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HOT Projects
!!!
· California Equal Parenting Ballot
Initiative
California
Shared Parenting Ballot Initiative Amends the California Family Law to
allow both parents to choose the child’s custody arrangement that is the
most beneficial for their children while allowing the courts to protect
the children.
The Initiative
is based on California
Assembly Bill AB1307, and is set for the Nov 2006 election, bringing
to a vote for and by the voters of the State of
California.
Signature gathering began on
October 6, 2005. Blank petitions can be obtained online, and mailed back to the coordinator
for your county. Petitions must be mailed to your county coordinator by
February 20,
2005.
·
California
Child Support Guide Under Review
The Judicial Council has awarded a
$240,000
contract to Policy Studies
Inc. (PSI) to prepare a report reviewing
California’s child support
Guideline. This only happens
once every four years.
The last review was in 2001, and the next one should be in
2009!
Family
Code Sections 4050-4076 cover the Statewide Uniform Guideline. In particular,
-FC Section 4053
provides the guiding principles of the Guideline.
-FC Section 4054 provides the
requirements and guiding policies of the four-year review.
The review recommendations must
ensure that the guideline results in appropriate child support orders, to
limit deviations from the guideline, or otherwise to help ensure that the
guideline is in compliance with federal law. The review must include input from
various interested entities, including parent focus groups.
The 2005 review does not, on its
face, appear to be in compliance with FC 4054(b),(c),(f).
In addition, the Guideline itself
is not in compliance with FC 4053(g), and is deficient with regards to the
principles at FC 4053(b),(c),(d),(f),(j),(l).
Four years ago PSI also won the
contract and their report focused on whether the Guideline should use
“net” or “gross” income. This
year seems to promise an equally “light” review focusing on:
1. whether
the Guideline is actually used,
2.
adjustments for low income, and
3. child
care orders.
As of yet, it doesn’t seem that PSI
will seek comment from parent groups. Maybe this is because the Judicial
Council plans to do that.
Either way, the final report needs to include input from all the
affected parties, and COPS would like to participate in the process.
For additional education on the
topic of child support guidelines across the nation, R. Mark Rogers is an expert
in this field with a wealth of information on his website. Also, SupportGuidelines.comis
a comprehensive resource for the interpretation and application of child
support guidelines in the United
States.
Continuing Projects
· Alternate Review of
AB1058 CA Guideline 2005 -TBD
· Reauthorization of
VAWA
House bills HR 3171,
HR
2876, HR 3402,
and Senate bill S. 1197
all seek to renew VAWA. The
Safe Homes for Children and Families
Coalition seeks to broaden and make more inclusive our efforts to end
family violence. The Safe
Homes for Children and Families Coalition recognizes that children and
families are harmed and put at risk regardless of which parent- mother or
father- is the perpetrator of violence. The Safe Homes for Children and
Families Coalition, along with many other organizations and individuals,
is actively working on ensuring any reauthorization of VAWA is
gender-neutral, protecting all regardless of the individual’s sex.
·
Fundraising for Legislator Education
California Alliance for Families and
Children (CAFC) is a gender-neutral 501(c)(3) organization based in
Sacramento California, dedicated to the equal rights of men, women and
children within family law.
CAFC provides
California policy makers
with professional and accurate information regarding family law issues,
providing for balanced and informed debate. CAFC also advocates for
legislative reform and provides personal assistance to victims of the
divorce industry. CAFC has been instrumental in numerous endeavors (some
public, some not) that ultimately will lead to children having access to
both parents instead of one or the other.
–PLEASE VISIT THE CAFC
WEBSITE AND MAKE A CONTRIBUTION
TODAY-
News
· Judicial Council releases its 2005 Public Trust
and Confidence in Courts Survey
September 7, 2005 the Judicial Council
released its 2005
Public Trust and Confidence in Courts Survey.
According to the survey, only 67% of the public
has a positive attitude about the courts. While this report shows a
seemingly low level of confidence in an institution based on trust, credit
should be given to our Judicial Council, both for the Court critiquing
itself, and because the Court has improved since the last report.
Highlights of the Survey
were: Recent immigrants gave
the highest approval and African Americans perceived the lowest
fairness. Also, Family court
and Traffic court had the least confidence and trust, particularly with
procedural fairness. The
survey recognized that family court cases are often high-stakes, ongoing,
and complex.
In providing
recommendations, the survey recommended to the Judiciary:
1) adhering to
principles of procedural fairness,
2) letting the
public know how to ensure judges adhere to the rules
3) take steps to
understand why attorneys also gave only moderate positive ratings in
procedural (i.e., attorneys probably gave an accurate assessment)
4) do further
research to determine how
concerns over procedural fairness affected other areas of public
uneasiness or distrust of the court.
·
Reservist Senate Bill
-SB 1082 (Morrow & Ducheny) Passes!
CAFC drafted
legislation and organized a bi-partisan legislative campaign to help
protect men and women serving in our armed services from unfair family law
practices regarding child support and custody. This legislation helps to
protect current custody and visitation orders. It also protects the right
of Reservists and Guard members to modify their child support orders when
they transfer from high paying civilian jobs to lower military pay as a
result of activation and deployment. SB 1082 received unanimous support in
the Legislature and was signed into law in September, 2005. The new law
received international press and broad coverage in
U.S.
military publications. It is the first bill of its kind in the nation. As
a result, other states are now moving to copy
California’s law while CAFC
leads the effort to have Congress make similar changes to federal law,
including the Bradley amendment.
THE EX FILES
Open discussion is required when melding
families
By Jann Blackstone-Ford and Sharyl Jupe
April 23, 2005
QUESTION: I'm getting remarried and moving
with my three younger children (12, 8, 6) about two hours from their dad.
My 15-year-old son is staying with his dad. He's a wonderful father, and
we have a good relationship. Do you have any suggestions for how to keep
the younger kids in good contact with their dad? I'm planning on driving
them to him Friday evenings and picking them up Sunday nights. He's
offered to meet me part way. He doesn't want to give up his weekends,
which I understand. Any help would be welcome.
We are glad that you all have a good
relationship and that you are willing to cooperate with each other after
you move, but we would like to make an observation, not a judgment. If you
are like many in this situation, the motive for your cooperation isn't "in
the best interest of the kids"; it's because you want to remarry, you
realize it's not fair that you will be moving the kids two hours away from
their father, and you are looking for a way to compensate for your
decision.
Many will then say that the decision to
move is really out of their hands. Their fiancé lives two hours away or he
works two hours away or he owns a house two hours away. Or his kids live
two hours away.
Don't get us wrong; we understand you are
in a pickle, and we know that both divorced moms and divorced dads face
this. You probably feel torn between the man you love, the man you respect
as your children's father, and your children. We have both been there and
know the decisions you must make are tough ones.
We could give you the same psychobabble
that many professionals will give you: Make sure the kids understand Dad
hasn't left them, that you and he are the ones to divorce. Then there are
things such as instant messaging and putting Dad and the kids on each
other's contact list. Get a Webcam so Dad and the kids can talk to each
other in real time. Make sure Dad talks to the kids' teachers on a regular
basis so he can stay on top of their educational progress.
But the real answer is: Don't move that far
away. If you really care about their father's influence and think he's a
devoted dad, then stay closer. Your oldest son has already told you how he
feels about your decision: He's staying with dad. It's not uncommon for
15-year-old boys to want to live with Dad when their parents divorce, so
his decision may not have been prompted by your decision to move. You
implied that it did, though, and therefore this could be the start of the
kids' slow migration to Dad's house, not because they love him more, but
because they hate the distance and feel forced to choose.
The Ex Files is written by Jann
Blackstone-Ford, M.A., and her husband's ex-wife, Sharyl Jupe. They are
the co-founders of Bonus
Families and the authors of "Ex-Etiquette for Parents: Good Behavior
After a Divorce or Separation."
Los Angeles
County Chapter (was Southern California/San Fernando/Santa
Clarita/Conejo Valley Chapter).
Meets second Tuesday of the month at the
Sherman
Oaks
Hospital from 7-8:30 PM
Los Angeles County Chapter
COPS The Coalition of Parent Support is
a state-wide, California
political organization for those who believe that children do best when
they have a healthy relationship with both their mother and their father.
We believe in joint custody and shared parenting after divorce, reasonable
levels of child support, and individual responsibility.
We combat media portrayals of fathers as deadbeats and abusers, and
fight government's desire to become involved in families when it's neither
required nor constructive.
We sponsor and support legislation that
advances our cause, and participate on panels and task forces at both the
state and the local level that seek to support parent involvement in all
aspects of children's lives, and we expect our members to support our
mission by making their voices heard in the halls of government. We also
support the elected officials who stand for justice and equality, and
fight those who don't.
Join Your
membership contributions make our work possible, so please join if you
haven't already.
This page is an overview of media and
poltical treatment of our issues, and a guide to the structure of our
organization. If you are here for the first time, " Who We Are, What
We've Done" is a good place to start.
History The Coalition Of Parent Support was
established in reaction to Senate Bill 370 in July of 1992. To read
more about the COPS history, click
here.
To join COPS, please fill out the online membership
form.
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