 goal is to make sure that children don’t suffer through the process of these custody battles,” Bjerke said. “But if we’re going to have any true effect, we have to protect the innocent party.”

Bjerke mentioned the law at a few of the task force meetings, including one Nov. 11, in which members discussed priorities for legislation recommendations. The task force plans to meet again to approve its recommendations for fellow lawmakers, who will return to the Capitol for the 2026 legislative session on Jan. 12.

Bjerke said he can’t speak for the rest of the task force, but plans to advocate for something modeled after Kayden’s Law.

What is Kayden’s Law?

The federal act, passed by Congress in 2022 to amend the 1994 Violence Against Women’s Act, incentivizes states to make changes such as addressing the definition of abuse and adding past assault convictions not related to the child to what should be considered during custody disputes.

In cases where a parent abused family members, the law requires only supervised visits with children in most cases. The federal law recommends that the court train judges on domestic violence and child abuse, and only accept expert testimony from those who are qualified and credentialed to work with abuse victims.

The law prohibits reunification treatment, which is therapy meant to repair an estranged parent-child relationship in high-conflict divorces, if there is no evidence it is safe and effective. It also prohibits removing a child from a safe parent to do the therapy if one parent has a history of abuse, and requires that the reunification therapy be administered by professionals if the therapy is going to be mandated.

Colorado in 2023 became the first state to pass the law in its entirety, ProPublica reported. Utah became the second, shortly followed by Pennsylvania. Other states have enacted portions of the law.

How would the law work in Idaho?

Bjerke said he learned about the law from attorneys and others who work in family law issues, and he liked that it provides a proven template that’s been approved in other states.

“We don’t have to be first in everything,” Bjerke said. “We shouldn’t be last in everything.”

He identified in particular the prohibitions around unsupervised visits if there’s a history of abuse as portions of the law he’d like to see enacted in Idaho. He also liked the additional training requirements.

He knows that it’s a difficult balance, especially in Idaho that has passed multiple laws focused on elevating parental rights.

“If someone is determined to have had a history or criminal background that is abusive to a spouse or children … we’re wrestling with those parental rights, but if you really care about making sure that you protect children, you’re probably going to have to have only supervised visitation until something maybe can be proven,” Bjerke said.

The task force cannot pass legislation, only make recommendations. The committee members are working to bring proposed legislation to its next meeting, scheduled for 10 a.m. on Dec. 10.

Task force co-chair Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, told the Sun in an email that she and other members are considering Kayden’s Law, among others.

“Yes, we are looking into everything!” Scott responded to the Sun. “Hoping to have another meeting to discuss more about the legislation ideas.”

Bjerke’s hope is that kids in these situations might have more limited exposure to abuse.

“I’m not naive enough to know that we catch everything,” Bjerke said. “But if we can lessen the degree that somebody is just going to keep that cycle going because they were so abused through the process, I just think that’s a great way for us to concentrate our efforts.”

This story first appeared on Idaho Capital Sun.