Custody law allows requests for mental evaluations

The child custody case of an armed man who barricaded himself in his Lehigh County home in a seven-hour standoff with police offers an extreme example of when a court can order a party to undergo a psychological/pyschiatric evaluation.

Pennsylvania's new child custody law has a provision that allows a parent to request a mental evaluation of the other party if he or she has been convicted of certain criminal offenses. The list of crimes that can trigger this provision includes offenses that raise questions about the offender's fitness to have visitation rights or shared physical custody of a child.

Most commonly, a prior DUI or domestic violence conviction is the offense that triggers such a request.

Prior to the new law, a judge had discretion on whether past behavior warranted the need for an evaluation. While the new law now provides a defined guideline of criminal acts that support such a request, the change does not affect a judge's ability to order an evlauation based on existing or past non-criminal mental health issues, such as suicide attempts or substance abuse.

In the recent Lehigh County case of the armed man who held police at bay, the man's custody rights were suspended after the incident. An evaluation was ordered.

The judge eventually ruled that the Father adequately complied with the therapeutic recommendations of the evaluation and denied Mother's request for additional evaulations. Instead, Father was ordered to continue his mental health therapy in an effort to restore his visitation privileges.

This treatment had included an involuntary mental health commitment, a subsequent hospitalization, and continuing weekly counseling sessions and medication therapy.

"The appropriate course is to have Father continue in his treatment, refrain from the use of alcohol, and work with the therapist for reunification with his son," the court ruled.

When petitioning for an evaluation, a competent child custody lawyer should be able to recommend a suitable evaluator depending on whether the underlying issues involve substance abuse, violent behavior or acts of immorality. The court should also be presented with facts to determine not only the need for an evaluation but also which party should pay the costs of the evaluation and required treatments.