ESHB 1620: Putting children first

ESHB 1620 is written exclusively by child-safety advocates in Washington State, based on scientifically supported NCJFCJ’s The Model Code and Kayden’s Law, retains the good parts of both SHB 1620 and our current statute. 

Rebuttal Letter in Support of ESHB 1620 (Striker) w/ Initial 60 sign ons. (Additional 30,000 signatures)

Current Statute v. ESHB 1620 For Laypeople (3 pages)

Summary of ESHB 1620 with Endnotes to Bill Language (4 pages + endnotes)

Summary of ESHB 1620: ESHB 1620 stops post-separation coercive control mandating that survivor parents get sole decision making, still allowing them to share decisions if they chose to.  Reduces judges discretion to ignore important domestic violence factors, by requiring judges to consider a list of factors in the following processes: when determining if there is domestic abuse, when crafting a parenting plan to protect the child, and when identifying the primary aggressor in mutual abuse allegations.  Removes abusers harmful cross allegations to discount abuse by moving a more narrowly defined “emotional impairment” label to a separate statute and removing the vague overapplied label of “abusive use of conflict” which is proxy for alienation claims and an avenue for bias and racism.  Mandates that the parent who is not abusive receive majority residential time with the child. Survivors can still use the expanded definition of domestic violence that includes litigation abuse and coercive control.   Protects sexually abused children by banning forced visitation with the parent who sexually abused them.  Mandates evidence-based training for court professionals.  More details in the materials below.