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HOT Projects !!!
· ELECTIONS & COPS
Chapters Revival
COPS The Coalition
of Parent Support is state wide, California political advocacy and
education organization for those who believe 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, accountable
and reasonable levels of child support and individual responsibility.
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.
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, equality and due process of the law, and fight
those who don't.
Goals:
1.
We educate the media on accurate portrayals of non-custodial
parents and family law reform.
2.
We sponsor and support legislation that advances the cause of
non-custodial parents and giving divorced children a healthy access to
both parents.
3.
We educate legislators and policy makers on family law reform to
benefit divorced children and non custodial families
4.
We support legislators that create a California and United States
environment that encourages non-custodial parents to be involved with
their children.
5.
We support California and United States family law that protects
the mental and physical welfare of children.
6. We provide resources and referrals
for non custodial families, parents and children
This November COPS will hold it is
annual election. More to
come.
· CAFC 2006 Legislative
Season
California Alliance for Families and
Children (CAFC) has put together an impressive team of family
advocates that is experienced, has legislative professionalism, and
understands the issues. Though education the CAFC team will provide
legislators and other decision makers with critical information to make
balanced, informed policy.
CAFC now has eight bills in
progress! These are solid, common-sense bills that aim at lowering
the stakes and reducing conflict in family court. These bills are
good for children and are good for parents.
Look here (CURRENT LEGISLATION) for the
bill numbers as they become available, and do not hesitate to visit the
CAFC website if you want to make a contribution to show your support.
· The Media and Shedding
Light on the Family Court
WANTED: Anyone who can help us
connect with people in the Media or TV Talk Shows so we can \discuss what
our Organization is trying to do and what is happening in Family
Law. It's not what you know but who.
Contact Nancy Ladisky
Vice President -COPS
Nancyldances@aol.com.
· 2005
Review of Statewide Uniform Child Support Guideline 2005
The Judicial Council has published
its report reviewing
California’s child support
Guideline, as required by state and federal law. This only happens
once every four years. The last review was in 2001, and the
next one should be in 2009!
The report concludes that the
Guideline accurately reflects the cost of raising children, and that there
is no need for change.
To understand the issue
better: 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. Currently, the
Guideline 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).
The Review was required to include
input from various interested entities, including parent focus groups,
before making recommendations (FC Section 4054(f)). This
apparently did not happen. The Review was also required to seek
public comment (FC Section 4054(g)). However, the Judicial Council
took a stealthy approach to meeting this requirement (i.e., only
taking public comment for a two week period, one of which was the week of
Christmas, and providing only nominal notice to the public and no advance
notice of the comment period).
COPS has formally protested
this practice and has requested corrective action. Read the COPS
response here.
Despite formally requesting to
participate in the review, as required by state law, the Judicial Council
has merely attached the COPS formal request as a comment in an
appendix. This does not comply with enacted state law or due
process.
More to come.
· Collaborative Project
with Warren
Farrell
COPS is beginning discussions with
author and social scientist Warren Farrell, Ph.D. on three judicial biases
about moms, dads and children. Stay tuned for updates
Continuing
Projects
· 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-
· Department of Child Support
Services (DCSS) Quarterly Conference Call:
The Department
of Child Support Services (DCSS) sponsors a quarterly conference call
directed at providing information to and receiving feedback from advocates
of the various affected groups.
On September 13, 2006, COPS participated on the call for the second
time. The call was productive
and DCSS was very receptive to COPS concerns.
In particular, DCSS has
recognized that often child support order are made too high through
default judgments, and result in orders that cannot be realistically be
repaid. In response, DCSS has
taken steps such as basing default orders on minimum wage rather than the
California median wage, support arrears payments are now paid directly to
principle rather than interest, and DCSS has committed to publicizing its
Compromise of Arrears Program (COAP). Also, in response to concerns that
certain DCSS local websites are not “user friendly” to non-custodial
parents, DCSS has agreed to work with the COPS representative to resolve
this.
The next call is on December 13, 2006. More to come
· VAWA Grants
The Department of Justice awards
grants under the Violence Against Women Act. Although the name is
misleading, these grants are for victims of domestic violence regardless
of the victims sex.
Of particular interest are
1) FY 2006
Transitional Housing Assistance Grant Program
(DV shelters) Sample
project budget: $175,000 / 3 yrs,
2) FY 2006
Training Grants to Stop Abuse and Sexual Assault Against Older Individuals
or Individuals with Disabilities
(Elder abuse) Sample project
budget: $346, 947 / 3 yrs,
3) FY 2006 Safe
Havens: Supervised Visitation and Safe Exchange Grant Program
(Supervised exchange facilities) Sample project budget: $350,000 / 2
yrs,
4) FY
2006 Legal Assistance for Victims Grant Program
(Legal aid) Sample
project budget: $290, 984 / 2 yrs, and
5) FY 2006
Rural Domestic Violence and Child Victimization Enforcement Grant
Program
(Rural services) Sample project budget: $718, 194 / 2
yrs.
The 2006 application deadlines for
these grants already passed (between December and February), however, now
is an ideal time to get educated on how
to apply for the 2007 grants.
Upcoming Events
· Children’s Rights
Council's 16th National Conference on Shared Parenting & 20th
Anniversary Conference is November 3-5, 2006 just outside of
Washington, D.C, in
Arlington,
Virginia. Please visit the CRC website for more details
· Father’s Day 2007 -
Mark your calendars for Sunday,
June 17, 2007.
· Equal Parents Week is
in September and is sponsored by the Children’s Rights Council (CRC)
–visit CRC's helpful website for all
parents, married or single
News
· SB1482 (Romero) Child
Custody:
This bill is the latest “Move Away” bill. In
short, it creates a “presumptive right” for a custodial parent to move the
child away from his/her other parent, and increases the burden of the
other parent to actually prove the harm that will be done to the child
before it actually happens.
Currently, the courts have
recognized that “move-aways” are often done to keep the child away from
the other parent, and are not in the child’s best interest. In
response, recent court decisions have protected the child’s right to both
parents, and the other parent’s right to a relationship with his/her
child, by considering whether the “move-away” is in the child’s best
interest.
SB 1482 seeks to take this ability the consider the
child’s best interest away from the courts, whenever a custodial parent
desires to move the child away from the other parent.
There
is substantial opposition for this bill and little support. For the
latest information on this bill, see the GLENN SACKS website or the
Alliance for Children Concerned About
Move-Aways website.
· JUNE Primary
Elections::
The COPS mission include: legislative reform,
education, and parent support. Accordingly, legislative reform is
key to COPS, and identifying and working with legislators who are the
“good guys” is equally important.
To learn more
about the candidates, the Board of Directors of COPS asked the following
questions of Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Superintendent of Public
Instruction (non partisan) primary candidates from the Peace and Freedom
Party, American Independent Party, Green Party, Libertarian Party,
Republican Party (except Governor) and Democratic Party. the
primary. The following questions were:
What is your feeling on shared
parenting?
How do you feel about support
guidelines?
What do you feel is the best interest
of the child?
What is your knowledge & interest
in family law issues, and what sort of access would you give
organizations like ours to discuss these issues?
We received only three responses that we
appreciate the acknowledgement of COPS and shared parenting issues in
California from:
Vibert Greene - Democratic Party
candidate for Governor
Michael Strimling - Democratic Party
candidate for Governor
Diane Lenning - Non partisan
candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction
Because we did not receive responses from
all Governor, Lt. Governor and Superintendent of Public Instruction
candidates we will not make an endorsement during the Primary. We will
once again try for the general election asking all the candidates to
respond to a set of questions to make an endorsement.
· SB 1482 Move-Away Bill Pulled in Face
of Huge Opposition
May 9, 2006, [GLENN
SACKS] In the face of over 4,000 opposition calls, letters
and faxes, California Senator Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) has decided to
withdraw a bill which would have granted custodial parents an almost
unlimited right to move children far way from their noncustodial parents.
Romero pulled SB 1482 just before today's scheduled hearing on the
bill.
SB 1482 would have
weakened if not abrogated the California Supreme Court's 2004 LaMusga
move-away decision, which affirmed that courts have the power to restrain
moves which run counter to children's best interests.
The bill was supported by
a wide array of feminist groups and state-funded pro-feminist
organizations, including the California National Organization for Women,
the California Commission on the Status of Women, the California
Partnership to End Domestic Violence, the Coalition for Family Equity,
Haven Hills, Inc., Marin Abused Women's Services, Business and
Professional Women/USA, the National Council of Jewish Women Los Angeles,
the Santa Clara County Domestic Violence Advocacy Consortium, and
others.
Opposition to the bill and
unrestricted move-aways was led by the Alliance for Children Concerned About
Move-Aways, an advocacy group endorsed by over 50 mental health
and family law professionals, and Michael Robinson and the California Alliance for Families and
Children (CAFC). Several organizations of family law and mental
health professionals also opposed SB 1482, including the California
Judge's Association, the California Psychological Association, and the
State Bar of California's Family Law Section.
· California Equal Parenting Ballot
Initiative
March 17, 2006,
California Shared Parenting
Ballot Initiative (Child Custody. Equal Physical Custody. Initiative
Statute 1156. (SA2005RF0094)) failed to qualify for the 2006 ballot.
The organizers of the Initiative are reviewing their Lessons Learned for a
potential second run.
· Reauthorization of
VAWA
December 17, 2005, David R.
Burroughs, Esq., Legislative Consultant for Safe Homes for Children and Families
Coalition has reported that House bill HR 3402,
renewing VAWA, has just passed in Congress with all the requested
amendments making it gender-neutral, and is cleared for the White
House!
The Safe Homes for Children and
Families Coalition, along with the many other organizations and
individuals working on ensuring any reauthorization of VAWA be
gender-neutral, has demonstrated that if you act reasonably, make
reasonable proposals, put some legwork into promoting your position and
people support the effort with energy and money, as so many did, that we
can effect swift change. Also, special thanks to Michael Robinson of
CAFC.
WE HAVE A DUTY TO SHOW OUR
APPRECIATION TO THE POLITICAL LEADERS WHO STEPPED FORWARD ON OUR BEHALF TO
MAKE VAWA GENDER-NEUTRAL.
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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