Parents urge more oversight of family-court ADRs and guardian ad litems during committee public comment

Dozens of private citizens used the committee's public-comment period to describe troubling experiences in family-court processes related to custody and court-ordered ADR services. Testimony included allegations of missing or altered records, lack of access to conciliator reports, high costs for court-ordered supervised visitation, and challenges in getting relief when parents say procedures were not followed.

Taylor Arkland described a recent divorce custody case in which she says her children lost daily, unsupervised contact and that she was unable to review ADR evidence while representing herself. "I was flat out denied because I was pro se," she said, adding that supervised visitation costs exceed $1,000 per month in her case. Other speakers described similar due-process concerns, alleged falsified signatures on filings, unrecorded hearings, and difficulties getting court-appointed professionals to review evidence.

Many speakers asked the legislature to create mechanisms they said do not now exist: mandatory audio recordings of hearings, immutable audit trails for filings, independent oversight of court-appointed evaluators and ADR providers, and clearer notice procedures when adoptive-family siblings enter care. Several witnesses asked that the Office of the Child Advocate or another entity be empowered to audit transfers of matters between court offices and to reconcile orders with underlying pleadings.

How officials reacted: Carrie Leonard of the Office of the Child Advocate said her office is statutorily neutral and can receive complaints about state agencies and providers; OCA staff described a 60% year-over-year increase in complaints and said the office will assist families in navigating agency grievance procedures and provide referrals about judicial ethics complaints, but noted that many family-court issues fall outside OCA's statutory scope. Committee members said judiciary oversight and separate judicial-disciplinary channels exist and that some complaints should be routed to the judiciary or to existing ethics processes.

What lawmakers asked for: Lawmakers requested that DCF and OCA follow up on specific reports (for example, a report that a raw DCF intake was placed in school records) and that committee staff compile patterns of referrals for further study. Representative Humphreys noted the legislature previously held an informational hearing on custody and child support and said the judiciary committee will consider legislation where appropriate.

Next steps: The committee asked OCA and DCF to follow up with families who testified where matters fall within those agencies' purview, and asked staff to summarize cross-cutting patterns (unrecorded hearings, ADR transparency, high visitation costs) for possible legislative solutions or referrals to the judiciary oversight processes.