Table of Contents 2020: FamilyCourtMatters.org’s Just Ten Posts (Jan.-July) and Its Only Page [Publ. May 18, 2021..]
This post is “in transition” (I am off-ramping introductory sections in order to feature more table, less talk).
Just now, I stopped mid-edit in a narrative section after adding some quotes on “stakeholders,” a bit of a sore point from my perspective. So-called “stakeholders” in national (and global) policies demand a closer look at usage of the term and who decides who is NOT a stakeholder, typically those most impacted by exclusion and/or decades of policy- and field-building without reference to things (we) know about, things easy to observe once attention is called to their existence, something (for efficiency and power reasons) typical stakeholders in the operations don’t particularly want.
I am NOT happy with this post just now, but not kidding myself about the level of traffic coming to it. Will consider editing options…
Post revision will not happen immediately. Thanks for your patience meanwhile. The Table Of Contents is still here, and plenty of other reading material on the blog, accessible through main pages and sidebar widgets //LGH, 6/15/2021.
Title: Table of Contents 2020: FamilyCourtMatters.org’s Just Ten Posts (Jan.-July) and Its Only Page [Publ. May 18, 2021..] (short-link ends “-cKH”)
This is a “sticky” post. For more on that and short-links nomenclature see my “Front Page” (just type “FamilyCourtMatters.org“). “Sticky” (pinned to the top) makes this now the top of 14 sticky posts accessible through the “Current Posts” doorway (page) to this blog. That’s why you get some introduction before the actual table of contents… Expect some post-publication revisions, including removing excess text where I feel it appropriate….
Some posts are marked sticky to provide access other years’ tables of contents. For example:
Reviewing those 14 sticky posts, which go back to January, 2017, to shorten their “teasers” (how much text before the “read-more” instruction), I found two I’d like to mention here. The first one (despite its wordy title) was top of the blog when I restructured it, with a “Let’s Talk!” message. The two posts, both from April-May 2018, and so about three years old now, are:
May 2, 2018
Post Title In 2018, Clamors to Fix, Reform, or Make Kids Safe WITHIN Family Courts STILL (Abusively, Territorially, and Intentionally) Limit Possible Answers by Censoring Terms Admitting Other Historic Evidence — About The Courts (not “Batterers!”) AND Government Itself — while Coaching (even Certifying) Others to Imitate. (Published May 2, 2018) (case-sensitive short-link ending -8Ly,” about 10,700 words)
April 19, 2018
Post Title:Q1, 2018 Posts and “You Are Here,” on my Blog. Meanwhile, WE are Here, Collectively. (Or, From ‘Hewers of Wood + Drawers of Water’ To Functionally and Financially Illiterate** Consumers of Information, Products, and Social Services). (Publ. April 19, 2018) [Case-sensitive, WordPress-generated shortlink ends “-8X8” and this post ends after about 11,000 words]
**Explained more below in this post, and in a typical post. No apologies for failing to sugar-coat the news. Or for long sentences in the next few indented paragraphs, summarizing my understanding and explaining that comment. With additional “show-and-tell” relating to the rest of this post (and blog).
[Several Paragraphs Removed here, post in edit, July 24, 2021. They may resurface as separate post, but I feel are too expressive and personal in nature (as well as in need of some better copyediting) for this context…. //LGH]
This blog is in part (and part — not all!) of my learning curve in defining WHAT’s taking place (however, you may characterize it as “right” or “wrong” or “good” or “bad.” Unlike my summary expression here (which I take responsibility for as my experience), most of this blog — according to blog purpose — is to get both men and women (whether involved in the court or bystanders) AND the public witnessing all the chaos — to take a closer look at things that are NOT “hearsay” and “he said/she said” and start talking about those.
Policies to stop domestic violence, poverty, child abuse, and “fatherlessness” and to promote, basically, almost anything, including marriage, same-sex or “man and woman only,” and (fill in the blank if it’s a CAUSE:_____) require resources, typically run through tax-exempt organizations and profiting consultants, media experts, subcontractors, and sub-grantees. These resources are a combination (overall) of public, private, or both — but the “public” can be easily hidden within a single tax return, as can inter-relationships.
So it gets to be more a matter of, how much do we know and will we bother to find out, about who runs the money through which conduits. It gets to be about taxes, tax-exemption, and databases (run either by governments — who sometimes also outsource them) describing what entities (public or private) operate, where, and how lawfully and honestly do they do so.
It should be understood that governments (in particular the U.S. government) still seem to hold the income-producing assets in the form of investments, and in the form of control of persons who work and pay taxes (i.e., the power to tax).
We should understand in the U.S.A.**– “how things work” and why some centers of power expand, others disappear over time — and along with them, strands of relevant truth. In particular here, about the family courts and the issues they handle.
(**Those not living here but dealing with the same causes as so concern me here — how to safely, with children, leave violent relationships, i.e., CONTINUE to survive — when institutions provide obstacle after obstacle to doing so, would also do well to understand these things, and be aware of what people talking shared rhetoric do NOT mention, as has been established here, the negative impact of court privatization and how federal policies towards family courts incentivize certain “outcomes,” but when individual parents, impacted by exactly those outcomes (i.e., the system and incentives worked, as planned) the same federal courts can and often do claim “not our jurisdiction” and bounce the cases back to state level. So there’s a dichotomy of responsibility).
I found learning all this, as well as the understanding to be fascinating, interesting, and definitely a “transferable skill.” My technical skills as a self-taught blogger and (to the degree any such skill exists) social media user (Twitter, mostly), lag far behind, but on these topics, I have confidence on what is, in fact, taking place.
And we are not amused…
[“Stakeholders v. Shareholders” Paragraphs Removed here, post in edit, July 24, 2021, which had been added mid-June, 2021… //LGH]
@@@###
Post in edit, July 25, 2021 …
Many more Paragraphs removed from here, currently (as of that date) resting in draft status elsewhere … //LGH]
This time (again) I chose to make some peace with my internal urge to speak by getting some expressions, points, observations, off my chest. To skip that section, scroll or page-down below the text (in this color scheme) and the few paragraphs just below it.
Look for the table: here’s a sample with the first row, showing how it’s organized:
| 2020 | FAMILYCOURTMATTERS.org, The Year in Posts & Pages,* 2020 (with approximate word counts for each and “tags” for some. “Pages” highlit yellow and so marked) | URL: short-link ends: |
|---|---|---|
| Jan. 3 | Arizona! (Career AFCC Academics’ Self-Disclosure Habits, Home Habitats/Economic Niches, cont’d.) [Started Nov. 13, 2019, Publ. only Jan. 3, 2020]..
(with Footnote “Just a Few PRWORA-Explaining Posts from my Blog” about 7,000 wds) |
-bAu |
| N/A |
Until I publish some more this year, the same basic posts (up to the last ten) will appear also under the “Last Ten Posts” widget on the narrow right sidebar, a few inches down on the right side.
BROWSING THE BLOG: SUBJECT MATTER OVERVIEWs and NAVIGATION:
Shortcuts to key posts, including the widget marked “The Ten Most Recent Let’s Get Honest Posts…” remain on the right sidebar. More patient readers or those who prefer to browse can instead scroll down below the sticky posts to get to the last one published. Access to “Pages” is different (why I started including them in the Tables, plural, of Contents); see my Front Page for more info.Personally, I recommend browsing this, and prior year’s Tables of Contents (all are marked “sticky”), and other Sticky Posts first. Anyone who hasn’t already done that, or done so recently probably needs basic concept, and points of reference reminders, which I tend to include in most posts, but cannot re-hash every single one. I’ve developed them over time by just staying on this process and, generally, reporting on the field in media, but my main focus is tracking the economic landscape of it through along both government (especially in the USA) and corporate, that is, along both public and private sectors, especially the tax-exempt sector so deeply in bed with the government sector, in any country.
ABOUT THE BLOG:
My blog tends, and intends, to disrupt and counter the status quo on both sides of the political, gender and religious divides; it’s become more and more important over time as momentum builds in the “Family Court Reform” circles, which includes several academics with long-standing access, apparently, to interns, university assistence in publication on-line, and resources to get in front of a constant flow (so it seems) of newly traumatized or distressed parents, especially mothers (a featured demographic), to promote reforms which refuse to take into account things they’ve known — but won’t discuss openly — and it’s hard to know how many others really know as by and large, mainstream media even blogging on this topic, won’t typically reference, either.
I have been blogging for more than ten years now, but my experiences post-domestic-violence restraining order with kickout, a.k.a., “in the Family Courts (caps intentional), goes back the decade before, that is just before the turn of the 21st century. That experience was in California, which I finally left — fled, literally, not as a criminal, but as a senior who’d have had to start more litigation to protect myself as a senior, had I stayed — for another state in a different time zone, and which one currently is “NOYB” !!
If it (and those of my predecessors who began exposing this; several of us know each other), been taken more seriously and its premises and contents shared more widely, I believe it would have and still might effectively do so. That would be a very unpleasant experience for those with career paths in the existing status quo — on family courts, domestic violence, and the “family values” rhetoric and ideology typical of both political parties, if you look close enough. The left, progressive, so-called more feminist-friendly sides are less open about it, leaving people like myself (not a hard-wing right-winger or fundamentalist, etc.) to discover this “progressively” over time when systems claimed to exist to protect, don’t, for long….
And for those, likely, who’ve been so successful in the advertising, public relations, and “nonprofit consulting” practices, which while they may prefer one political side or the other, can profit from either.
My blog calls out advocacy and standard investigative journalism (on these topics) practice. I call out this using vocabulary and writing style NOT from the “intended for the public” news media, NOT from the “intended for the public to see, be impressed by, and help by publicizing our arguments online, academics in formal debate, with footnotes and bibliographies — vocabulary” BUT INSTEAD in more objective one more common to both business and governments (public and private sectors) — on both sides, not to mention on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and (if you count Australia & New Zealand) the globe.
I tell people, constantly, for any topic they’re pursuing, and either side of the big (political, gender, religious, etc.) debates
If (or “Since, I see,”) you want to promote, disseminate, or just argue online, especially the topics of domestic abuse/ domestic violence / spousal abuse / family violence / intimate partner abuse / CHILD abuse / CHILD maltreatment … or talk “Coercive Control” … or argue against (or for) the use “Parental Alienation” … or how Family Courts (in your or others’ countries) handle any of the above, or allegations of any of the above or how to prevent any of the above and you’re dedicated, as a formal or informal volunteer or for some form of internship or low-pay option (with a view to publishing your story later?) to consciousness-raising about any or all of the above, why (did you, so it seems, NOT) take a look at the key players in the field FIRST?
START by identifying, for any given article, the entity (and find its financials if tax-exempt or if possible), and the same for the writer/s’, and while I’m at it (not that much further a stretch or lookup), the media platforms. Nonprofit or for-profit, ongoing journalism has sponsoring companies/employers or independent contractors. Get educated and help others learn how the money works: think that’s unrelated to how governments (including their various courts of protection and services) work?
START READING TAX RETURNS (plural) AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF CAUSE-BASED ORGANIZATIONS FOR AN OVERVIEW. KEEP ON READING… THEN GO READ FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OF GOVERNMENT ENTITIES ALSO (USA HAS SOME DEPARTMENT-BASED DATABASES), AND BECOME AWARE JUST HOW MANY “ANOMALIES” SHOW UP AND HOW THIS FORM OF ACCOUNTABILITY CAN AND DOES HAVE LEAKS, GAPS, AND SOMETIMES HEMORRHAGES… THIS LEADS TO BETTER QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT ORGANIZATIONS THAN “WHAT DO ITS LEADERS SAY THEY BELIEVE, WHEN LAST INTERVIEWED, TESTIFYING, OR SOLICITING FUNDS, NOT THAT THIS SHOULDN’T ALSO BE CONSIDERED. HOWEVER, THE BACK-STORY REVEALS (ORGANIZATION’S LEADERS) CHARACTERS, AND ALSO HOW MANY LAYERS UP THE REAL ACTORS MAY BE.
To state the obvious (if you live here), in the United States we have an IRS. We have an IRS database listing legitimate — and revoked — tax-exempt organizations (currently at: http://apps.irs.gov/app/eos).
State-level, Charitable Registries and/or “Secretary of State (Corporation Divisions) hold yet more information: Some states (New York, California…) have state charitable registry requirements where those tax returns and more info is often posted, such as when they take government grants, from which governments!) Some organizations volunteer their tax returns and audited financial statements, but in promoting major causes, to be honest, most don’t, or not their most current ones. On eventually finding them, some say “available on written request” or even “not made available to the public,” however, they are to be made available to the public!
Other countries have other tax and reporting systems, obviously — I’ve navigated a few (mostly in the UK), but with the level of international coordination of intended “family court practices” and borrowing from US organizations and experts, I believe those countries experiencing re-importation or importation of bad policy from the USA, learn about the organizations so promoting it (in collaboration with your governments or similar-purpose charities, local) as to their filing habits, transparency, and whether or not they really DO speak for or represent the population of this country. For the most part (either size or via government processes, i.e., representative government principles) they do not!
START sorting a few things, like billion-dollar tax-exempt organizations (and their behaviors, Gates, Buffet, MacArthur, Ford, Annie E. Casey … and by now many “Community Foundations” — by size and age and transparency practices. Learn where the various databases posting IRS returns, government financials, and (state-level in the USA, as it applies) Business Entity Searches, Charitable Registry Searches.**
**[I have a Twitter account which keeps some links on the profile, and has for years, but they are easily searchable — though not always easily accessed, or necessarily for free, when it comes to state-level accountability.]
For domestic violence and child abuse prevention, the USA has a specific-to-the-USA infrastructure involving federal funding to the states and to tax-exempt organizations lined up with specific causes (as in previous picture). There have been “key players” for decades, and you’ll need at least an overview of their names. One place to start is seeing who’s in control of the funding streams (in the federal departments) and where they’re going (as to nonprofits). There has to be some general reading (beyond news media) and there should be drill-downs enough to become familiar (if you’re not yet) with the concept that tax-exempt organizations (USA), mostly, have to file tax returns with the IRS. Finding and reading these is not optional in any learning curve.
So this is a teaching-by-example blog which shows my own learning curve, and why I’ve taken a hard-line position on domestic violence advocacy networks (domestic and international as to Commonwealth countries, USA’s neighbor just to the north* and the UK, Australia, New Zealand) who are taking a soft-line on USA’s notorious FEDERAL-GRANTs- and US PRESIDENT- (current & former) ENDORSED “fathers’ rights-promotions, EXCEPT (if a Democrat, progressive, or left-ist administration or advocacy source) where “fathers’ rights” under Welfare Reform 1996ff happens to cross a political taboo associated with the a la carte issues…
If you continue reading my blog, or at least surveying its post and page titles, you’ll likely run across examples where I’ve documented how these same organizations long ago embedded “father-outreach” and engagement into their policies, catered to the social science/psychological evaluation and treatment sectors, and simply did not report, as I do, on how groups like a small private Illinois tax-exempt corporation, characterizing itself as an interdisciplinary, international “association of family and courts” feed off federal grants streams like those demonstrated at sites like “fatherhood.gov” or “healthymarriageinfo.org” (both government-funded), university “Centers” (or other non-entities) as at Temple University in Pennsylvania (FRPN.org), which contains the word “fathers” in its name; Texas-Austin (Child and Family Research Center makes little pretense at being egalitarian towards or even that interested in mothers as a demographic, even on its home page: see images), or (learn more about the other involved research funders and named projects, such as the Ford Foundation and Fragile Families) through faculty bio of Ronald B. Mincy Columbia University, New York’s mouthful-acronym “CRFCFW” center, that is its “Center for Research on Father, Child and Family Wellbeing) I deduce this center (it says, created only in 2007) became basically inactive in transitioning to other projects about Oct. 2012 (an announcement proclaims), but its founding faculty member isn’t.
MORE EXHORTATION, WAKEUP CALLS, AND A BASIC QUESTIONS ABOUT BROKEN FEEDBACK LOOPS:
Whatever the cause and side on the debate, as taxpayers and citizens (I’m U.S.), I’ll keep saying, look at the operations, learn the basic vocabulary and definitions between what’s government and what’s not. Learn how, from a news article, a website ending “*.org” or “*.com,” or even *.edu, to look up a nonprofit and IF its first or main headquarters are in the USA, DEAL WITH that nonprofit’s Form 990 IRS tax return!
One of the first wakeup calls in that process is realizing where the same does not exist, or where one does, either how (poorly) it’s filled out, or what inter-relationships with other organizations — and governments, whether through direct grants, program service revenues (meaning contracts — paid for services provided, as opposed to grants — with obviously government-supported programs (Medicaid, Foster Care payments, etc.), or tax-exempt bonds from some unit of government, to finance previous debt or some form of construction / real estate purchases for that charity…)…
Unless you are looking at more than one TYPE of information source, other than social media or ANY form of press release or news media (alternate or otherwise) regarding an organization, program, or policy of concern, you aren’t really looking. The overall context is, your government financing. Another context is private financing. OF course they not only interact, they also mutually invest.
Be aware (the USA is a large country) which universities are private (can you follow their financials? ) Ever looked at one?) and which public, and that both types, if they’ve been around long enough, tend to have dedicated ‘centers’ which are not trackable entities (separate from the university) but which certainly DO have revenues, funders, sponsors, and usually faculty interacting with undergraduate or graduate students i.e., volunteer or low-paid work in exchange for mentoring and resume-building. These are often in the news according to special causes.
Question: Do those undergraduate or graduate students get genuine feedback from ANY survivors of domestic violence or child abuse who survived long enough and cared enough to track the public AND private money through these fields?
Where will their “other points of view” come from if all the service is mediated through mentoring by those already invested in the status quo of developed fields, and how to maintain funding for those fields without regard to continuing feedback from outside the inner circles, those invited to private conferences and roundtables?
There are of course also nonprofits generated with a university address, or by students or faculty there, in addition to “centers.”
(No new posts since August, 2020, the lone page I found was April 13. A list of my other about sixty pages is as a separate “sticky post”– scroll down from the top of the “Current Posts” page to find):
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The table begins right below this line:
Making a shortlink protocol: Posts begin “Http://wp.me/psBXH” (and add the final 3 characters with hyphen). Pages begin the same except for a capital “P” in “PsBXH.” My only post was April 13 and is clearly marked.
For which 3 characters to add for a shortlink, see rightmost column, a convenience mostly for my administrative use (but if quoting a post; please include!). Clicking on post (or page) titles also connect directly to that post (or page). Title hyperlinks are also in short-link format and easily copied and pasted for those who know how to do that.
Publication dates now typically also part of the titles, too.
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Let's Get Honest! Absolutely Uncommon Analysis of Family & Conciliation Courts' Operations, Practices, & History 
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