(a) (1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated. (2) "Child abuse" has the meaning stated in § 5-701 of this article. (3) "Domestic violence" has the meaning stated in § 4-701 of this article. (b) The Maryland Judiciary, in consultation with domestic violence and child abuse organizations, shall develop and update as appropriate a training program for judges and magistrates presiding over child custody cases involving child abuse or domestic violence. (c) The training program described under subsection (b) of this section shall include training on: (1) the typical brain development of infants and children; (2) the impact of adverse childhood experiences, trauma, complex trauma, and chronic toxic stress on a child's brain development and the ways that a child's response to trauma varies; (3) the process for investigating a report of suspected child abuse or child sexual abuse, including: (i) the role of child advocacy centers and forensic interviews; (ii) the role of local departments of social services in investigating reports of suspected child abuse and child sexual abuse; and (iii) that child abuse and child sexual abuse may have occurred even without an indicated finding of abuse, any physical evidence of abuse, or a verbal disclosure of abuse by the child; (4) the dynamics and effects of child sexual abuse, including grooming behaviors and the disclosure of child sexual abuse; (5) the dynamics and effects of physical and emotional child abuse; (6) the dynamics and effects of domestic violence, including coercive control, and that domestic violence can occur without a party seeking or obtaining a protective order or without documented evidence of abuse; (7) the impact of exposure to domestic violence on children and the importance of considering the impact of exposure to domestic violence on children when making child custody and visitation decisions; (8) the potential impacts of explicit and implicit bias on child custody decisions; (9) best practices to ensure that reasonable and feasible protective measures are taken to reduce the risk of traumatizing or retraumatizing a child through the court process, including available methods to obtain relevant information without the necessity of repeated, detailed testimony from the child; (10) available protections for families, including the sealing of records; (11) the benefits and limitations of sexual offender evaluations and risk assessments; (12) the tools courts can use to assess the credibility of a child witness; (13) standards for the knowledge, experience, and qualifications of child sexual abuse evaluators and treatment providers; and (14) any other relevant subject matter. (d) The Maryland Judiciary shall adopt procedures, including the uniform screening of initial pleadings, to identify child custody cases that may involve child abuse or domestic violence as soon as possible to ensure that only judges who have received training under this section are assigned those cases. (e) Within a judge's first year of presiding over child custody cases involving child abuse or domestic violence, the judge shall receive at least 20 hours of initial training approved by the Maryland Judiciary that meets the requirements of subsection (c) of this section.
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