Let's Get Honest! Absolutely Uncommon Analysis of Family & Conciliation Courts' Operations, Practices, & History

This post also has a “Part 2,” already written, coming soon. You’re looking at Part 1, which is longer but simpler, and where I make the case for the exhortation in the title and tell people to start reading “a few damn tax returns…” regardless of whether or not you’re subject to USA taxes or live here… IRS Form 990 and Form 990PF (usually available to the public where they exist) Tax Returns are key sources of information on the intended internationally-aligned Single Family Court system being set up (and already set up in some places) to replace other courts better designed to handle criminal matters AND child protection matters.

Part 2 (next link) kind of nails that topic  and emphasizes what’s at stake internationally if this part of the history of “family courts” is only told by their creators, and by survivors only to the extent the creators “clear” that version of history.

That post, Part 2, so far is shorter, but has more “fine print” and lists types of organization (specific ones I’ve already done drill-downs on) taking business from the AFCC-conceived, AFCC-administered, and AFCC-primarily group loyalty courts pushing the professions of their “interdisciplinary” membership … Especially anyone with a program to sell.  On-line, court-ordered, and psycho-educational, replicable, and privately controlled while (mostly) public-financed, ideally. The more problems surface in the problem-solving courts, the more this business niche prospers:

Links to Both Preview and Part 2 provided again at the bottom of this post.

Here’s where I originally started this post, right after a few exhortations explaining its title.

Read some tax returns!

So what? if you live outside the United States and your country doesn’t provide the public with such things!

Accounting outside the USA for charities may not be as handy as IRS Forms 990, 990PF and related classifications, with the breakdown of revenues, expenses, assets and liabilities for public consumption as we are here — I admit, not in the best format, but at least theoretically forms which allow comparison with like type) — but there is no question anymore that the international aspects of AFCC exist, that protests of and promotions of “parental alienation” as junk science or as a serious health problem are international, as are many organizations (and professionals) who span the oceans to promote their perspective (pro/con or let’s tweak it some) — with each other —  and both hoping for special legislation to either mandate PA antidotes, or forbid use of PA in consideration of custody matters (etc.).

I typed financial statements long before I was married (had children, was battered, separated, had to run the family court gauntlet, etc.) but I have found after this experience and having personally approached (knock on door and/or call, email, etc.) nonprofit after nonprofit seeking help with my “post-DV” family court custody challenge (in the context of mounting child support arrears and ongoing visitation-centered harassments causing job losses, plural) (including some advertising their involvement with DV prevention, protection, etc.) that reading tax returns with numbers filled in — or not filled in where they should be — provides vocabulary and indicators of truth-telling vs. avoidance and stonewalling (like consistently filing late).  How important is it to know which you’re dealing with in an organization seeking to run or obtain funding from others to run the courts?

The tax returns show things which can’t be learned or seen any other way.  They may be sensed, but they will not be black-and-white (i.e., in print) outlined, leading (over time, putting one together with another where it allegedly should connect) to understanding that the services to be provided are less characteristic of any organization than how ethically it files its accounts.

The more you read, the more certain names will continue to resurface (in this subject area) and such things as size, locale, source and amounts of funding, age, and particularly how this does or does not conflict with public persona (on website, in writings).  Ideally both an audited financial statement and the tax return (for the same time frame) should be read together; but if not, one or the other are still individually sources of information on what that entity reports to government as opposed to, YOU (the public).

I don’t expect those organizations themselves to ‘fess up how well aware of AFCC they are.  I just expect human beings (whether bystanders, relatives, or “litigants in person” — parents with minor children struggling through the systems) — to admit it exists and that IF you’re AGAINST the concept of PAS-immunization through court-mandated classes (before, during, or after divorce and custody litigation and decision-making) — you’d best go for the jugular of that theory and not just trim a few toenails every now and then, and boast about it as if some major breakthrough to whomever, unlike me (because I DO read such things) hopefully might be impressed.

I’m not the leader.  It’s not my long-suit.  My nose for information and for not “junk psychology” but junk logic is; it leads ME.  Some theories stink; others seem more plausible; I screen out the ridiculous and see what’s left.  I frequently check back to original sources or assumptions, which seems to be more than many people bother to do.

And I understand that standard journalism, while interesting and it may provide an ongoing source of recurring or, at times, new organizations dealing with old questions, it is NOT the answer to public solutions to entrenched problems, by definition…  That’s not its purpose either, for the most part.

Surely I am not the only person with this capacity or  nose for this information who still gives a damn and hasn’t burnt out yet!  But where are the others who have the capacity and interest who still give a damn and haven’t burnt out?  Are they publishing on-line?  Under what searchable terms?

If you too, have the capacity and nose for this, then become a leader, find new leaders, and in doing so show some personal integrity, which hanging out with and promoting certain conferences, “coalitions,” and groups does not and which hangouts in fact dilute and add barriers to communication.

Most of the “family court reform” movement based out of Washington D.C. (and California) has NOT and serves instead to suck people, time, energy, and focus against better investigations and topics of research. As convincing as it may sound (til you look closer and compare words to deeds), my take is, that sucking action, draining the public’s (and plagued parents’ and now-adult kids who survived the systems) time, energy and focus away from the “motherlode” of information, is the purpose (it certainly has been the consistent result), …lest someone then clean out what seems to have become for all family court reformers (including AFCC members) a rather comfortable professional niche in the dog and pony show of family court reform.

Clear the Clutter | Start to Understand the Clamor!

Go for the Financials which requires you first Identify the Entities.

I don’t care  — “so what?” — if you’re not living in a country whose charities MUST file tax returns with the US Internal Revenue Service.  IF you’ve got family courts and legislatures and courtrooms, speak primarily English (i.e., mostly Commonwealth countries, and the USA, with EU nations in part), you WILL be impacted by those running the AFCC, which (over here) is required to file tax return in whichever states it has a presence.

So are major tax-exempt foundations paying government(s) directly and blending their billions (in some cases) with government funds to produce certain gender-specific outcomes in family court cases.  There’s a history to how that happened here, and it’s worth knowing and understanding.

I’ve got evidence of, what seems to be originally USA-based AFCC-associated professionals ranging across North America (including Canada, the USA (with Hawaii), Australia and New Zealand, and the United Kingdom (at a minimum) ensconced for YEARS inside and leveraging their positions and influence, or outright directing:  

~~Centers at professional schools of psychology (independent, a late-1900s phenomenon, I believe)).

~~Center within Schools of psychology  in famous universities (Cornell, Yale, …)

~~At both public and private university’s law schools (certain ones in particular), with or without having created spinoff nonprofits housed there, and at least one free-standing law school (Boston area).

~~State Supreme Courts (as Supreme Court Justices) and/or Administrative Branches of the Same.

~~County-based family courthouses — of course.  That goes almost without saying (judges and others), which brings us to:  administrative offices of the courts.

That’s where AFCC seems to have gotten its illicit and (originally, til “outed”) under-cover start.  RIGHT OUT OF a county building.  It’s had the habit of operating so across the decades too; last caught doing this a few years (well, about seven years) back in Connecticut.  AFCC Chapter’s response?  Register AFTER sending out solicitations, this was exposed, later shut themselves down again….

In other words, at the heart of the matter, is posing as government while in fact being private; using government titles, offices, professions and jurisdictions as their own private turf — and selling this at public expense as somehow in the public benefit.

“NIMBY” !!! (Not In My Back Yard)….

Reminder:  “esconced” means, settled, established, installed, entrenched, not about to move,* and to a degree, secrecy, a cloak of disguise/covering is implied.**   “To cover with a fort” seems very appropriate here. ***

***ensconce (v.) (<~EtmyOnline.com)

1580s, “to cover with a fort,” from en- (1) “make, put in” + sconce “small fortification, shelter,” perhaps via French, probably from Dutch schans “earthwork” (compare Middle High German schanze “bundle of sticks”), which is of uncertain origin. Hence, “to fix firmly, settle” (1590s). 

*“Brian was ensconced behind the bar” (Collins English Dictionary/US)

**(Dictionary.com,  verb form)

A “sconce” is a lantern with a screen:

sconce (n.) (<~~also EtymOnline.com. I like word roots & usage dates)…

late 14c., “candlestick with a screen,” a shortening of Old French esconse “lantern, hiding place,” from Medieval Latin sconsa, from Latin absconsa, fem. past participle of abscondere “to hide” (see abscond). Meaning “metal bracket-candlestick fastened to a wall” is recorded from mid-15c.

So? I used the word deliberately from what I know so far of the situation….

AFCC members and agenda also are embedded / ensconced in:

~~”Myriad“(<~Definition) “professional organizations” [<~my translation: private, nonprofit businesses entities whose main theme or membership requirements relate to the stated profession] whose primary focus is on controlling (licensing if possible, certifying if not) and training (i.e., controlling and being paid for the training of) said professions] and in spinoff professions [<~see above translation:  organizations…] which could/would not exist were it not for the family court systems and those family court systems’ disastrous failures (ongoing) to “give a crap about” criminal behavior (abuse, of adults OR children) among and between family members…. except insomuchas it provides psycho-educational business (and professional practice) experience for said members.  In this family court realm, ongoing failure is good for business.

(Good for business that is, so long as the involved professionals can distance themselves from special interests having set up the courts in the first place, which would raise questions about a potential pre-meditated business/financial agenda… and so long as these also can not be held responsible for the consequences of their own actions, being blended and cohesively melded to what (as conferencing separately, in alternating locations inside or outside the United States) is, in fact the organization’s overall policy.

~~As owners and/or operators or “executive directors” running cohorts of facilitators for and copycat networks of local (sometimes) or on-line-based (other times) nonprofits which take court-referred services such as:  parent education; supervised visitation; divorce education; PAS-prevention for kids (yes…), and of course the ultimate remedy — reunification services (or “camps”)… Parent coordination…**  Batterers’ or (s it now “batterING”?) intervention.

Does the list EVER stop?  (I think, no, it does not).  It may slow down periodically until some field is saturated, or people are suing practitioners enough to where it’s just no longer practical to push it — then another one can be developed.

I’ve been through this often before on the blog.

For the rest of this post, I just bring up some recent events to demonstrate the basic principle (how easy is it to find out this information?  Literally, it can take as little as a few minutes, or up to just maybe a half hour per organization or event. It takes me more to label the screenprints than to locate the information once you know the “tells.”  And when in doubt, it’s not that hard to do some basic internet searches (i.e., [professional name] or [state, location], “AFCC” (or, the same written out) and view the results.

FOR EXAMPLE, “PARENT COORDINATION”

Two quick looks at recent events one within Baltimore…and as, when you look closer, probably, England (but trained by AFCC acknowledging “USA and Canada” origins).  

In these examples I am showing how easy it is to locate  — and how I locate it — and discern AFCC influence or branding.  One example starts at AFCC’s home page and shows conference (upcoming, as I recall),  but the other I ran across through #CoP4C conference, looked at who was approving of it, and explored the related Tweeter’s posted website.  The latter referenced a conference which took place last March, 2019.

**Parent coordination an AFCC creation in a variety of states (USA) and as my reference to Twitter thread (linking to some of my earlier posts pointing this out) and the Preview Post shows someone admitting and advertising, it’s hoped that the trans-Atlantic friendships established will result in the UK copying the USA’s policy in legislatively mandating this and (which goes with the legislation) of course having someone centrally control it, too.  This has already been done with the mediation field in the UK, to the degree possible, but this post is talking Parent Coordination, not Mediation.  Also being pushed is “Collaborative Law…”)

…It appears that a Florida chapter was established in order to get “parent coordination” passed.  It took a few tries, but eventually was.  In Pennsylvania, it was set up by administrative judicial ruling.  I have not tracked in every state; I happened to be focused on Pennsylvania, specific individuals promoting it, and was aware that there’d been lawsuits here and there almost as quickly as the practice was established.

Pennsylvania was in for a surprise when it was suddenly administratively shut down several years ago, not long after being started up (I do not know the current status).  Searchable on this blog (Here’s one OLD reference, My December 2011 post:  “Repetition-Rich, Substance Poor Parenting Coordination”). Parenting coordination is probably “back up and running” again in Pennsylvania from what I can see in passing, but I’ve not run any thorough checks.

…Years also ago I wrote a series of posts after discovering how AFCC organizations (in Indiana, New Hampshire, etc.) provided opportunities to rehearse (role-play) how to respond to a mother protesting child abuse or domestic violence as an opportunity to call out ‘Parental alienation.”

…And I showed how a training center named after the field (“Parenting Coordination Central” or similar term) failed to show any corresponding business entity registration, although it certainly seemed open for business, run by two AFCC members based in (1) Georgia and (2) eventually, Lackawanna County Pennsylvania.  Operating, again, right out of the county courthouse, true to style….

EXAMPLE ONE: From Seeing “Parenting Coordination” to finding the AFCC connection…

CambridgeFamilyMatters.com (Family Law Assistance | Mediation | Parenting Coordination)

As linked to from Twitter comment on a co-parenting conference run jointly by AFCC and CAFCASS.

While looking at a social media (in my usage, because I don’t do Facebook, basically, this means “Twitter”) message to a tweet about about an AFCC/CAFCASS Coparenting conference that took place somewhere (I dnk where yet) last March, I quickly looked into one approving comment by an individual affiliated, with, it seems, “CambridgeFamilyMatters.com”  A very basic website, it didn’t take long to click through the sub menus (specifically “parental alienation” ones) and under “parent coordination” find a short admission that the UK organization filling in the gap left recently by (less legal aid for) private family law “LiPs” (Litigants In Person) as a sort of McKenzie Friend (I.e., friend of the court), it was parent-coordination trained by none other than the AFCC.

I’ve underlined and added some arrows, maybe a comment or so to the images, however hope they will be self-explanatory enough not to further explain in the body (main) text of this post.

It took just a few minutes (I’d say, less than 10 minutes) to locate the AFCC connection here; one image even refers to the organization (or, the individuals associated with it: which isn’t clear to me yet) as “AFCC members.”  I took one quote from the images to comment on below the images.

CFM 2

CFM 1 (found on #CoP4C thread involving CafCass and AFCC Mar 21 conference)

CFM 3 Parental Alienation under “What We Do”

CFM 4 Parental Alienation under “Resources,” right below ‘Domestic Abuse.’

CFM 5 |
CfM means ‘CambridgeFamilyMatters.com’ (℅ #CoP4C Mar 21 2019 AFCC-Cafcass Conference, @BelindaAJones)~~some Screen Shots 2019-10-23

CFM 6 | See nearby text in my post text (ending “-asn”) published ca. Oct.30, 2019 || CfM means ‘CambridgeFamilyMatters.com’ (℅ #CoP4C Mar 21 2019 AFCC-Cafcass Conference, @BelindaAJones)~~some Screen Shots 2019-10-23

CFM 7 | References Richard A. Gardner (no publisher, year or link); Amy Baker and Paul Fine (no publisher, year or link) and a title by Karen and Nick Woodall (no description, publisher, year or direct link to the article/book chapter, or whatever it was). Formal identification of publishers would include a geography (City, State if any, Country) out of courtesy to the readers. Whoever designed this website just didn’t bother.  Notice the url has domain name, (“…com/parental-alienation-1”).  Sound like a key theme, “perhaps”? CfM means ‘CambridgeFamilyMatters.com’ (℅ #CoP4C Mar 21 2019 AFCC-Cafcass Conference, @BelindaAJones)~~some Screen Shots 2019-10-23

Image 7

In advertising and publicizing Parental Alienation as a problem, it’s obvious someone has in mind solutions to the problem; this page basically advertises two “practitioners” specializing in reunification after parental alienation.

“The leading practitioners in helping families to reunite after alienation are The Family Separation Clinic at ________”

Minor detail again, but a clinic (like “Cafcass”) is a singular. A Clinic is a clinic.  Those who practice AT any clinic are the practitioners.  They aren’t identical with each other. “A Program is not a Person.”

This Family Separation Clinic and its connection to the Woodalls is a separate topic, however their names continue to come up in protesting parental alienation and organizing /conferencing to institute ways to stop it (as I recall) to criminalize it, etc.

Just notice who’s hanging out with whom internationally to get the general idea.  I did some “drill-downs” but will due to length am not including them here.  Be aware however that in addition to nonprofits (or programs) which don’t include the two words “parental alienation” in their business (or program) names, other nonprofits are formed which DO include the words in their title. I’ve seen the Woodalls’ name on at least one of these nonprofits.

In the USA, “PASG” (Parental Alienation Study Group, Inc., associated with Vanderbilt University (Medical School / Library) and (as a nonprofit) in the name of William Bernet.  The ‘Family Separation Clinic’ doesn’t appear to be an entity, but a project of another entity.  There are also groups in Australia, Europe, the USA, the UK of course, and Canada.

“Oddly,” the same countries where AFCC maintains activity and leadership.

CFM Image 6 (Yellow highlit portion):

According to CAFCASS …. those charged with looking after children’s welfare have long been aware of parental alienation in family law proceedings.  However growing concern among the public, the courts, the social work sector, and key stakeholders has meant that this serious problem is starting to become better recognized.  In April, 2018, CAFCASS are, themselves, introducing a new tool the High Conflict Practice Pathway, to support the family court in dealing with parental alienation.

My Comments: There’s a punctuation error.  Commas to separate descriptive phrases should come in pairs: to correct, either add a comma after “new tool,” or remove the one after “Pathway,” which ends the identification of the “new tool.”  Enclosing “themselves” in commas makes little sense, but my main concern is that CAFCASS has aligned with the AFCC with which also Parenting Coordination is a key specialized profession with trainings, standards, task forces and so forth all to be run through the specialized family courts which are themselves only about a generation (1990s in the USA and not even in all states by then; as late as about 2014 in the UK)…

Singular vs. Plural, basic grammar:  CAFCASS is the name of a specific independent advisory agency to the Ministry of Justice, and while involving many people, and an “it.”  It’s a singular noun.  Points of reference matter.  (Child: singular: Children: plural, etc…)….

In case readers may wonder:  No, our (his and my, with kids) domestic violence followed by dissolution (℅ the family courts) case had no assigned “parent coordinator” (or, supervised visitation arrangements, or — after contact was cut off with me as the mother, no reunification programming, either.  I suspect this probably had something to do with the courts’ perception of how much money the family line had to extract:  probably not enough…. )

QUICK CHECK AT beta.COMPANIESHOUSE.gov.UK  for “Cambridge Family Matters” shows it listing basically, one person (Belinda Anne Jones), incorporated only in 2017, and she controls 75% of the shares.  One feature of this website (a handy one I’d say!) lets you click on any officer’s or person’s name to see what other appointments he or she has held (and whether currently holding them or not, also whether the entity to which they are appointed still exists).

I found four others for Ms. Jones, but she’s only active on this one, and a second one, which seems a highly related field:  “Cambridge & Ely Child Contact Centres Ltd.” (formed in 2011) of which, among the existing people listed no the cover pages, she’s the only one not listed as either “solicitor” (most) or “Trainee Solicitor”) one; she is “Self-employed.”  Apparently trying to make a go of it as parent coordination and mediation provider, taking her cues from the Woodalls, AFCC, and Cafcass etc.

A few images (though better to look yourself); this is a four-image gallery, no annotations:

EXAMPLE TWO: USA, From AFCC to PARENTING COORDINATION:

AFCC’s Upcoming (Dec. 2019) Parent Coordination Training in Baltimore.

Taking a renewed look at the basic home page of AFCC the other day I saw both a task force on and an upcoming training in parenting coordination.

Please also note the website’s footer  disclaimer: AFCC says it does training, but does NOT regulate or certify the practices of its members.  Spinoff organizations — in the sense of, started by members, not necessarily by AFCC itself directly — sometimes DO certify, i.e., if not directly franchise, get some nice ancillary marketing off the AFCC-promoted professions, including this one…)

Keeping it to mostly just the images, and a pdf and few comments, below them.  Having provided the links, any readers can pursue them by clicking through and just continuing to read, including about the individuals involved in this training.  Notice the fees charged and any accreditation provided through this particular event.

#1 of 7 (AFCC HomePage |Activities,Footer (+DrillDown on Dec 2019, 4day (DebraKCarter|PhilipStahl) PARENT COORD conf in BALTIMORE | SShot 2019Oct23 PST Wed)

#2 of 7 (AFCC HomePage |Activities,Footer (+DrillDown on Dec 2019, 4day (DebraKCarter|PhilipStahl) PARENT COORD conf in BALTIMORE | SShot 2019Oct23 PST Wed)

Link to a pdf on this:

Upcoming (AFCC-sponsored) Parent Coordination Training December, 2019 in Baltimore (Two presenters, only $800 for Both (+ hotel) for non-members) featuring (Florida’s) Debra K. Carter, and (Arizona’s, formerly Northern California’s) Philip Stahl, both “forensic clinical psychologists.” Philip’s daughter Rebecca Stahl, J.D., LLM, apparently also works and/or publishes with him.  The American Psychological Association has accredited AFCC for training — so presumably it knows about AFCC….

Philip Stahl has also made a career, it seems, starting significantly with handling the (pro-) PAS field; I noticed that while groups were arguing endlessly about Richard Gardner (in that context) and he was expanding his resource and referral basis (particularly with another AFCC person, Robert Simon), the same groups ignored Stahl.  They wanted to talk “Gardner” and they rarely brought up AFCC.

#3 of 7 (AFCC HomePage |Activities,Footer (+DrillDown on Dec 2019, 4day (DebraKCarter|PhilipStahl) PARENT COORD conf in BALTIMORE | SShot 2019Oct23 PST Wed)

#4 of 7 (AFCC HomePage |Activities,Footer (+DrillDown on Dec 2019, 4day (DebraKCarter|PhilipStahl) PARENT COORD conf in BALTIMORE | SShot 2019Oct23 PST Wed)

#5 of 7 (AFCC HomePage |Activities,Footer (+DrillDown on Dec 2019, 4day (DebraKCarter|PhilipStahl) PARENT COORD conf in BALTIMORE | SShot 2019Oct23 PST Wed)

#6 of 7 (AFCC HomePage |Activities,Footer (+DrillDown on Dec 2019, 4day (DebraKCarter|PhilipStahl) PARENT COORD conf in BALTIMORE | SShot 2019Oct23 PST Wed)

#7 of 7 (AFCC HomePage |Activities,Footer (+DrillDown on Dec 2019, 4day (DebraKCarter|PhilipStahl) PARENT COORD conf in BALTIMORE | SShot 2019Oct23 PST Wed)

While so many are growing older and poorer being run through the family courts, others are growing old (and retaining income streams, it sure seems) helping advise them.  Just possibly this is because our resources fund both government (i.e., through taxation) and at times the private pockets of court-connected services (or service-trainer organizations) which government then decides we need to behave better, and which are prone to network around the corporate- and income-tax-EXEMPT entities….

RE: THE ENDLESS CREATION and EXPANSION OF NEW PROFESSIONS:

While any AFCC-associated professional has certain employment or directorship duties according to his or her main source of income, that is, the “on-the-record” type of income (paychecks, fees for services etc.) (judge, lawyer, court-appointed mediator/custody evaluator, court administrator, university employee working at a center they founded or now direct, court administrator, and/or director of some nonprofit taking family-court-connected business referrals — or training others who want to get in on this in a typical “train-the-trainers” “Technical consultant” manner… I’m sure I’ve missed several avenues of professional affiliations which tend to be leveraged “for the cause…”), this same professional individually and the group, collectively ALSO historically leverage (Past, present tense, and continuing with a view towards the future) their individual positions to promote collectively its — not our respective — priorities”.

Past AFCC members have included state supreme court judges. Many have been ensconced in the state with THe largest court system (California) under THE largest body controlling the courts (California Judicial Council) — but in its administrative branch (The AOC).  What began as individually in the 1990s (or perhaps started before, but combined only in the late 1990s), on the one hand Family Services, and on the other, “Children’s Services” then around 1999-2001 (DNR exact year), were combined under “Center for Children and Families in the Court” (“CFCC.”)  Around the same time — but this time, in a law school in Baltimore Maryland, a different “CFCC” — a university (law-school-based) “Center” was set up of nearly identical name.  In fact I found the one in Baltimore originally looking for the one in California on a basic Google search.

AFCC’s acknowledged stated goal is to integrate behavioral health language into the court systems and to do this “interdisciplinary” and “international.” How does THAT fit with the USA or state constitutions?  It doesn’t, really — in fact it SO “doesn’t” that, apparently, a whole new variety of courts had to be created through which to run AFCC programs — the family courts. SEE MY RECENT POSTS, which is not to say I hadn’t also brought it up earlier (at least five years earlier in 2014, specific to certain states)…

1997 OHIO FAMILY COURT FEASIBILITY STUDY (annotated by LGH), ‘three nat’l orgs,’ ‘by 1996’ || Refs FNs 9-15|| NCJFCJ, ABA & AFCC || Sshot 2019Aug17 Sat

This one references a specific Ohio Supreme Court 1997 “Feasibility Study” (for establishing family court system) which by name mentions “at least three” major organizations responsible for pushing a Model Family Court (Legislation) Act, if possible, nationwide.  I DNR the model act name exactly, but I DO the three organizations because they’d already hit my radar — ALL of them, as potentially corrupt in operation (if not also origins):

• the National Council of Family and Juvenile Court Judges (with “Family and” a later addition) (Nevada)
  • No matter how often it may be quoted (and in the 1997 publication was) as if an independent entity, the “NCJJ” is NOT separate from the NCJFCJ but controlled by it.
• of course, the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, (Illinois.  “Chicagoland”)

and did you know much about this one I found (in its California registrations) taking government grants from around the world with a clear interest in standardizing and (privately outsourced) digitizing the handling of family court cases internationally, in its more recent name,

• the National Council on Crime and Delinquency (“NCCD”).  It’s name isn’t in the news so much, but it does exist and it has an agenda.  It MIGHT be the earliest of all these three. (New York? I DNR legal domicile).

1997 OHIO FAMILY COURT FEASIBILITY STUDY (annotated by LGH), ‘three nat’l orgs,’ fewer than 13 states by 1980||FNs 3-8 shown || Screen Shot 2019-08-1

Also as you can see from that image (but, visit the post for more), also the American Bar Association.

So — does the American BAR Association, whether or not some commission within it is issuing some statement about Domestic Violence, know generally, about the AFCC?  What do you think?

Another one of my recent posts challenges people wishing to be taken seriously when proposing FIXES for these family courts to acknowledge their original blueprints as a factor in their present operational outcomes:

In a March 21, 2019 (Twitter hashtag “CoP4C” representing “CoParenting for Children”) conference, a new AFCC member (also shared with “CAFCASS” — see below) Teresa Williams, MsC, based in the UK, sought to take a “whole-population approach” (as quoted by @MyCafcass) on this matter, and was promptly commended (at least, RT’d) by Michael Saini (based in Canada).

(The event took place in March, 2019; the screenprint was much later).

And the RT by Michael Saini (of AFCC)….

(image filename only) “#CoP4C | Michael Saini RTs a Mar 21 (2019) MyCafcass ‘Cafcass and @AFCC think it’s time a co-parenting alliance to gather interna’l learning’ (is good) ~~ Screen Shot 2019-10-23 ..”

When and where these family courts are created you will see AFCC-run programming run in them by people who have been or are being trained by this organization, or associating on-line with it or its leadership in various ways.  But of the three organizations I referenced above instrumental (says the Ohio 1997 Feasibility Study taken from the Supreme Court website) AFCC seems to keep (even if its chapters are also taken into acocunt) the smallest financial footprint, at least visible footprint. (SIZE can be seen in part by (see top of this post opening statement!) their tax returns. The other part one needs to see is audited financial statements over time (typically not available on the websites)).

I WROTE THIS IN THE FIRST DRAFT OF THE POST: 

I’m effin’ tired of watching, not really positioned to participate aggressively by writing campaigns (see recent housing transition, long-term job-loss, disruptions, and family commotions following the simple act of saying “NO” to abuse and meaning it, so long ago…) how high up the government ladders (like beyond state, bypassing the federal government I suppose, in the USA, now up to the WHO level)… people building their “creds” C.V.s and career curves (with the occasional books, or if in a position to so publish, papers or journal articles) who complain about the use of parental alienation in custody decision-making, yet don’t want to let go of — what IS it? some sort of personal “golden goose’ nugget of priceless information to be withheld at all times?  Hypocrites!!

It’s not THAT far below the surface most places if one starts scratching — the fact that an organization by the name of “Association of Family and Conciliation Courts” of dubious origins and, historically practices, nowhere CLOSE to representative in size or presence in all states, yet somehow presumably (when overseas) speaking for “practices in the USA…” is in place and “operative.”

Practically all the other major organizations dealing with family court judges — and domestic violence, and most likely, child abuse, also — are quite well aware of it:  The ABA knows.  The APA, the AAML, and the NCJFCJ; the domestic violence organizations (Futures without Violence) know:  they’ve collaborated with them.

It’s probable that leadership dealing with fathers, families, children (or any combo thereof), poverty and/or domestic violence at Princeton, Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Brown and others know.  Surely the FRPN.org center at Temple University knows — some of its steering committee are directly involved in AFCC origins (i.e., Jessica Pearson, Nancy Thoennes), although what’s featured on the Temple University site, naturally, isn’t their historic AFCC (certainly for Pearson at least), but the Denver-based “Center for Policy Research.”

I have no doubt that UC Berkeley  (especially its School of Social Welfare and anyone currently working with Jeffrey Edleson (former Dean if he’s stepped down now) in other capacities does (AFCC has a major presence in the Administrative Office of the Courts in the California Judicial Council, and has had for at least two decades.  There are also some signs AFCC (or some version of it as now registered in Chicago) began, originally (and illegally) right out of a Los Angeles County Courthouse — with, of course, connections in other states, especially when called out for failing to file with the State as a private entity when it was such.

Major family law firms, mediation entities and I’ll bet the BACP also know about AFCC, in part from when they overtly conference with it. (RELATE, for example.  RELATE partnered with BACP in some regards (Oct 27, 2016 press release)).  Relate and AFCC engaged in a St. George’s House (Windsor Castle) “Consultation) over two days in Feb. 2018, as listed here (viewed Oct. 2019), the second item at AFCC’s Resource Page under “Resources for Professionals.”

Modern Families, Modern Family Justice: Supporting Family Relationships in Fast-Changing socio-politico-legal climates  … St. Georges Consultation in partnership with RELATE and Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) …. Feb. ___ 2018)

Please also make a note (or bookmark) the top item, Illinois (Chicagoland) based RSI — Resolution Systems Institute, and that there’s been nothing regarding domestic violence (or “Abuse”) for the past for years (2015, Battered Women’s Justice Project on that same page).  The RSI is not dated, just a general link to its home page, which I’ve visited before (especially earlier in this blog).  “History” page notes it started, “coincidentally” just before Welfare Reform 1996:

(RSI) The Early Years

In 1995, a group of leading judges, former judges, academics and practitioners identified a need for an organization in Illinois that could gather and disseminate reliable information about court alternative dispute resolution (ADR), conduct analyses of court ADR program models, and build networks among interested individuals and organizations. They came together to form Resolution Systems Institute (originally known as the Center for Analysis of Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems, CAADRS). With relatively few court ADR programs functioning in Illinois, RSI also began to assist courts in establishing programs and determining how to monitor and evaluate them.

During our early years, RSI worked all across the state of Illinois, focusing mostly on helping courts develop major civil case mediation programs. The services we provided typically included program development, mediator training, and a system to monitor and evaluate the mediation program. Over the years, the types of cases we focus on has evolved. We now direct our energies to improving access to justice through mediation for those with limited access to the justice system.

One thing we learned from our early experiences was that courts needed easy access to reliable and complete information about ADR. In response, we established the Resource Center.

For many years, four services — program development, training, research and resources — formed the core of our offerings. With each passing year, we worked to improve our capability and to broaden our service area….  [[went national, etc…  You have the link]]

AFCC tag-teamed with RELATE after RELATE (itself federated) partnered with BACP with an acknowledged goal of expanding and regulating its profession and counseling for everyone.   AFCC on its part has created specialized professions it, too, attempts to control and regulate, starting with (originally) mediation, it would seem; county-paid counselling for divorcing couples, hence “Conciliation” courts in the name. Its goal was to deter divorce, later, “divorce with dignity” became the motto, according to its history page (1970s, 1980s).

BACP:  British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (<~ short wiki is flagged, however it notes the “and Psychotherapy” in its name only came up in 2000, and that when it was still getting started (about 1978s) the “National Marriage Guidance Council” helped it out with free lodgings.

I’d have to check, but by (offhand) recall, I believe the Marriage Guidance Council later became “RELATE”.  See beta.companieshouse.gov.uk to check, or I’ve probably also blogged/tweeted).

[UPDATE:  We now know that CAFCASS also does / collaborate with AFCC, that is.  See my pinned Tweet at @LetUsGetHonest (as of this posting.  It’s been there for a long time now, and I continue to Tweet about it].

AFCC (USA) publications continues to cite 1963 as its “founding.”  Unclear what that means, exactly, but it seems to be off by about seven years. Its IRS returns and website continue to reflect leadership (Peter Salem, in the USA)’s Wisconsin address (i.e., University of Wisconsin-Madison area) when in fact, the legal domicile is and for years has been, Illinois, not Wisconsin — which matters.

It’d be hard to find a more crooked and subtle organization with a more ambitious agenda being endorsed and tolerated by so MANY others for so many years.  All courtesy our wonderful income taxed vs. income-tax-exempt UNequalizer in the USA.

I know I’m really (“peeved”) when I can’t come up with a short, sarcastic title.  Here were some other attempts when deciding to off-chunk this chunk of text to another post:

• Failure to ID the CHICAGO (not Madison, WI)-based #AFCC Authors/Presenters/Speakers/Professors in ANY constellation of Pro/Con #ArguingPAS debates ANYWhere Probably means they’re AFCC (started July 30, 2019)
• ANYone ANYwhere Still: #ArguingPAS, or #RichardGardner/#AmyJLBaker-obsessed Professionals who WON’T identify their #AFCC Opponents (or Friends) probably IS Closet “AFCC”
• LOOK: Whether it’s WHO itself, CAFCASS, or TOP University-based Violence Prevention Centers (or nonprofits)

I’m stashing what’s been written so far here, then going back to a much simpler post, for a personal time out, after discovering again how quickly a single April 2018 study sponsored by (in effect, the Welsh Government, ℅ “CAFCASS”) (known to be dealing directly with AFCC also; I caught & named it on Twitter, however, the more obvious evidence is that April 2018 study).

Definitions – ‘Dog and Pony Show‘ (Collins Dictionary) ~ Screen Shot 2019-07-30

In the past few weeks (as of about July 2019), I was looking first at LearntoEndAbuse.ca (so internetworked and with some professionals FROM the USA (originally), a letter to WHO signed by (the USA contingent is particularly significant), plus ongoing activities in Maryland to study how to implement trauma-based practices (been doing a drill-down on the 2019 work group after seeing the 2013 study group), and then a certain (Tweet) bill in process, if it hasn’t died or passed yet) in Pennsylvania, in which a September 19, 2018, hearing, with witnesses listed, somehow (as available on the state website) had inserted approximately 40-60 PAGES (single-spaced and otherwise) by just two individuals:  Joan Meier (not on speaker list) from D.C., and Richard Ducote (ditto) from Louisiana.

There are so many signs of international coordination of this Dog and Pony Show.  This travelling circus.  This orchestrated, ongoing event.  It’s theatre!

Evidence of professionals circulating, publishing, and continuing to debate (disagreeing on arguments, but mutually recognizing each others as experts, including by virtue (some) of having simply managed to keep a nonprofit functional over a few decades, with or without financial backing; annual fees were paid enough to preserve the right to cite person + organization in conjunction with others more (recognized, degreed, or otherwise validated somehow), continues…This elitist AND internationally-conferencing, webinar-ing, presenting, publishing (etc.) and sometimes academically connected (i.e., professors) individuals continue to ignore the obvious, particularly things especially obvious when basic tools available IN the United States of America (but useable by anyone with an on-line connection) allow us to fact-check what’s being omitted, and who the various nonprofits actually are, and are run by.

Mazelike or not mazelike.  Some aspects of the maze are easier to name than the others.

Recently, an April 2018 Cafcass sponsored report (<~~I will add link here, and soon to sidebar also; have tweeted: #Cafcass #AmyJLBakerPhD or #AmyJLBaker, #AFCC will bring up references)** seeks to differentiate the term “parental alienation” from “justifiable estrangement” while — strangely, quoting a horde of USA professionals with easily identified and close ties to specific organizations which the study just doesn’t even mention.  In other words, there is a clear business (conflict of) interest in the eagerness to internationally standardize how to help solve social problems.

CAFCASS-sponsored (48 pp, three authors) ‘Review of Research and case law on parental alienation’ publ. April 2018. I discovered and featured Sept. 2018 (See “Bit.ly/20XaTAR”** and elsewhere @LetUsGetHonest)

(**That bitly actually leads to the University of Cardiff, Honorary Staff, Centre for Law & Politics.  List of Centres & Groups, here (See footnote “Cardiff Univ | Julie Doughty bio”):.  More helpful might be viewing, also at the University of Cardiff at least one of the authors’ overview, publications (2018 shows three different ones on parental alienation), PhD thesis 2011 (on family courts), and so forth.

Dr. Julie Doughty is a Lecturer in the School of Law & Politics with research showing Nuffield Foundation sponsorship, so I was curious also about that Centre and its focus.

• • Doughty, J., Maxwell, N. and Slater, T. 2018. Parental alienation: in search of evidence. Family Law 48, pp. 1304-1307 (in Family Law published by LexisNexis® UK, which bought it from Jordan Publishing only in 2016)  This article was in an Oct. 2018 issue.  Funded by Cafcass Cymru.

• ---

  “Discusses the findings of research conducted by Cafcass Cymru on the number of private family cases in Wales raising the issue of parental alienation, how this phenomenon has been defined and the characteristics and behaviours of the parents in these cases. Considers the need for further research in these areas and also on the effects of parental alienation on children and possible interventions for children and their estranged parents.

  ---

  • Doughty, Julie, Maxwell, Nina and Slater, Thomas 2018. Review of research and case law on parental alienation. [Project Report]. Cardiff: Welsh Government. Available at: https://beta.gov.wales/sites/default/files/publica… (<=the one I linked above, a monograph).
  • (Actually, “2018” seems to list the same project report, above, twice).

“LearningToEndAbuse.ca” I was reviewing (looking through self-descriptions and connections with other organizations and professionals) recently (possibly because of this letter, possibly otherwise) in Canada, recently, in this letter references Julie Doughty et al.’s (two other authors from diff’t department in the same University)’s (Welsh government-sponsored) document within the first three footnotes.  Footnote 1 shows who was a driving force behind it, and, as countries’ signers are listed alphabetically, “USA’s” signers 142-167 are listed last.  This one is protesting an impending (?) WHO intent to list PAS as a disease.  The list of USA participants is all but a list of who I’ve felt responsible to, as a USA formerly battered mother witnessing and experiencing events for now over two decades, to blog.

Here, the 2018 Review of case law and research (not Family Law article) is listed at the AIFS — Australian Institute of Family Studies, on a bibliography page titled “parental alienation.”  The same page is revealing in how many (most, not 100%) unidentified AFCC activist members are shown, particularly Nicholas Bala, Michael Saini, Barbara Jo Fidler, Janet Johnston (et al.) as well as some Amy Baker.

Meanwhile, the “opposition” authors, from the United States and one or two from Canada, include Mo Hannah/Barry Goldstein, and a few citing to Peter Jaffe who (though this isn’t commonly publicized) is also AFCC.  Somehow, none of them seem to address the organization AFCC as a prime promoter of the theory — although talking about Gardner or Amy Baker, apparently is allowed (practiced).

I’m not questioning genuineness, diligence or talent of any of the university-based authors.

However, I also have done every bit of “due diligence” with what time is available to me — on no salary for the same, not selling books on it and not sellling my services as a consultant — a bit difficult to do while dealing with stalking, housing, and family safety issues, while as a parent, attempting to navigate all aftermaths of the family courts blundering its way into our lives, while, in my own neighborhoods, people in similar circumstances, some of them, “dropped like flies” the more they protested injustice or simply tried to escape — or comply with court orders and live in the same geographic areas.  I am not alone in this condition, but few parents are situated (i.e., sponsored, approved, “certified” etc.) enough to go up against the current movements determined NOT to expose conflicts of interest by organization names, in the family court REFORM movements (formal or informal).

In other words, a hands-off approach to the parental relationships while court-ordering them to occur, allowed roadkill, by and large, of the mothers, children, and sometimes bystanders, not always the fathers.

I do believe, however that awareness of specific USA-based and specific professionals and organizations, especially those pushing the “parental alienation” theme AS WELL AS those showing up in various states aligned to oppose it, and pushing to get legislation through to affect the family court “decision-making process” — namely, for the most part, more training for all on Domestic Violence, Child Abuse and (more recently) “Trauma” awareness and responses — should be publicized: more in the USA (where these organizations’ roles have had massive cover-up by advocates) and elsewhere, in countries which may not be prone to looking up tax returns, state-level filings, connecting them to federal grants and, in essence, getting more of the backdrop of such organizations as networked around specific rhetoric.

Footnote: Cardiff University (Wales), Center for Law & Politics (Deputy Director of Center for Law & Social Policy) Julie Doughty:

Julie Doughty graduated in law at the University of Bristol, and subsequently qualified as a solicitor, working in private practice for more than ten years. She has also worked for Shelter, co-ordinating an advocacy project. In 1993 she joined local government as the manager of the South-east Wales Guardian ad litem Panel, and transferred to CAFCASS (Children & Family Court Advisory & Support Service) as a team manager in 2001. She joined the Law School in 2003 as a research assistant with a project disseminating Joseph Rowntree Foundation research on the effects of divorce, separation and family change.

She then worked as a researcher on a number of empirical research studies on care proceedings; expert witnesses; and children’s views on media access to courts. Her PhD topic was the functions of family courts.

She was a member of the BAAF (British Association for Adoption & Fostering) Cymru Legal Group and represented Wales on the BAAF Legal Group Advisory Committee until its closure in July 2015. She is now a member of the AFA Cymru Legal Group and is Vice-Chair of Family Mediation Cardiff. She edited a practitioners’ journal, Seen and Heard (ISSN 1744-1072) from 2008 to 2015. She is a trustee and founder member of The Transparency Project, which aims to make the family justice system clearer.

Julie is deputy director of the Law School’s Centre for Health and Social Care Law; an associate with CASCADE; a member of Cardiff University’s Adoption Research Group; and (with colleagues at the Universities of Bristol, Bath and Exeter) the Network on Family, Regulation and Society. Recent research projects include personal welfare disputes in the Court of Protection, led by Professor Phil Fennell and the Wales Adoption Study, led by Dr Katherine Shelton (School of Psychology).

---

In March 2017, Julie published a report on her research on published family court judgments, funded by the Nuffield Foundation.

---

In 2015, Julie established the Children’s Social Care Law in Wales website for social workers, foster carers and advisers in Wales. She is a consultant editor, on the law in Wales, for the encylopaedia on Children Law and Practice (Hershman and McFarlane). 

Julie currently teaches on the LLB Media Law and Equity & Trusts modules and is programme convenor for the LLM in Social Care Law, for which she teaches Social Care Rights and The Child & the State.

EMBEDDED TWEET HERE ADDED Oct. 23, 2019.  You may need to click on media to activate if it doesn’t display automatically.  Just in case, here’s a link to that Aug. 9, 2019, thread (redirects back to Twitter). There are several attachments and links within which bear exploring (example:  The financial history of the Nuffield Foundation (!), not to mention a very fine-print image showing First5LA activity seeking Washington, D.C., political connections for Early Childhood, featuring (at least mentioning) First Five Years Fund (Buffet-funded), and Ounce of Prevention (which holds a bunch of trademarks (USPTO) to varieties of ThinkBaby” word marks with or without logos.   Also notice there’s a Duke University connection, and that with Carey Oppenheim (Nuffield Family Justice Observatory) on the “observatory” board, and her prior publication to (London-based but with — get this — California ECE accreditation) Nancy Eisenstadt’s “EIF” (Early Intervention Foundation) which gets back to British “SureStart” mimicking USA’s “HeadStart” programming.

When is “enough, enough”?  I speak as a parent…. whose children were BOTH reading by the time they hit any “early childhood program” which I quickly learned were geared towards teaching little children how to sit nicely in large groups more than to read (i.e., “desk-work / babysitting”) but when a little (actually NOT that little) boy in the classroom was bullying (assaulting) little girls, we were told as parents (including a FT night-working parent as I was at the time) to “work it out ourselves.”)

….And I was dealing with abuse in the home at the time, too…  Getting to and from work was tough (with an ex determined I should not have access to a functional vehicle daytimes), but once there, it was about the one safe place I could count on being, rather than home sporadically with him (if he wasn’t working, which was often).

etc.

The embedded Tweet is my own responding to the AFCC/CAFCASS alliance I was at this time becoming more and more conscious of (as the public admissions kept showing up on-line in various places).

https://t.co/v7ZOqLRQRZ

These entity+their personnel’s names MUST start meaning something in terms of: companies, charities, trusts etc. in re: their respective govts.https://t.co/KRFynErIEbhttps://t.co/Ys1Gc9M2WH

TW LinkedIn(20s?)vs. https://t.co/r2FH9wRpyh(allgrownupnow pic.twitter.com/n08HpYcVjQ

— LetsGetHonestNow! #Cafcass_Afcc_Ncjfcj. STOP!#HMRF (@LetUsGetHonest) August 9, 2019

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
…….

(WRITTEN Oct. 24, decided to put these comments at the bottom here, although I certainly thought and wrote them at the top):

Being aware that some people like to acknowledge their connection (I think often those still building their resumes or perhaps once secure enough in their position, they may be more open about it) and others who basically are not going to.

I’m not a gambler, in the sense of placing money on it, but I’ll bet Professor Joan Meier and Dr. Joyanna Silberg are AFCC members, along with more domestic violence organization professionals than one may want to admit.  If they were as independent and research-oriented as we are supposed to believe, they’d have run across AND reported on the AFCC connections to PAS long ago.  Ergo there must be some reason they have not, do not, and most likely in the near future (before any involved “retirement” status obtained) will not.

It’s up to others to report on this.  Don’t wait on mainstream media, and if it gets more than a partial mention there, I’d be shocked.  Most such media (US, UK, Australia) would have to then retract, re-write, and/or subject themselves to public humiliation for not having seen AND reported this two decades earlier when they could and should have…

Let me say that again:  for almost EVERY complaint about family court cases gone off-track or child-murders in that context, or femicide, murder/sucides, etc. associated in public with “family courts” for making headlines by key reporters (Vicky Nguyen, Trey Bundy, earlier Keith Harmon Snow, I do not remember them all), some form of AFCC-specific blindness or sudden-onset amnesia must have occurred before each article.

This must also be true for most legislators enthusiastic about more “safe children” laws, although I know of at least two who attended at least one AFCC meeting back in 2000 — but were within a few years suddenly killed in an airplane crash (i.e., the late Senator Paul Wellstone and his wife Sheila and (a daughter).  The two events may have been completely unrelated, but anyone familiar with the Wellstone legacy is likely to have run across their perspective on domestic violence and sooner or later run across this organization out of (neighboring state to Minnesota even) Wisconsin with a legal domicile in nearby (Chicago), Illinois.

This has to be a grass-roots movement if it’s going to happen.

When the events happen, locate the AFCC-involved players and post, blog, tweet, publicize that connection.  When events are NOT happening, know the organizations in your locale (or any other locate you are involved with or concerned about) and post, blog, tweet, publicize that connection.

It doesn’t have to be as long and involved as I do. I’m just setting the groundwork for years of ALMOST non-building on this obvious information foundation.  There have been some “squatters” which, belatedly, wanted to take some credit for “outing” the AFCC (while continuing to go about business as normal as if was not ground-breaking information, and continuing to talk in vague generalities — but when ONE or more of their members gets perhaps ONE or a FEW pieces of solid information (not mentioning — naturally — the existence of the networked nonprofit organizations as any factor) then that’s paraded around like a victory flag and a key discovery.

Give me a break…

Instead, I say, spare yourself the grief — locate the AFCC individuals involved up front, and quit asking questions that already have answers about “Why?” with each new event.  And for the love of God, quit endorsing people who continue to coverup this small, but angry and still fertile, elephant in the (family court) rooms.

I have not taken a break in this for ten years now (from posting on this blog, yes, although there are still 830 posts and about five dozen pages and all those text widgets once on the sidebar (some, still are), but from staying attuned to it, writing, talking, networking, etc., no I did not let up or stop applying pressure wherever and however I could).

When I do stop — which has to happen sooner or later — I certainly won’t be looking back with nostalgia, regret, or expressing ongoing sympathy for disastrous custody-outcomes, even when it results in roadkill.  Such decisions have for decades, they ALMOST took out my own family line, and me, but so far haven’t.

**(Dictionary.com,  verb form)

If no one else is willing to really stay on “AFCC” and look up enough financials to get a “heads-up” on what’s up, without a hand-engraved invitation and insisting that those delivering it must belong to one of just two topic, gender or political sides (pro-PAS, anti-PAS; conservative/progressive; fathers’ rights or “feminists” (who end up being in practice and strategy effectively “fathers’ rights” anyhow:  look at the programming being run and professionals allowed to “lead the pack” internationally!) then this landscape will continue to be “the best we got,” then I will go “ensconce” myself somewhere else in life (not in a bar!), if possible, until the contagion passes or if not, for as long as I can draw breath in a bit of privacy and with it, sanity.

~ ~ ~ ~

Note:  If AFCC (with its various chapters and key activist members’ positions are made known too) is ever properly outed, that won’t prevent members from simply finding another organization name and rallying around it instead.  I’ve seen name-changes of organizations (after I post on them) year after year now.  But the patterns of deceit, secrecy, and trying to draw others’ money for private purposes throughout, and failing to keep up proper accounts for them will probably continue.  After all, that’s what exploitation, generally, is about.  And that’s why I said up front here — read a few damn tax returns and see what I’m talking about! //LGH Oct. 24, 2019.

NAVIGATION: To go back to the top of this post, click on title link. Titles may get updated post-publication at times but the underlying link typically won’t: Trouble Navigating the pro/con “PAS” Conflict? Keep it simple: FIRST, Identify the AFCC Authors/Speakers/Presenters (often also Judges/Lawyers/Psychs, Program Operators, etc.)! THEN interrogate any remaining non-AFCC, Gov’t.-Funded Violence-Prevention Leadership.. (started July 30, 2019, Publ. Oct. 30).(shortlink ends “-asn”)

To go to the next part (available when published)…

To back up to the Preview Post (shortest of all three) published Oct. 27:

This post may be further edited after publishing. Check back from time to time!