US Shared Parenting Blog

We hear these stories all the time - mother or father falsely accused so the other parent can have the winner takes all spoils of divorce - the custody of the children.  Occassionally, we hear of it backfiring, but not near enough.  In Placentia, Ca the courts got it right this week.

Someone called Fullerton police and left an anonymous tip that Gregory Abbott, a high school teacher, was a drug dealer with a gun in the trunk of his car.  He was subsequently arrested and then released two days later.  Police discovered the gun was placed in his vehicle by his estranged wife, Devon Abbot and her boyfriend Solomon Silver.  Abbot claims it was a scheme to get custody of his children and then move them to Maine.

This again shows the length people will go to in order to get custody of children.  All too often, the courts accept these false allegations of abuse, drug usage, etc. in this winner take all game of custody.  What is left is destroyed lives of innocent members of the public, and children separated from their other parent for no reason other than illness on the part of one irresponsible parent.

This story turned out right for Abbott, lets hope the courts follow through and award custody to the responsible parent, rather than the irresponsible parent. 

Do you have a similar story - please share it with us.

http://www.barackobama.com/2008/06/15/remarks_of_senator_barack_obam_78.php

I woke up this morning to CNN on the TV. In my half daze between sleep and wake I hear “Obama’s Father’s Day speech… he criticizes black fathers and tells them to stop acting like boys and act like men.” and I start to listen. Now I am a white woman. I know little about black fathers. I do know about fathers in general. I do understand that some men do walk away from their kids but my thoughts first thing this morning…what about the fathers who want the responsibility and are denied it? Does he miss that one? Okay so his dad walked away when he was 2 but why? Did he just chose to walk off or was he pushed out? What about the dad’s that are pushed out?

Yes, he had many good points in his speech, “We know the statistics – that children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime; nine times more likely to drop out of schools and twenty times more likely to end up in prison. They are more likely to have behavioral problems, or run away from home, or become teenage parents themselves.” Very true, we know the statistics. Then why are the family courts limiting father’s time with children to every other weekend …4 days a month? Even when father’s attempt to be active in their child’s life they are limited. Oh you need to be responsible pay supportand do your 4 days?

Then he goes on to say, “But we also need families to raise our children. We need fathers to realize that responsibility does not end at conception. We need them to realize that what makes you a man is not the ability to have a child – it’s the courage to raise one. ” Yes, Mr. Obama but we need the courts to realize that too. Maybe he should address  that one to the family court system? It seems to me that many me believe that and are denied the right to follow through with it.

I really loved this part, “It’s up to us – as fathers and parents – to instill this ethic of excellence in our children. It’s up to us to say to our daughters, don’t ever let images on TV tell you what you are worth, because I expect you to dream without limit and reach for those goals. It’s up to us to tell our sons, those songs on the radio may glorify violence, but in my house we live glory to achievement, self respect, and hard work. It’s up to us to set these high expectations. And that means meeting those expectations ourselves. That means setting examples of excellence in our own lives.” No kidding, but you have 4 days a week to do this ..that is it!  Make sure you pay that support though!

Much of his speech focused on the role of father’s and how important it is. That I think we can all agree on. However, when the government…the family court system breaks down and limits that role we have the problems we have with our countries children. We have the violence, the lack of respect, poor self-esteem, and the utter mess we have.

So Obama, what are you going to do to ensure every ready, willing, and able father has a chance to do what you ask? How are you going to ensure they can be involved in their child’s life? What are you going to do about mother’s pushing father’s out of their children’s life with the help of the Family Court system?

Obama ends his speech, “That is our ultimate responsibility as fathers and parents. We try. We hope. We do what we can to build our house upon the sturdiest rock. And when the winds come, and the rains fall, and they beat upon that house, we keep faith that our Father will be there to guide us, and watch over us, and protect us, and lead His children through the darkest of storms into light of a better day. That is my prayer for all of us on this Father’s Day, and that is my hope for this country in the years ahead. May God Bless you and your children. Thank you. ”

Yep, that is all father’s have hope..hope that one day our legal system will allow father’s to be father’s. Hope that this dark storm on Fatherhood will eventually bring a bright sunny day where father’s can enjoy their children with out the legal mess, the conflict, the alienation, and the bitterness.

The words have such meaning today, even more than they did when the song was released by Cher.  Gypsys, tramps, and thieves.  We’d hear it from the people of the town They’d call us Gypsys, tramps, and thieves!  And that is exactly what the good citizens of California think, so much that a Task force is being put together to try and change the perception, and try to make the courts more effective.  Effective at what is the question - at hiding their dirty deeds better?  Or hiding the money they get from the State for their shared of Title IV-D funding to pay for judges and prosecutors under contract to help increase child support amounts?  Or ensuring better compliance from the member of the Bar that need to follow their rules to ensure due process is denied to All family court visitors, and not just the majority?

Aren’t you lucky to be a Californian.  Your Government is so concerned about what goes on it Family Court that they are going to pull together a task force made up of Lawyers, Judges and Commissioners to fix it.

Hello!!!……….They are the problem!  Judges legislating over families is a problem.  Commissioners under contract to the Child Support Collection agency, and getting re-imbursed for setting child support amounts is a problem.  Members of the Bar association that represent the interest of their profession rather than their client is a problem.

If only 10% of women were graduating from High School, would that be a problem.  Yet, 10 percent of marriages ending with the non-custodial parent only seeing their kids 4 days or less a month is not.  If only 15% of girls were graduating from High School it would be a problem, yet, 15% of men getting custody of their children in divorce is not a problem.  I thought double standards and bias was thrown out many decades ago.  Yet, it is rampant in California’s courts.

Is Judicial Bias okay, or just a one way street?  Is the fact a State Agency has contracts with the courts for their own prosecutors and for their own Commissioners not a big RED flag to be raised in California that something is wrong?  DO they thing people are so stupid they dont’ see this?  They would be right - it goes no under our nose for years, and we don’t even realize it.

So the question is this - This task for is there to fix what?  Fix the fact that people are starting to see how corrupt they are and serious action is required NOW so they can limit the damage?  I can’t see any other reason for it, since their is nobody on the Task force to represent families that have gone through the issues of the court, nobody to represent the custodial and non-custodial parents, the children who’s lives are destroyed by a Court System that is bent on destroying families to ensure their own funding from the State of California and Title IV-D.

If you live in California, you need to yell, and yell loud.  You need to write a letter to your legislature.  You need to pick up the phone and make some calls.  You need to be a part of the solution, not running behind the next steam roller that is headed for your family.

Stopping the Family Courts of California from ruining the lives of your children and grandchildren is up to you.  Or, sit there and hope for the best, I hear it works well in California.

Imagine this, tens of thousands of troops in Iraq, equipped with the best that our taxes can buy, tanks, jets, helicopters, and all the support that goes with it - and for good reason - to protect our country.  For or against the war, we all understand the financial burden it takes on our country, and we all want to ensure the safety of our Soldiers, and ensure they come home safe.  Yet many of them come hope to an empty house, or a restraining order issued while overseas to keep them from their children, like many other parents - victims of the nuclear option - False allegations of Domestic Violence, or other issues related to the quick grab for custody of children - the real prisoners of war.

However, here is the question.  Come home to what?  Another war?  The war in family courts costs the United States the same amount as the War in Iraq - $112 Billion a year.  Unbelievably, we are spending as much on divorce in the United States as we are on the War in Iraq. The difference - in Iraq we have Generals leading the war - at home we have Judges.  In Iraq we have Soldiers fighting for peace, at home we have Non-custodial parents.  In Iraq, we have special forces - at home we have members of the special Bar Association.  In Iraq we have insurgents - at home we have custodial parents.  In Iraq - the soldiers try to protect the citizenry, at home the NCP’s try to protect their children.

In Iraq they have Jets and Helicopters that drop large bombs.  At home they have VAWA and false allegations to drop large bombs.  At home they have restraining orders and no-contact orders to keep the NCP from the children, in Iraq they use barbed wire and fortified military camps.

Congress approves the spending in Iraq, from the general fund.  The US Department of Health and Human Services approves the spending at home from the Social Security Fund.

The people of Iraq long for freedom, for democracy.  The children of the United States long for two loving parents.

They say we will never get out of Iraq, it will drag on for years to come.  I’m afraid it is the same for our children.

In Iraq, we have a new generation of citizens that have seen nothing but war in their country - it’s not much different at home. 

The question for NCP’s at home is this - will you remain a reserve, or will you return to active duty to fight for your rights to have a meaningful relationship with your children.  Will you children be a prisoner of war, or will you fight to gain their release?

Will you be a revolutionary soldier in this war to free your children, or a toy soldier in this game called family law?  Your choice - the outcomes are very different.

I found this puzzling, and interesting at the same time.  We hear of couples slitting up during marital issues all the time.  Sometimes, you just need a breat from each other to find the important points that brought you together.  But, when the Governor Jim Gibbons leaves the Governor’s Mansion to return to his home during a break-up, it makes you wonder who is really running the State.  It is the Governor’s Mansion right?  Or is it the First Ladies mansion?

Now some would argue that it is always the First Ladies everything in divorce and separation - and more than one Police Officer has told a man that when he has been served notice to get out of his own house due to a restraining order.  This sure makes one wonder what went on in the Nevada Governor’s office.

And the logistics don’t make sense.  The Governor, who is responsible for all States business in Nevada, has moved back to his family home in Reno, leaving a 27 mile commute to Carson City each day.  Rather than the 2 minute drive from the Governor’s Mansion?  Is the role of Governatrix in Nevada really that important that she needs to remain in the home that is designated for the Governor?  Does she even have the authority to occupy it when he is not living there?

And - doesn’t it just show what happens in divorce or separation.  One party gives in to everything, while the other throws their weight around and strip the other party of their dignity.  I guess being Governor has it’s drawbacks like every other family.

This is certainly good news for Shared Parenting advocates everywhere, that believe custodial parents should be help accountable when they keep a parent from having a relationship with their child.  Maryland’s Court of Appeals upheld a $3 million dollar judgement against a women who took her three children from the United State and fled to her home country of Egypt.  The parents shared custody, with the mother having custody of one child, and the father having custody of the other.  During one of her visits with both children, she bolted to Eqypt and the kids have not been seen by the father for 7 years.

A court awarded damages to the father, and the court of appeals has upheld that decision, demonstrating their lack of support for what this woman has done.  These courts are to be congratulations, for taking this position and imposing fines on the woman for what she has done.

Now, how do we get her to educate the rest of the Judiciary in the United States that parental alienation should not be tolerated, that keeping a parent from their child is domestic violence, just like the Department of Justice has stated on their web site.  How do we remove bias from the courts, who make incredibly biased decision that effect the lives of children each day?

There is one big difference with this Judge.  She did not grow up in Family Court like many of the judges and commissioners that hear family law do.  They grow their teeth in a corrupt system, and hand down the same corrupt decisions they are used to seeing during their career.  This judge has a much more diverse background, including spending time in the Federal Court System.  Her credentials make her well qualified to hear cases like this, as opposed to the Quasi Judges that hear typical family law issues.

Judge Battaglia - Thank you!  You are to be celebrated for this decision, and please help educate others to start doing the same thing.

Like we haven’t seen this before.  Another State Employee is steeling child support.  It’s happened in Washington, Oregon, Florida, and who knows where else.

Think about it.  An agency that uses its employees in any way they possibly can to collect child support, receive the federal dole for it, and violate any law or policy that stands in it’s way is not going to be hiring fine, upstanding citizens.  I suspect the honest to god “I’m interested in providing Social Services” employees don’t last long.  Leaving these common thieves to man the fort.

We keep asking why children are being killed by their parents.  Take a look at it - you have common thieves chasing loving parents who only want to love their children.  Harrassing them in any fashion they can, yet refusing to enforce the very parenting plan that keeps them from their children.  Pay up, but you don’t get to be a part of their lives. 

So, this $10,000 in stolen child support money - what poor non-custodial parent has lost a license, a vehicle, a lien on their home, or been fired from their job for being picked up on contempt of court when their payment didn’t post?

How will they ever prove they paid?  How much more has been stolen by other employees of these agencies doing the same thing?

I see it now, these child support agency meetings, discussing how to collect more money, instead of discussion how they can reduce theft of funds.  After all, it is only $10k. 

We need to fix these agencies - they can start with background checks on their employees, and get rid of the felons that have access to social security numbers.  Then enforce their laws and policies with their staff.  And, finally, start advocating as a social services organization, not a collection agency.

You see and hear the injustices in Family Court each and every day, yet you wonder when the ridiculous charade will end.  It appears a jury has seen through the mess and Steve Barreras was awarded $1.2 million dollars - $575 in Punitive Damage, and $625,000 in Compensatory damage for his ordeal.  Use this link to see the detail on the Barreras myspace site.

It was incredible what happened to Barreras, who divorced his former wife and was later ordered to pay child support for a child that did not exist.  She is now in federal prison!  This is a great victory for Barreras, and demonstrates yet again that a jury of ones peers sees the harm that goes on in family courts, even when the family court judges can’t.  Of course, they don’t select blind jurors for these cases, and we all know family court judges are blinded with bias.

Now the question is if Barreras will go after and hold Judges Deborah Davis Walker and Angela Jewell accountable for their abuse of the family court system.  Lets hope he does to send another strong message to the courts.

With $1.2 million in his pocket, I’m sure his choices and his decisions will be considerably different moving forward!

Another bonehead Judge or Commissioner making a decision in “The best interest of the child” has kept three young children with a mother who has killed them.  Nassau County Courts in New York need to investigate this issue with independent investigators to see if their contracts with the State for collection of child support put another family in harms way. 

All this while the fathers of the children are fighting the courts for custody to protect these very children.  This reminds me of our previous story where Mark Supanich actually took his daughter because he felt she was not safe.  It resulted in his arrest by US Marshals for kidnapping - which he was eventually aquitted of.  Yet, the family courts still restrict him rom seeing his daughter.

Thankfully, Mark’s daughter is still alive! His taking her from the harm he thought she was being exposed to may have saved her tender life. 

 These two fathers, Ricky Ward and Innocent Demesyeux were both fighting to get custody of the three children from the mother.  Leatrice Brewer called 911 to report she had killed her three children.  Cause of death is still under investigation.  Foaming around the mouths of the childen may indicate they were drowned or poisoned.

Tragedy - Yes.  Expected - of course.  Our courts, driven by payments from child support agencies that pay for courts to hear their cases, incented under US Title IV-D will continue to make decision that keep custodial parents off of welfare, and loving parents out of the life of their children.  It’s a sad reality of our government today.

The answer to many of these issues is simple - shared parenting.  Allow both parents into the lives of the children equally, providing the oversight of another parent who can identify when harm may be coming to their child.  Conviction of DIVORCE is not a reason to remove a child from the life of their children.  How can it be justified?

The question always comes up - where was dad. 

A 31 year old mother in Gahanna, Ohio ordered her 14 year old son to beat up another kid behind their school, while she video taped the fight.  In the video, she can be heard encouraging him on to fight the other boy.  She was convicted of disorderly conduct, ordered to pay $200 and given one years probation.

Not much information here, but lets look at it closer.  She is 31, her son is 14.  Seems she was 17 when her son was born.  Where was her father when she was 17, or was she raised in the typical single parent family that all too often leads to increased teen pregnancy.

No mention of the father for her 17 year old son.  I suspect we have again the typical single parent family here, where teen age boys are more likely to drop out of school, get into trouble and have lower high school test scores.

None of this can be proven because the facts aren’t there, but it can sure be assumed in todays society, where single parenting is the accepted norm, and even the preferred norm in most states where the goal is to keep parents off welfare, and increase the revenues to the state at the same time with Title IV-D block grants.

One can only wonder if this would have happened at all if the young man had a father in his life.

Stop Family Abuse - support equal shared parenting.

It wasn’t long ago that Mark Supanich was featured on America’s Most Wanted TV program, highlighted as America’s Most Wanted Dad for what was told to be a kidnapping of his daughter.  It’s estimated that the biggest cause of kidnapping of children is by a parent durng custody disagreements.

However, in this disagreement, which was between young Shania’s parents, but was more between Mark Supanich and the Superior Courts of Washington which were failing to protect Shania from alleged abuse and a poor environment for the child.  After losing his case with Washington’s Superior Courts, and a failure by Washington’s DSHS, Mark simply took matters into his own hands for the protecton of his daugher.

Supanich was eventually arrested by the US Marshall’s service after being on the run for several years.  He was charged and recently completed his jury trial.  The jury trial ended with Mark Supanich being aquitted!!  Imagine, a jury of his peers agreed that he was protecting his child, something a Washington State Superior Court Family Law commissioner could not do.  Something DSHS refused to do.

Now, Mark is involved in the next battle of his life, getting to see his daughter again, as he has been kept from having any visitation with her, as her torture goes on.

No surprise here that the Tacoma, WA YWCA and their Attorney Kevin Rundle is involved in this litigation, supporting a troubled mother and her false accussations to the courts of Washington.  Read the entire story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Non-Custodial Parents and Grand Parentings in Washington State or with kids in Washington State are asked to help by signing the Shared Parenting Petition at http://petition.WashingtonSharedParenting.com.  If you live out of state, please put in the county your kids or grand kids live in Washington State!

Is it surprising to the citizens of the United States when an official with a DCF employee gets arrested, indicted, or found guilty of a crime.  Like the Florida official by the name of Al Zimmerman, that was recently caught taking pornographic images of minor girls.  Well, not really, if you understand how their organizations operate.  I mean get real.  An agency that makes its money off of the mis-fortune of families, that works to increase it’s support off of the federal tiet, an agency that operates for their best interest rather than the best interest of families.

 Let’s not indict the ingorance of their employees, who enter social services with the idea of improving society.  But lets begin to question why these employees become complacent in their jobs, doing things to members of families that they know they shouldn’t.  Lets question those that turn a blind eye when they know co-workers are doing inappropriate things to families.  Florida DCF Secretary Bob Butterworth says “The integrity of this department can’t be compromised by the actions of one individual”.   Your right Bob.  Well Stated.  However, the opposite is true.  The integrity of this deparment has been proven to still be compromised by the action of this individual - and many others, while we continue to fund the destruction of Florida families, fund family judges, prosecutors, while we ignore the legitimate rights of parents to parent their children.

Our moral compass is lost, when we allow Departments like these to operate with such brazen corruption.  Silly, their idea is that when the media catches them they have to fix a problem.  Get on your hands and knees Bob, wallow around in the mire that your department and most other States are stuck in.  Destroying families is the only game you are good at.  When you understand that, and you work to fix the behavior that is bred in your entire department, then we will begin to believe that one person being caught is an anomoly.

Until then, we understand - it’s business as usuall - Family Abuse!

 The remaining question is this.  Where was Zimmerman touted as an expert.  What national conventions did he attend and educate other at on the public dime.  Who did he supervise, and what immoral legacy has he left behind?

Child custody and child support guidelines in Pennsylvania are in great need of repair.

The issue of child custody in customary family court practices denies one parent or the other the right to provide their children not just with what they need, but with what they are entitled to as well.

As research and studies have demonstrated, children do much better in life when they have equal access to both parents. However, if a child is denied a relationship with his or her father or mother or the child’s relationship with the father or mother is dampened, society as a whole ultimately can suffer. And, as a result, this ends up being a major social issue.

Standard court orders in the areas of child support and child custody violate the US constitution and US Bill of Rights on a daily basis. There is very little legislatively or politically that is being done to change this.

Every child has a right to both parents.  They have a right to be heard and listened to.  If the family law system was designed for the best interest of the children and not for lawyer enrichment our children would have guaranteed rights to both parents.

  But you see that some lawyers are a root cause to what children and parents go through and then when judges make unjustified rulings, they are on the same level as the lawyers.  Because in most states family law judges are elected and influenced by campaign donations made by lawyers that he/she presides over.  And the reality is that the awareness of how unfair family law in this country is just now coming out.

We, the undersigned, call on the United States of America to allow equal rights to both mothers and fathers in family law.  Please contact me regarding this serious issue going on in Pennsylvania courts.

Sincerely,

Anita Ball

PO Box 2

Huntingdon, PA 16652

jwb9871@yahoo.com

PA State Director

United Civil Rights Organization

http://unitedcivilrights.org/

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,5143,695227185,00.html

This story came to my attention because I’ve seen the damage done when false allegations of abuse of a child stem from a nasty divorce.  I have lived it.  Not only does the accused get destroyed but the child does as well. To quote from the article, “Alleging child abuse is becoming a disturbingly popular tactic among divorcing couples arguing over child custody,” says the sponsor, Sen. Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake.
The truth is this happens and it works for some.  Even when it doesn’t work the person who made the allegation in the first place receives no punishment.  I’ve actually not heard of one case where a false allegations, stemming from custody issues, or abuse was prosecuted by the child protection agencies. Maybe there is one out there but I have never heard of one personally.  That leads me to believe this is going on, child protection services knows it, and they do nothing about it.  Ill trained social workers jump at the chance to prosecute the ‘bad parent’ and even when they start to figure out what is going on and that they are being used they don’t stop!  Calling and alleging abuse coupled with parental alienation is a lethal and toxic combination that in the end hurt the kids that this agency is designed to protect.
Sen. Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake should be commended for his efforts but it sounds to me like it will just be another law that gets ignored. Several states do have laws to prosecute people who knowingly make a false report on the books. Those laws don’t get enforced.  Child protection departments have too much riding on people making reports and if they scare them off less reports come in, less money, less jobs.  It appears to me that they enjoy false reports of abuse in some sick way.  If they didn’t more would be prosecuted for making them.

You know I find it odd, when a woman cries domestic violence and child abuse they aren’t lieing to the person they make the report to because woman and children “don’t lie about these things” but most of these social workers are women, they know what women talk about, how they think, how they act.  I’m a woman and I will tell you some, if not all woman are some of the most vengeful creatures in creation and some will do just about anything to win. And children, I could probably get my kids to say the sky is green if I pounded it in to their heads enough or promised them something in return for saying it.
When a trained social worker walks in and sees the situation as a possible custody dispute they should proceed with caution and many CPS manuals do say to do this, however I’ve never seen it done.  The teary eyed mom and brainwashed child will win out every time.  As long as the protection agencies are ill trained on how to figure out what is going on there will always be a mess and lives destroyed in this process. I’m certainly not saying that the child should never be believed or the mother should never be believed, but actual fact and evidence should be considered before all else and if it is found that the allegation was false they should by all means prosecute the accuser.  Maybe just maybe it might stop the next person from doing the same to their ex.   Sounds like common sense but obviously our government lacks that!

Washington State Senator Jim Kastama has tried for 11 long years to get his bill in front of the State Senate, only to have it held up by a committee that refuses to move it forward without a unanimous vote of its  members.  In other words, it is help up from consideration by the entire Senate because of one or two holdouts on a committee.  Democracy at its finest.  BTW, the last of the holdouts is Senator Rosemary McAuliffe of Bothell.

To encourage the Legislature to put put pressure on this committee and send the bill to the legislature for a vote, WashingtonSharedParenting.com and the Washington Civil Rights Council have established an online petition for Washington residents, and parents with children in Washington, to sign and encourage movement on this bill.

The bill calls for a minimum of 30% parenting time for all children, absent abuse in the family.  It also requires judges show a legal reason for deviations from this minimum.  It’s a great start for Washington.  The petition is off to a good start, having met its first signature goal. 

If you know a parent in Washington State, or a grandparent, brother, sister, cousin, or anyone else that supports shared parenting, please have them sign the petition at http://petition.WashingtonSharedParenting.com

As unbeleivea ble as it sounds, Christopher Calbi will have to resume making his monthly alimony payments of $3,183 per month to his former wife after she is released from her 30 month sentence for Aggravated Assault after pleading to causing injuries that led to the death of her 14-month old child.

Christopher Calbi is still dealing with the financial and emotional loss from the death of his son and had asked the courts to remove the alimony payments as a debt.  The courts ruled against him, stating they weren’t going to forgive the debt since it was entered into prior to the death of the son.

Law scholars are saying the courts missed an opportunity to make a statement, but refused to do son, and instead kicked it back to the legislature to pass a new law that would end alimony upon the other party terminating the life of one of the children of the family. 

Men’s rights activists are crying foul! 

weight in with your comments.  Isn’t alimony designed to give the other spouse an opportunity to re-educate themselves, and establish their own source of income.  Isn’t there the opportunity for training while incarcerated?  Why should this man relive the death of his son evey month when he makes that obscene payment?

Where is the justice in the Courts?!?

A new report published in the November/December issue of Child Development was written by Bruce Ellis, PhD at the Univerisity of Arizona and Marilyn Essex, PhD of the University of Wisconsin.  The report finds show that family conflict can have a direct effect on the puberty of girls, leading to early puberty and additional life long health risks.

The report was based on a study that followed children from preschool to middle childhood.  The two also conducted interviews of the children’s parents to understand family stresses such as parenting style, parental stresses, parental depression, economic conditions of the family, etc.

The study found girls from families with greater parental support and less marital stress experienced their first hormonal changes later.  Of interest is that the report found that a lack of parental support, depression with fathers, but not mothers, was associated with early puberty.

An earlier British Study showed that girls living with Step-fathers, rather than their biological fathers experienced puberty at an earlier age.  The British Study showed that girls today start puberty 1 1/2 years earlier than their mothers, and a full 2 years earlier than their grandmothers.

More indication that failed policies related to families and family abuse result in health issues for our children.  This particular one is measurable and well documented.

Shared Parenting will ensure children have access to both parents, relieving stress in their life, reducing depression in fathers who are distraught over the loss of their parent-child bond, and bring relieve to families everywhere that are effected by family abuse.

Burmuda’s Social Rehabilitation Minister Dale Butler is making plans for his Government to support shared parenting of children with new laws to be introduced soon.  The Minister had a report commissioned by his ministry to look at situation after complaints from three fathers groups that outlined the devestation to children and families when children do not have full access to both parents.

The report, titled “Momma’s Property, Daddy’s child” was written by Rodney Smith, who has a masters degree in Social Work.

One can only wonder how many contries will enact similar legislation before the United States recognizes it needs the same.  Will the US be a leader or a follower in giving children and families the laws required to ensure a positive outcome for all.  At this point, it seems to not even recognize the issues, or at least works hard to ignore them.

I’m going to simply posting an email from a US Non-Custodial Parent.  He has written words to a song that are sung to John Lennons Imagine.

“Report from Pakistan:

Police scuffle with lawyers during a protest against emergency rule.  Feminist Female Opposition Leader said to be “distraught”.

COURTS DESERTED

Police have arrested hundreds of lawyers and opposition figures and supporters since Saturday, and courts remained virtually deserted across Pakistan on Wednesday in a boycott by lawyers angry at the crackdown.

The main reason for imposing emergency rule and suspending the courts appears to have been the removal of judges who appeared hostile to the constitution, analysts say.”

         Imagine,

         with credit to John Lennon

         Imagine there’s *America*

         It’s easy if you try

         No oppression below us

         Above us only sky

         Imagine all the *children with*

         *Parenting equally each* day…

         Imagine there’s no *lawyers

         *It isn’t hard to do

         Nothing against *fathers*

         And no *Misandry *too

         Imagine all the *children

         *Living life in peace…

         Imagine no *abuses of custody*

         I wonder if you can

         No need for *greed or Judicial corruption*

         In a *brotherhood of fathers*

         Imagine all the people

         Sharing all the world…

         You may say i’m a dreamer

         But i\I’m not the only one

         I hope some day you’ll join us

         And the world will be as one

         Thomas Travis Young

Thanks Travis.  You have captured the essense of this issue very nicely.  Best of luck to you and your family!  Just Imagine!

In a bold move, President Musharraf of Pakistan has been arresting Judges and Attorney’s in Pakistan and calling them a threat to the security of his nation.  No question, people have been saying that judges and attorney’s threaten the security of the American family for many years now.  IF only we had a legislature that has as much guts as Musharraf to step up to the plate, set some laws into action to protect families, and then held judges and attorney’s accountable for violating the civil rights of American Families.  Maybe the family abuse would end.

It’s probably not fair to compare a politician in Pakistan to our own political issues in the US.  But is it really so different.  A dictator ignoring his constitution to make arrest of what some would call law abiding members of the judiciary is not much different than a legislature that ignores the policies of Health and Human Services Title IV-D funding of policies that destroy American Families.  Is it much different when our legislature ignores the cries of children that want nothing more than both loving parents in their life, but is denied because of the financial benefits that the States receive because of HHS Title IV-D funding. 

These judges are about to rule on a rule of their constitution that will allow for fair elections within their country.  We can’t get our judges to rule on anything that is fair when it comes to protecting American families.  Pakistans Lawyers are joining hands to try to bring about real change in their country.  Our family court attorney’s did that many years ago, and have formed their own strategy as Lawyers, and promoted lawyers who become judges to protect these joined arms as they destroy families for the financial benefit to a few.

Musharraf is trying to protect his minority government from the masses.  Our courts are trying to protect the masses from the minority.  When 85 percent of all divorces end with one sex getting custody, and the other is relegated to a weekend visitor, there is something wrong.  And, our Courts are working hard to protect their majority decisions from being changed to one that ensures 50/50, or equal shared parenting. 

Equal!  Is that what they are fighting for in Pakistan?  Or is it only in the United States where families have to fight for equality, from a government of the people, that will not operate in the interest of the people, but operates in a method that pays State Government Social Security Benefits to keep single parens off of the welfare roles. 

Next time you worry about your social security, just be happy that you are supporting the state agencies that work hard to pry child support dollars from non-custodial parens, while prying their children out of their outstretched arms, while their custodial parent sits on the couch counting their cash. 

 Only in America.  Justice for all, unless you get divorced.