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https://momsfightback.org/">Moms Fight Back

https://momsfightback.org/">Moms Fight Back

https://momsfightback.org/">Moms Fight Back

Family Court Reform

911 Tips

Policy Proposal

  • Enact a safe harbor provision to protect parents speaking up for their children. A higher standard will be established for gag orders and sealing the court that aligns with the first amendment rights.
  • Mandate that child safety is the priority of custody and parenting adjudications, BELIEVE the children first and foremost. Resolve safety risk and claims of (DV) family violence or abuse before assessing any other “Best Interest” factors. Objective overwhelming evidence must prove what they are saying is inaccurate or false if that is the accusation. Follow up outreaches by children will be believed and investigated even if previous claims were believed to be false. Specific criteria that must be identified and training developed to identify (or show false claims of) coaching.
  • All evidence will be submitted in these family court cases.
  • Transparency and accountability measures created and managed by an impartial diverse committee or council of interested parties to assure all social workers, child therapists, PRE’s, judges, advocates and attorneys can be evaluated fairly and objectively. Mandatory reporting of case data to an advisory committee that can track judges and related parties record on how they are dealing with these cases to identify problems (and successes!). Aggregate data and reports available to public.
  • Training requirement for all social workers, child therapists, PRE’s, judges, advocates and attorneys who preside over family court cases on domestic violence, coercive control, child abuse and sexual abuse. Training completions and updates will be recorded and publicly available.

THESE ARE THE FACS:

Each year, 58,500 children who seek protection from abuse through the U.S. family courts are ordered into the custody of a violent or sexually abusive parent.

A mother risks losing custody when she fights to protect her child from the child's abusive father. These cases then get turned against her. Research published in 1999 in the Journal of Child Sexual Abuse found that when a father wants custody he wins it 70 percent of the time. When a parent is accused of child abuse by the protective parent the abuser gains full or partial custody 90 percent of the time. And where there is domestic violence, the court tends to overlook the fact that these abuses were perpetrated by the same man.

This abuse of the child becomes part of the overall abuse scenario, complicating and magnifying the pain as the abuser gains control of the child while losing control of the mother in the divorce. The people who are supposed to be protecting these children (judges, custody evaluators, court appointed specialists, social workers) are failing miserably.

Recent Family Court Reform Posts

Remembering to Breathe

This piece was submitted to our 100K STORIES PROJECT by an anonymous protective mom. I have been a single parent twenty two years now. Single parenthood is filled with tears , loneliness, and holding my breath to survive on a shoe string budget. Buster our dog was colored blue,… Read More

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Family Court Reform Family Dynamics Mental Health Modern Parenting

Colorado Lacks Regulation for Court Appointed Psychologists; PRE’s

This piece was submitted to our 100K STORIES PROJECT by an anonymous protective mom. What You Don’t Know About Who’s Involved in Your Family Law Case Can Harm You and Your Children January 2015: I remember the very first interaction with my Court appointed psychologist known as a… Read More

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Family Court Reform Family Dynamics Mental Health Modern Parenting

Chaos in Colorado

This piece was submitted to our 100K STORIES PROJECT by Alana K. Haase. Alana has been a nurse for 27 years and a Mom for 18, you can visit her online at ALANAKHAASE.COM  Julie Sykes is disabled and wheelchair bound. She is also a single mother. It was not… Read More

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Family Court Reform Family Dynamics Foster Care & Adoption Mental Health Modern Parenting

Fighting Against Awarding Child Custody to Abusers

The cases are too numerous to cite. Custody awards to abusive fathers. Good mothers who sought court protection for their children from their abusive parent where the preponderance of evidence was clear from confirmed hospital reports of injuries suffered from beatings and molestations only for the mothers to… Read More

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Child Abuse Prevention Family Court Reform Family Dynamics Mental Health Modern Parenting

Prosecuted but Not Silenced: Courtroom Reform for Sexually Abused Children

This guest post was authored and provided to Moms Fight Back by Maralee McLean. In her book, Prosecuted but Not Silenced: Courtroom Reform for Sexually Abused Children, Maralee McLean shares her own legal journey to protect her daughter from her ex-husband and his alleged sexual abuse. She faced barriers at… Read More

Child Abuse Prevention Family Court Reform Family Dynamics Mental Health