A mother of four waits in a bright police department parking lot during her children’s hand-off to their father. Custody exchanges require parents to interact, which can often lead to violent or tense interactions.
Enter House Bill 2432, passed earlier this year, which requires the state to provide safe custody exchange locations for parents and children. These locations must be available 24/7, be well-lit and have video surveillance. This allows judges to assign a designated safe exchange location for the child’s best interest.
“We want families to be safe. We want kids to be safe. And you know, when we have these neutral, safe exchange locations, it actually helps kids stay with both of their parents by avoiding unnecessary emotional conflict, physical conflict,” Rep. Matt Gress said.
This bill was brought to Gress’ attention by the Judges Association, which shared constituents’ stories that impacted Gress and resulted in him becoming the prime sponsor.
Gress said that he spoke with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, and while so far, no departments are hosting these sites, some are looking into it. Many departments are struggling to acquire the needed materials that these sites require, especially those in rural areas.
“I’m planning to talk with the county supervisors to look at drafting a bill that would provide some grant funding to see greater participation across the state, and kind of see how that plays out,” Gress said.
Funding the cameras, signage, the lighting and all the necessary safety precautions has been the biggest roadblock that this bill is facing statewide.
“Part of the concerns that I heard from the courts was that this was going to be super expensive to hold the data, because there’s going to be a lot of footage, and they don’t have any additional funding to be able to do that,” Rep. Cesar Aguilar, the bill’s co-sponsor, said.
Storing the 24/7 footage has also been a challenge with this new law. Buying the cameras is only beneficial if the recorded footage can be stored.
Aguilar said that knowing that there is footage that can be used against people in court will help families feel safer during custody exchanges.
However, Cherene Watkin, a family and marriage counselor, said that safety includes both the physical and emotional well-being of individuals.
“It’s possible that there could be verbal abuse going on, even if you’re in a safe location, or there’s cameras, if there’s not audio picking that up, or if you’re far away, then there could still be some damaging words exchanged, harmful verbal things said, and that can be really harmful for kids too, to hear that negative interaction,” Watkin said.
Custody exchanges can be extremely stressful and it can be very harmful to children and parents in these “forced face time” scenarios, Watkin said.
This new law has the potential to provide local families with a sense of security and safety. However, the state must determine how to fund these sites in order to make them a viable, long-term option for Arizona families.
