A Judge’s Guide

MANAGING THE CHILD CUSTODY CASE
A Child’s Concept of Time
Imagine that you are eight years old. Your parents are divorced. You have alleged
that your mother’s husband sexually abused you. You go to your father’s home
for an extended visit and report this allegation. Your father decides not to return
you to your mother’s custody out of concern for your safety. Through her
attorney, your mother files a petition alleging visitation interference. Pending the
hearing, you are allowed to remain with your father and your mother has
supervised visitation rights. The court schedules a hearing in 30 days. In addition
to your case, about 30 others are also scheduled on the same day. The day arrives
for the court hearing. Unfortunately, despite the fact that you, the parties’
attorneys, and witnesses are present for the hearing, the court only hears about 30
minutes of testimony due to the crowded docket. The hearing is continued for
another 30 days. The next hearing date arrives – yet another crowded docket.
The case is once again postponed. In all, the case is tried over the course of
almost two years at periodic intervals with at least three different judges presiding.
Each time you appear you are reminded of your sexual encounter with your
stepfather. You live with the constant fear that you will be returned to an unsafe
household. Ultimately, the court decides that you should live with your father
permanently.
Unfortunately, the above scenario is based on a true case and not uncommon. A
lack of expedited decision making in child custody cases hurts children. In the
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges publication RESOURCE
GUIDELINES: IMPROVING COURT PRACTICE IN CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT
CASES (hereinafter RESOURCE GUIDELINES), the authors address the child’s sense
of time:
Children have a very different sense of time from adults. Short
periods of time for adults seem interminable for children, and
extended periods of uncertainty exacerbate childhood anxiety. When
litigation proceeds at what attorneys and judges regard as a normal
pace, children often perceive the proceedings as extending for vast
and infinite periods.
The passage of time is magnified for children in both anxiety levels
and direct effect. Three years is not a terribly long period for an
adult. For a six-year-old, it is half a lifetime [and] for a three-year-old,
it is the formative stage for trust and security . . . . 59
Judge J. Robert Lowenbach of Colorado voices a similar sentiment:
Webster’s New World Dictionary defines limbo as a “region
bordering on hell . . . a place or condition of neglect or oblivion for
unwanted things or persons.” A child’s sense of time is much
different than that of an adult as is the impact of experience on the
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