Consideration when determining child custody: human trafficking.

Assembly Member Hoover's child custody legislation requires California courts to consider human trafficking allegations when determining a child's best interests, provided specific evidence from the past decade demonstrates victimization of the child or other parent. The measure adds new criteria to existing custody determination frameworks by incorporating documented instances of trafficking-related protective orders, civil judgments, and criminal convictions.

Under the proposed requirements, courts must evaluate cases where a parent faces substantiated trafficking allegations through multiple official channels. These include situations where the child or other parent participated in the state's address confidentiality program due to trafficking, obtained protective orders against the parent in question, prevailed in civil trafficking cases, or where the Civil Rights Department confirmed trafficking complaints. The provisions also apply when a parent has been convicted of trafficking the child or other parent under state law.

The legislation builds upon current custody determination processes that consider domestic violence history by establishing parallel protections specific to trafficking victims. While maintaining existing evidentiary standards, the measure creates a formal mechanism for courts to incorporate trafficking-related documentation spanning the previous ten years into custody decisions. The provisions would take effect immediately upon enactment, allowing courts to consider both recent and historical cases within the specified timeframe.