Kayden's Law For Bucks Co. Girl Going To PA House

LOWER BUCKS COUNTY, PA —Kayden’s Law, a bill to better protect children in child custody situations, is now moving to the state House of Representatives for full consideration.

State Sen. Steve Santarsiero said Wednesday that Senate Bill 55, known as Kayden’s Law, has just unanimously passed the House Judiciary Committee.

It now goes to the full House for consideration and is one step closer to being signed into law by Gov. Josh Shapiro.

Kayden’s Law is legislation that provides urgently needed reform to Pennsylvania’s child custody statute.

The law is named for Kayden Mancuso, a 7-year-old from Lower Makefield Township, who was killed in August 2018 by her biological father during a court-ordered, unsupervised visit granted following a year-long custody dispute.

Mancuso, a first grader at Edgewood Elementary School in the Pennsbury School District, was the subject of a custody dispute between her mother and her biological father that ended with her murder.

The court awarded unsupervised visitation with the father despite a history of violence on his part, Santarsiero said, and over a weekend in August 2018 while with her father in an unsupervised situation in Philadelphia, he murdered her and committed suicide.

Senate Bill 55 would:

• Strengthen the current factors that judges must consider in making custody and visitation decisions, to make it clear that the most important issue is the protection of the child;
• Ensure that if there is a finding by the court of an ongoing risk of abuse, that any custody order includes safety conditions and restrictions necessary, including supervised visitation, to protect the child; and
• Encourage the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to implement an annual educational and training program for judges and relevant court personnel on child abuse, adverse childhood experiences, domestic violence, and its impact on children.

“Kayden’s Law will ensure the safety of the child is paramount in custody cases and will save children’s lives,” Santarsiero said. “No child in Pennsylvania should fear for their safety or be left alone with an abuser. Kayden’s Law will help ensure that never happens again by requiring supervised visitation at a minimum when there is a potential risk to the child’s safety.”

Santarsiero thanked Judiciary Chairman Rep. Tim Briggs for bringing the bill up for consideration and colleagues Rep. Perry Warren and Rep. Tina Davis, the sponsors of the House companion bill.