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

“Extended Foreword/s to”

(Goes with Post:  “So, You Want Us To Speak Out Against Ohio HB 508, Maybe Listen for an HOUR, But No Time to LINK to it Up Front? [Publ. May 28, 2022].” (short-link ends: -ez3) . . . . 

This foreword turned into, basically, another post — but I am telling again, why I wrote the one it’s a “foreword” to. If you prefer the shorter version, page-down below the section in light-blue with a few images and more quotes.  What I have to say (towards the bottom of this section) is disturbing, and I wasn’t going to say it without several links, and those quotes. I hope the impact sinks in:  Pay better attention to centers at law schools, and when it comes to domestic violence professionals with a product to sell (globally), know who’s paying for it, and when the distribution is set up (deliberately) in ways that you just cannot know the same.  

This post is a bit scrappy and it ends abruptly (where I ran out of time…), but what it lacks in polish it adds in points of reference relevant to Ohio’s HB 508. [Text “As Introduced”].

For full text as pdf, Ohio H.B. No. 508 (As Introduced, 134th Gen’l Assembly, 2021-2011)..For my 5/28/22 post, (short-link ends ‘-ez3’).

I raise specific points and themes which it takes more than one person to address, consider, and deal with: combined these points and themes, for me or any other individual who pursues them, are no lightweight investment of time and attention, but the understanding gained is better than the alternative: collectively, being tossed around anchor-less, waiting for authorities, experts, and social media expertise to make [most of our] major decisions.  I have to appeal to common sense… that it makes sense to pay attention to more types of information, in any given situation, than we are typically being fed, or encouraged to consume; that in the long run, that’s better and a more efficient use of our time.  Relying on combinations of hearsay and paid-for propaganda without, really, knowing how to recognize truth from distraction, in any given situation results in running in circles concentric circles (“going down the drain” or, a rapidly expanding across a surface (new media headlines, certain types of reporting/ experts only, never perceiving the undercurrents driving the surface weather:  either analogy works; pick one…).

I tend to look at not just people (and not primarily people), but: nonprofits (per se and advocacy), universities (public or private) and their centers featuring named causes, and media (often run as nonprofit also).  I am more interested in the structure and circuitry which, on the output end, affects us (all), and on the intake end, takes from us in the form of time, energy and of course, taxes.  Sometimes these systems also takes children…and our work lives; years’ worth…irreplaceable.

Please continue to gain awareness of what’s taking place — for this post, in Ohio — and awareness of the nature and practices of those from inside and outside any state (here, Ohio) telling others what to think and do about it.  For this post, a map of the USA showing where Ohio sits may help those not familiar with the geography. It’s really not far from major urban centers (besides its own):  Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, etc.  Other states in the USA are typically larger than many on the East Coast. A map of Ohio wouldn’t hurt either.

Why did I bother to respond? Social media and peer-pressure to vote pro or con on specific legislation without including in the same message a link to the legislation is wrong, and in FamilyCourtReformists circles (my term), it’s the norm. It’s basically a sales pitch without connection to the product when the product is legislation.  This time, I also found that the summaries — even the one from a law firm I quote below (which did provide a link to the bill text) — weren’t describing the substance which was long, detailed, and began with what is and not “juvenile court” jurisdiction, and as introduced didn’t even a a short title.

I am still mid-move and can’t elaborate with annotated “show and tell” guides.  Labeling, adding, and responding media on a WordPress blog is multi-step and takes the most time.  Any blog which quotes others (a prime part of this blog is responding to what’s available on-line on Family Court issues.  These quotes ALWAYS bring extra formatting with them which needs to be removed or adjusted, i.e., I spend much time in “html” mode, not just writing.  Beyond this, these days, until resolved) my laptop’s “Finder” function (where you search for saved files) often gets frozen for an hour, or a few hours, at a time. Until that’s fixed I just have to wait it out…).  For this post, I read enough to form opinions, got an oversight up to a point (read many parts of the bill referencing other parts of the Ohio Revised Code), but am not summarizing (this isn’t a “book report”) here, because of time limits.

If you’re reading this May 28 or later, I also published, then returned it to draft mode after discovering some of the more obscure annotations on some 2017 images mistakenly revealed my name (identity, i.e., full legal name), rather than username.  I will either correct this, or re-post without the details they provide.  Those posts related to Capital University “NCALP” (National Center on Adoption Law and Policy), a dba of the university, which later became (i.e., was rebranded as) “Family & Youth Law Center”

This matters because among its [i.e., that Law School’s] projects has been the Ohio IPV Collaborative, involving a very familiar names in the domestic violence (and father-engagement) fields, nationally and internationally, not to mention the Ohio Domestic Violence Network (Ohio DVN) which is a 501©3 entity, i.e., the federally funded state-wide coalition. I’m guessing that the name associated with the program being run is far more familiar than the individuals running the statewide coalition. This Ohio DVN (image provided below, taken from Twitter, not easy to read here, or there) has a list of who opposes Ohio HB 508.

I also just this morning learned (reviewing my open windows for redundancy) from the former NCALP, now FYLC, that as of August, 2022, this Center is being shut down by the university (whatever that means, it MAY mean that the website and information on it may be removed, or it may be archived).  I suggest take a look now.  Here’s that quote: How would you translate the meaning — its operations are being suspended (in a few months) but it’ll continue evolving.  Was it ever an “it”?

“Family & Youth Law Center”

Established in 1998 as the National Center for Adoption Law & Policy, the Family and Youth Law Center at Capital University Law School has worked tirelessly for more than two decades in the areas of child welfare, adoption, and juvenile justice systems to support positive outcomes for children, youth, and families. In recent years, the landscape in which FYLaw operates has changed dramatically, including multiple additional service providers, funding opportunities rerouting to these additional providers, and staffing.  All these challenges** have been exacerbated by the COVID 19 pandemic.

For these and other reasons, Capital University Law School has determined to suspend FYLaw’s operations effective August 1, 2022. The Law School intends to use this opportunity to explore and consider the future of FYLaw as part of the Law School’s overall efforts to evolve in a manner that allows it to continue delivering the best legal education possible in a 21^st Century, post-pandemic world. 

Thank you for all your support over the years. We truly appreciate it! 

This link describes N. Douglas Wells (at Capital 1989 – 2004), where he helped start the NCALP become FYLC:  Wells Conference on Child Welfare Law:   He was also honored in a Dean’s Report (passed away June, 2004, see nearby image) which however doesn’t mention his role helping create the NCALP:

Deans Report 03-04 re N. Douglas Wells at CapitalUniv (Columbus OH), who helped establish NCALP. For my 5/28/2022 post (short-link ends ‘-ez3’)

The Wells Conference on Child Welfare and Adoption Law was established in honor of N. Douglas Wells, a dedicated teacher and cherished faculty member of the Capital University Law School from 1989 through 2004. Professor Wells, whose research and teaching focused on family law, helped to establish the National Center for Adoption Law and Policy, now known as the Family and Youth Law Center.

Professor Wells joined Capital University in 1989 as an Assistant Professor of Law from the University of Illinois College of Law, where he completed his course work toward an LL.M. He taught Property, an important course in the Law School’s first-year curriculum, as well as Family Law, Administrative Law and Elder Law. As a teacher he was thoughtful, one of Capital’s best, and was well liked by his students. …

This post provides some of the larger context — I say, relevant larger context when it comes to custody decision-making — and it provides a link to the bill, but not my feedback on it.  Such a short-form post couldn’t do that justice… (Read it for yourself!) Some of the tags I included to bring up my earlier posts featuring Ohio in one way or another. I don’t tag consistently, but these link to more detailed presentations — but earlier one. Combine this with recent (or, using hashtags, not so recent) posts on some of the same subject matter to get a wider picture of my perspective which I wish to share.

OhioChildLaw.org/Ohio-Intimate-Partner-Violence-Collaborative (Image: main page; I linked to “trainings”

More current image* from the Ohio IPV Collaborative page, currently shown under “OhioChildLaw.org.”  Also, (See this link, under “News,” from a Summer (June) 2021 Virtual Training ($95 at the door, $75, pre-register) featuring “Safe & Together” training.  It not-so-subtly both advertises and seeks to “peer-pressure” one of the United States of America, i.e., Ohio, to join Family Court of Australia practices (while boasting about David Mandel’s international reach with his, presumably trademarked, trainings…).  Again, within a Collaborative within a Center within a Law School located (though still a private school and university) in the state capital — a state which already has legislated a “fatherhood commission” into existence about twenty years ago… Another (no doubt similar) seminar/webinar? will take place June, 2022, while the  website F&YLC announces its “suspending operations” August, 2022 as I showed just above…

[**(Excessivly fuzzy image here not a function of WordPress:  It’s throughout Capital University Law web pages, oddly so.  Why wouldn’t a university have better graphics on its own brand advertising?  It definitely has “Brand Guidelines“)]

Ohio IPV Collaborative @ Capital Univ (Columbus Ohio), Summer News (June, 2021) Featuring S&T Trainings & Australian Connection

The Family Court of Australia and Federal Circuit Court of Australia have recently announced they have engaged the services of Safe & Together Institute to deliver court-wide domestic violence training focused on improving decisions related to children. The Safe & Together Model has been adopted by all but one of Australia’s territory and state governments. READ MORE <~~Suggestion: Do! (Leads to an April 2021 link:  Read, Consider, Understand Better!)

AGAIN, while labeled and filed under “IPV” (within the law school) or, “domestic violence” (in materials) this is absolutely focused on the child welfare sector which, at least in the USA, is already fatherhood and father-engagement primed, through federal funding via HHS (ACF/The Children’s Bureau).  Here, we’re seeing that Mandel’s training in Australia is embedded within ANROWS, which is focused on preventing violence against women and children.  I’ve been talking about this for some years now, here and on Twitter…

“…The Safe & Together Model has been adopted by all but one of Australia’s territory and state governments. The approach is integral to a suite of national and local research projects funded by Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety (ANROWS) and other entities. The Safe & Together Institute has 21 active partner agencies and more than 80 certified trainers across Australia. It has similar programming in North America and the United Kingdom.

In a statement released last Thursday, the Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia and Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, the Hon Will Alstergren explained that this training is one of many initiatives of the Courts aimed at providing safer family law outcomes.

“How the Courts address issues of family violence is the most challenging but most critical area of the Courts’ work,” Chief Justice Alstergren said. “It is imperative that we continually review our training and knowledge in this area of work. With this in mind, the Courts are very pleased to have engaged the services of David Mandel to deliver training this year that will focus on issues such as the protection of children in the context of family violence, identification of protective parenting, coercive controlling behaviors and the impact of family violence on children.”

David Mandel, the executive director of the Safe & Together Institute and creator of the Safe & Together Model, “We’re proud to be part of this effort and are hopeful that families using the Courts will reap the benefits of judges, registrars, family consultants and other staff of the Courts becoming more domestic violence-informed.”

Significant in the above:  Australia (already has? at least in 2017, was planning to) merged, affecting the appeals processes, its Family court and Federal Circuit Court jurisdiction and put (now Chief Justice over both) Alstergren over both;  He has a Wiki:

On 13 October 2017, Alstergren was appointed as the Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia, replacing John Pascoe (who was appointed as Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia). Alstergren given a concurrent commission as a Justice of the Family Court of Australia.^[9]

When Pascoe reached the statutory retirement age from the Family Court a year later, Alstergren was appointed to succeed him as Chief Justice of the Family Court, effective from 10 December 2018. He retained his appointment as Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit Court amongst a Government plan to merge both courts.^[10] Robert McClelland was appointed as Deputy Chief Justice at the same time.^[7]

Among the Wiki’s footnotes is an article from Oct. 2018 in the Sidney Morning Herald, complaining about the Alstergren appointment, regarding his lack of experience: “Attorney-General under Pressure over Family Court appointments. by Michaela Whitbourn:

Mr Porter announced last week that former Victorian silk Will Alstergren, who was appointed by former attorney-general George Brandis as chief judge of the lower-level Federal Circuit Court (FCC) in October last year, would take the reins as Family Court chief justice from December 10….

The new chief justice will retain his role as chief judge of the FCC, as the Coalition pushes ahead with a plan to merge the two courts into a new mega-court to be called the Federal Circuit and Family Court. The FCC already deals with a high volume of family law cases alongside migration matters.

As part of the merger, the existing appeals function of the Family Court will be removed and appeals from the new court will be heard by the Federal Court. // The elevation of Chief Judge Alstergren, who has been on the bench for less than a year, met with a distinct lack of enthusiasm in some sections of the legal community.

Chief Judge Alstergren was “very new, not only to the family law environment but also to his role as a judge” but was hard-working and energetic and would “give his all to the job and more”, he said.

. . .On Thursday, the Chief Judge of the Family Court of Western Australia – the only state to boast its own Family Court, which is unaffected by the federal merger – delivered a paper highlighting the importance of a transparent merits-based system for appointing judges.

One thing Mandel seems to be adept at — locating and gaining access to government funding for his privately conceived business model.  I’ll have to re-locate the link (pdf), however Mandel admits in some fine print I saw recently that the term “father-engagement” (central to his approach, even when fathers — or especially when fathers — may also be “perps”) comes from Australian Richard S. Fletcher, who runs the (also Australian government-funded?) Australian Fathers Research Network.

I reference more below.

RELEVANT TO THIS TOPIC (but not discussed in this post) is found in the history of Capital University Law School which, reviewing the other day, I found (and Tweeted) involved some donations from Abigail Wexner to one of its centers, founded about 1998 (this one perhaps).  OF COURSE I looked up the related foundation (WexnerFoundations.org) and realized, with a shock, that the source of its retail-industry wealth came from L Brands, Inc. (Victoria’s Secret) and that its founder was the famous Leslie H. Wexner, who, for reasons unknown, decided to hand over major decision-making authority to a now-deceased (there were debates on by what means) individual accused of running sex-trafficking of young women and under-aged teens, you may recall the name “Jeffrey Epstein.”

Abigail Wexner (then 31 years old, a  Barnard graduate nee Koppel, and a lawyer) married Wexner in 1993 (New York Times/Weddings).. An article in the New York Times, 2019 (How Jeffrey Epstein used the Billionaire Behind Victoria’s Secret…(Wexner), and a longer one in Vanity Fair, July-August 2021 Issue, which I am going to quote at length:

So, I am just now connecting Epstein to the Wexner Foundation and through Wexner’s wife — he married late — Abigail —  a law school with known preference for at least one global-minded entrepreneur such as (see above) who (like Epstein) seem adept at talking (here, governments, more than individual billionaires) out of their wealth with promises of public benefit and elevating (so it seems) the institution’s profile as being among “the good guys” when it comes to protecting young, vulnerable children and youth.

[Per Vanity Fair, cont’d.] Epstein seemed to be in every corner of Wexner’s life, including his social and romantic life, including socially, along with Ghislaine Maxwell (after their marriage) with Wexner’s wife Abigail who had been working for “an outside law firm (in London) of The Limited.”  Epstein also got a board seat on the Wexner Foundation.

These connections exist.  I don’t believe, by just looking away, they can disappear, or become irrelevant.  However, I did just make this connection myself only a few days ago… I am showing some, certainly not all, I saw within the past week..

The time-frame overlaps (i.e., the 1990s) with events (tied to Wexner money) in the history of Capital University Law School…. It’s chilling to consider (read the article, learn more about the Wexner foundations, plural) from its website), and its focus almost exclusively on vulnerable children and youth, and “not so much” on violence against full-grown, adult women (with children and dealing with family court issues)– no matter how often the term “domestic violence” is used in the larger context...

Vanity Fair‘s long, narrative articles are story lines and engaging.  Here’s part of the above. In the excerpt Merritt below was security for The Limited (see link for context). Wendy Meister was married to the man who introduced Epstein to Leslie Wexner, and though quickly regretting it, was never unable to separate the two.

[Near top of article]:

Wexner met Epstein sometime around 1986. They were introduced by Wexner’s close friend the insurance mogul Robert Meister, whose firm handled insurance for The Limited. I spoke with Meister in April [2021], and he opened up for the first time about the origins of Wexner and Epstein’s relationship. It was history that Meister, 79, found difficult to revisit. “I walked away from Epstein a long time ago, and I’ve been trying to erase him from my mind ever since,” he said.

Epstein struck up a conversation with Meister on a commercial flight to Palm Beach…. “He was a great bullshit artist,” Meister said. People who knew Epstein remarked at his savant-like skill at impressing powerful older men.

… In hindsight, Meister suspects Epstein aggressively cultivated him in the hope that Meister would open doors to his billionaire friends—like Wexner. Not long after Epstein met Meister, Epstein invited Meister to play racquetball and started turning up in the steam room at his gym while he was using it. “I’d be having a steam and Epstein would come in,” Meister said. During one conversation, Epstein asked Meister to introduce him to Wexner. Epstein falsely said he had learned that Wexner’s money manager** was stealing from him. Epstein, a self-described financial “bounty hunter,” offered to help recover the funds. It was convincing enough that Meister arranged a meeting for Epstein at Wexner’s house in Aspen. “Epstein was such a liar,” Meister said.

(**Harold Levin, who worked for Wexner, I think, starting in 1982…  Epstein later apparently helped ruin his life, and marriage).

[Closer to the bottom of article]:

According to sources, Epstein took an interest in Wexner’s romantic life. In 1985, New York magazine put Wexner on the cover with the headline “The Bachelor Billionaire.” Wexner dated but the relationships didn’t tend to last. Around the time Wexner met Epstein, Wexner broke up with a Columbus woman. According to sources, Epstein showed up at her house with a multimillion-dollar check and told her to stay away from Wexner. (The woman declined requests for comment.)

The friendship [with Epstein] vexed Wexner’s mother, Bella. Sources said she wanted Les to settle down and get married. “Bella hated Epstein. She was so blunt,” Merritt** said. Around 1990, Wendy Meister introduced Wexner to a corporate lawyer in her late 20s named Abigail Koppel, who worked in the London office of Davis Polk, The Limited’s outside law firm. “Abigail was so secretive about it,” a friend from London recalled. “She said, ‘Don’t tell anyone. I don’t want to jinx it.’ ”

**Merritt: I told Les, ‘I wouldn’t trust Epstein to cross the street—why are you trusting him with your money?’ ” recalled Jerry Merritt, a former Ohio state highway patrolman who served as The Limited’s security chief for more than 25 years.

But Epstein stayed very much in the picture. He reportedly arranged Wexner and Koppel’s prenuptial agreement and was one of 50 attendees at their January 1993 wedding ceremony. Wexner even gave Epstein Bella’s seat on the board of the Wexner Foundation.

Epstein soon began traveling to Ohio with Ghislaine Maxwell, the on-off girlfriend who had helped burnish his society connections in Manhattan. “She was with Jeffrey everywhere,” Merritt said. To some, it seemed like the age-appropriate Maxwell was a public front for Epstein’s crimes involving underage girls. “It’s a useful beard situation,” said Oxenberg, Maxwell’s former friend. Epstein and Maxwell were also social with the Wexners outside of Ohio. When the Wexners traveled to Europe, Epstein and Maxwell joined them on shopping trips.

Another article from a (Private Wealth magazine — for professionals who help the ultra-wealthy run their complex lives and often, single-family offices; see description) on Robert Meister:

Billionaire Wexner Says Epstein Swindled Him Out Of ‘Vast Sums‘

AUGUST 8, 2019 • PAGE 2 OF 3

…In recent weeks, revelations about the wealth Epstein amassed during his decades-long relationship with Wexner and his repeated alleged abuse of underage girls during that period have complicated that picture. On Wednesday, the saga took another twist as Wexner wrote to members of the Wexner Foundation that his former money manager had “misappropriated vast sums of money from me and my family.”

The deception, uncovered in 2007 around the time Epstein gave up his role managing the billionaire’s fortune, was a “tremendous shock,” Wexner said in the letter. “I am embarrassed that, like so many others, I was deceived by Mr. Epstein.”  …He had met Epstein “through friends who vouched for and recommended him as a knowledgeable financial professional,” according to the letter.  Among them was Robert Meister, then a vice chairman of insurance giant Aon, who counted Wexner as a client. At the time, Wexner seemed much more focused on running his company than expanding his net worth, according to people close to him.

Around 1990, Wexner appointed Epstein as the head of Wexner Investment Co., his de facto family office. The decision effectively demoted Harold Levin, who’d then been in charge of Wexner’s personal finances for seven years, and came as a surprise to several people who worked with the fashion CEO at the time.  //

In 1991, Epstein was granted power-of-attorney over Wexner’s assets. Within a few years, he was also a director of the Wexner Foundation and Wexner Heritage Foundation, and was involved in developing the town of New Albany outside Columbus, Ohio, where Wexner lives.

Wexner Investment Co. invested in several real estate deals during the 1990s. In some cases, Epstein took a cut of the proceeds once the transactions were finalized, a person familiar with the matter said. Epstein also served as trustee of several trusts, foundations and corporations tied to Wexner. Between 1994 and 2002, such entities sold an aggregate $1.5 billion of L Brands stock, regulatory filings show.

In his Wednesday note [Regarding money Epstein repaid], Wexner said that some of the money had been repaid. In 2008, two entities tied to Epstein transferred $46 million to a charitable foundation overseen by Wexner’s wife Abigail, mostly in Apple Inc. shares. “All of that money — every dollar of it — was originally Wexner family money,” the letter said.

ALL this certainly gripped my attention, recently, and affirmed that sometimes, the gut instinct “what’s “off” here, really?” (with Capital Law’s various evolving and now about to “suspend operations” center, including the IPV Collaborative) sometimes makes sense after you look again — more closely the next time…  I only found this by reading through its history website.

Here is a gallery of images from that website (click to enlarge), I’ve quoted the 2000 paragraph below it:

Here’s a quote from within Capital University Law School’s history time-line, showing the Wexner Connection not only to advocacy (likely to directly involve family law cases contested because of domestic violence) but also the same person (Mrs. Wexner’s) having also in 1996 — again, these were “Epstein-advisor” years — to a Columbus Coalition Against Domestic Violence which, when I looked for but couldn’t find, learned had been merged out of existence in favor of a center at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (where Wexner is also a trustee).  She has a legal background, was a New York lawyer with a history for a law firm in London before marrying into this family, and not a novice in the field.  My text was copied from a screen shot I took May 27…

(from https://law.capital.edu/Our_History.aspx) (seems to be case-sensitive…)

2000 Capital University Law School’s Family Advocacy Clinic is established with an initial $250,000 grant from the
Columbus Coalition Against Family Violence, founded in 1996 by Abigail Wexner. The Clinic serves victims of domestic violence who do not meet eligibility criteria to receive legal aid assistance, but who are still unable to afford a private attorney. The Clinic works to improve the legal and community services available to family violence victims within Franklin County and works to encourage community collaboration. Partners include the Legal Aid Society, CHOICES Shelter, and the Columbus City Attorney’s Office.

Why the City Attorney’s Office?  District Attorneys prosecute crime, not City Attorneys….

Within the Family Advocacy Clinic, students may choose to intern in either the Civil Protection Unit or the Child Custody Unit. In the Civil Protection Unit, students work with staff attorneys to file civil protection orders in the Domestic Relations Court to protect victims of domestic violence. The Unit also provides assistance with housing needs, employment concerns and divorce or dissolution proceedings. The Child Custody Unit offers legal representation in contested child custody cases when family violence has been involved.

Both units would seem to involve the local family law resources.

RE: The Columbus Coalition Against Domestic Violence, founded by Mrs. Wexner in 1996 (see: CCAFV.org) in April, 2011 (about eleven years ago), it both merged with Nationwide Children’s Hospital (Chair, Mrs. Wexner) and changed its name to, “go figure” remove any reference to “violence,” even “family violence” (versus domestic violence, or, God forbid, battered women, men, or children i.e. any reference to criminal activity whatsoever) “Center for Family Safety.”

https://www.ccafv.org (and there’s an internal link):

COALITION MERGER ANNOUNCEMENT: In April 2011, Nationwide ChildrenÔøΩs Hospital Board of Directors Chair Abigail Wexner announced the merger of the Center for Child and Family Advocacy (CCFA) at Nationwide ChildrenÔøΩs with the Columbus Coalition Against Family Violence (CCAFV). The combined new organization was called The Family Violence Coalition at Nationwide ChildrenÔøΩs, formed to bring together the strengths of two well-established programs, both combating the impact of family violence

After thoughtful consideration and feedback from patients, families and staff, it was decided that The Center for Family Safety and Healing better reflects the work of the organization, will help raise community awareness and change attitudes about child abuse and family violence. Learn more about the name change and the merger between the Columbus Coalition Against Family Violence and the Center for Child and Family Advocacy at Nationwide ChildrenÔøΩs.

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The Columbus Coalition Against Family Violence was created to improve the way individuals and institutions in Central Ohio think about and respond to family violence. We do this by forming alliances with corporate, medical, law enforcement and social service agencies, as well as faith communities. By fostering collaboration, we can raise awareness and develop large-scale initiatives for prevention and intervention.

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The Columbus Coalition Against Family Violence is a private, non-profit organization founded to create a community culture that does not tolerate family violence. We encourage children to learn trades such as plumbing and electrical.

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To break the cycle of family violence in homes, schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods throughout our community.

There are many broken links on that website (it may have stopped being updated around that time), however some paragraphs which remain show other Wexner involvement:

To register or learn more, download this year’s symposium brochure. If you have additional questions, please contact Jeri Wallace at 614-293-6245 or via email at jeri.wallace@osumc.edu. We hope to see you there! . . 

NO WOMAN, NO CRY: The College of Public Health and the Wexner Center for the Arts will be presenting a screening of “No Woman, No Cry,” a documentary about the risks of giving birth without adequate care, on April 13. The film is directed by model and maternal health advocate Christy Turlington Burns. The college will be offering this event at no charge to the public. Click here to learn more. 

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY: Leslie H. Wexner, chairman and CEO of Limited Brands, his wife Abigail, founder and board chair of the Coalition and the Limited Brands Foundation donated $100 million to The Ohio State University (OSU). Read more about the largest gift in OSU history.

~ ~ ~ ~

5/28/2022 (later in the day):  I finally found this (merged-out-of-existence) EIN#: It’s EIN# 542143915, and from there (via Candid.org, thank you, guys) showing its assets going from $3M to “zero” in one year.  From another website, I grabbed an image of a recent (pre-merger) Form 990 Image (just the first page) and already see red flags, or oddities:

1.  It says “0” employees.  2.  It’s showing most revenues under “other,” meaning — you’d need to read to see why:

Oh Yes, look at the “Fund-raising expenses” (Page 1, Part VIII Revenues (Fund-raising proceeds of $1.08M, the largest sector, is mis-reported on Line 1e, not Line 1c (labeled “Fundraising revenues”), see also Schedule G (HOW does one get $608K of “expenses” including $456K labeled “Other Direct Expenses”) for proceeds of $1.0M?), notice it has one “leased” Exec. Director, and that its board includes: Two Bishops, a Reverend, a Sheriff, a Doctor (MD) and a Judge — probably a family judge.. a Deputy Chief, and of course Abigail Wexner (out of all these, only one leased employee is paid, Karen Days).  Inconsistent labeling hard to know exactly where the thousands, or at times, millions of dollars came from (sometimes fund-raisingk sometimes not, several years “government grants” of around $300K or so), and for the  last several years, running substantial “deficits” (About ½ million:  it varies) while claiming “other assets” (about ½ million) under Pt. X (Balance Sheet) “Other assets” described in Schedule D (which is supposed to describe such things) “funds held by others…”  This summary (this paragraph) isn’t intended to be 100% precise; it’s based on a QUICK read — and I’ve provided links below to (its last) five years of tax returns here to see whether that summary is reasonable, so go look yourself.  I wouldn’t trust this nonprofit for the distance between my keyboard and the computer screen.  Too many “anomalies” added to which — the entities it’s related to and dealing with, JUST DON’T LIKE TO SHOW their financials.  It’s outrageous having to look this hard for even this one… — this is my opinion, of course.

Total results: 3. Search Again. (EIN# 542143915, Columbus Coalition Against Family Violence)…

Here’s for 2009 (℅ Candid) and here for 2009 (℅ Candid)

Here’s for 2004 (Revs.  $780,000 even (IRS form was different then),

but still managed to run a small deficit. Expenses were “Other.”  $226K on consulting, $100K on a public relations guy with the address “1 Nationwide Plaza” and a full $20K (smallest amount) spent on attempting to change the criminal justice system; the largest amount was spent on “Safety Screening for Everyone” Oh, and $55K for faith-based outreach…

Its “initial Return” was for FY2003 (Begin date, Sept. 2003, End, Dec. 31, 2003), showing only stamped by the IRS “August 2005” although 0 assets shown yet.  The entity was formed in 1998, but had no financial transactions for its first five years?