Archive for the ‘Lackawanna County PA Corruption Protests’ Category
Eavesdropping into an Indoctrination Center, Hindsight from a Pilot Project Outpost (First publ. Dec. 22, 2013; Updated (format) Aug. 3, 2019).
THIS POST IS, with title lengthened to show when first published (Dec. 2013) and when last updated (Aug. 2019):
Eavesdropping into an Indoctrination Center, Hindsight from a Pilot Project Outpost (First publ. Dec. 22, 2013; Updated (format) Aug. 3, 2019). (short-link ends -2cI, about 12,700 words)
A nearby post I just updated Aug. 3, 201, and referenced on the top sticky post on the blog (created recently to post all my PAGES (vs.POSTS like these) titles + links full-width, vs. tightly wrapped on a narrow sidebar widget) (click on next link for why) was and still is called:
Bypassing the Legal Process in Baltimore: HOW and for WHOM Maryland got its “Family Divisions” in 1998. (Short-link ending “-2cT” and at about 9,200 words, not including this update. First published, I believe, on or about Dec. 24, 2013; this update with a bit of preview & Why the Update section, August 3, 2019).
Also recommended, if you can handle the indignant tone as I was at the time discovering and processing all this information:
Eavesdropping into an Indoctrination Center, Hindsight from a Pilot Project Outpost (short-link ends -2cI)
Once the process becomes clear, it’s easy to see in operation. AGAIN — the NONPROFIT and CENTERS (clearinghouses, you name it) system of communications — laterally — is replacing the jurisdiction-related representative government, if it hasn’t already.
The Indoctrination Center is at UBaltimore School of Law, where concepts like Therapeutic Jurisprudence Promotion and Unified Family Courts are being taught to new law students (Student Fellows) (year, 2013).
Unbelievable. Listen in to the fake conversations…
The Hindsight from a Pilot Project — assistance obtained in this project ca. 2002 — is (to date still in motion) at an economically depressed and, it turns out, educationally disadvantaged region of Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. They are related.
So, you might want to read post one, and see how one tax-evading GAL was spat out, and got a settlement agreeing their own tax fraud wasn’t over $80,000 [leaving the program enabling fraudsters intact, from what we can tell]. I am showing you portions of the manufacturing and of the product delivery sections of this UFC family-relations-assembly line. I added material (1/1/2014) on inspiration — probably not the best idea – but showing the progressive encroachment from the Supreme Court level and the Presiding Family Court Judge level, of private business interests sold as “in the best interests” of the children.
I find it empowering –and wise — to see the process of having these destructive systems set in place. It’s very easy to see once you become familiar with the HOW, the WHO, and the WHERE. For the end goal? Usually, profit, but also, the undermining of the rule of law and substituting for it, the rulings of mental health experts. AFCC told each other this back in the 1970s, and the public, safely confident that most people were NOT paying close attention to the civil servant-nonprofit sector. I want that to change!
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My Media/Library Uploads Retrospective– but First, The Context! (Published 11/11/2013).
As I tend to combine “reflect and investigate,” this process helped me distill basic language and themes, which are being parsed out to different posts. I also aim to shorten posts to 5,000-6,000 words (including quotes). As I was a novice blogger (starting pretty much with this one!) the earlier ones, with so much cut and paste, font-changes and just too much to say (essentially I was learning and posting notes on the entire field, at once) can be hard to handle!
But Summary, First!
I have a lot to say, it has some complexity, and after spending several days on this post (not sure if that meant improving it!) including consistent formatting code issues and revisions, I’m just splitting it in two. This section’s “show and tell” segments on the economic matters really sets the context for the other links, which are subsidiary. Each segment is probably about 5,500 words.
However this post still outlines, from better teachers than myself, how anyone can see, and prove from understanding those “Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports”, the accumulated-wealth of our federal AND state governments, the practice of crying “broke” when they aren’t, which then highlights that we have been massively deluded, redirected, and deceived into the process have been believing major lies about the nature, and with this the purpose, of our own government, for decades. With the exception of those who have been diligently exposing it, which hardly attracts major funding and approval from the engines of commerce that depend on those lies.
Every government (or religion) is going to use propaganda to consolidate and unify people under its umbrella and for its cause. However some are worse than others, and this one needs to be recognized, and spat out.
ALSO, Unlike many who report, in general on the CAFRs and accumulated wealth factor, I’m also a woman, a mother, an individual — who was dragged with children, then without children, through the court system that’s the subject of this blog.
So I am seeking, and finding, how to apply that knowledge to THIS problem of the courts. Knowledge of government financing (and how to understand it) is valuable. It is also leverage with legislators and taxpayers, with policymakers (who set budgets) regarding the courts, and adds credibility to any discussion — even if the person speaking doesn’t work in the academic elite dedicated to these matters.
In investigating these courts, for a change with some better signals and clues (than the DV agencies or “Mothers of Lost Children” “No Way Out But One” and/or Lundy Bancroft [The Batterer as Parent”] and friends crowd was providing) it was immediately obvious the elephant in the family law system was the conciliation courts, who with the related nonprofits, were focused on the were federal incentives, and demands, to states driving the welfare system. Finding this material also sheds lights on how come, if I could (and reported), these individuals didn’t (or didn’t report).
This factor, and the slush fund factors HAS been reported right along — but not well enough publicized or explained enough; apparently the understanding didn’t catch fire and start some appropriate fires to burn up the falsehoods coming from groups who want a piece of the training pie. One reason it didn’t “catch fire” is so much distracting, less relevant and intentionally de-railing publicity DID catch fire took its place, with a different focus and intent — a focus on the precisely those things which sell causes and get coverage; the story line; the human tragedies, and the victims. And that’s not the type of reporting that leads to focused understanding of the situation — it’s situational, it’s personal, and it’s transient.
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Summarizing Faith-Based, Marriage-Promoting, Change-Agents and Slush Funds…
CROOKS.
Your Money, Their Tax Exemption,
Your Kids Gone (or Abused) courtesy
Your Government. Your President(s) Promoting it, Too,
Clinton, Bush, Obama, ….???
Name me one that didn’t promote faith, marriage and fatherhood.
Or have a background involving some real estate deals pre-Presidency.
I’ve been looking (too long, probably) at what these organizations do, how they behave, and what the pattern is. Unilaterally, it’s sickening (i.e., it’s corrupt). I believe that collectively this is the “air we breathe” and that it gets back to the money system — a dual class cartel being created and expanded, where those closest to the “Court” may save or prosper their own asses — but it will be at the expense of ethics, truth, and others. This will lead to more bloodshed, as some are going to resist by non-economic means.
All of this may sound complex (particularly as I don’t present it visually in the best manner — I’d be better in a Q&A, or live; and don’t have graphics skills). But as to concepts, it isn’t. If you can think conceptually (and surviving depends on more of it these days) — you can understand these concepts. The thing is, most people’s lives don’t require analyzing so much of their government from top to bottom, while not being IN it or ON it. Those of us who got so marginalized and don’t like fake answers (hard truths are OK, “Placebo” truths are not) — have been doing so.
THINGS FLOW: Electricity, water, air (lava, sometimes), sap, blood, lymph (with help), sewage, OK, MILK, semen, right?– and money.
AND – information / IDEAS — in the form of words, sounds, images, smells — almost anything that involves one of the five senses. This is your: face to face, and technology over the decades: Paper (Gutenberg), Radio, Telegraph, and now, The Internet — Social Media — the web. . . . . Etc.
(Some — many — also assert that spirit exists, and as such, it’s been compared to: wind, fire, and water. (“Earth, Wind and Fire?”)
THINGS FLOW — and they flow GEOGRAPHICALLy and CHRONOLOGICALLY. MONEY FLOWS.
In a sense, property ownership ALSO “flows” — from one owner to another.
THINGS FLOW — and when they do, there are conduits, surfaces, or carriers (irrigation systems, etc.) through which they flow. Or seep. Or, are transmitted.
Extended illustration that WHAT flows, matters. Maybe some things shouldn’t be:
As they flow, and over time, they sometimes are themselves transformed (water) or transform (give life — or death) to — other things. Right now in Pennsylvania, there’s the issue of SHALE (“fracking”) which forcibly injects a mixture of liquids (carrying pollutants) to get the desired oil out, I guess. (see link) Here’s a description which proves that, if you flush something out that wasn’t meant to be flushed — there is a resulting flow of crap, which has to be hauled away. I seems that presently the Governor of PA (Corbett) is appealing municipalities protests of an unconstitutional (and so ruled, by the Supreme Court of PA) restriction on local municipalities to protest zoning that would — enable this fracking, I think. What did the GOV do? Well, the apparatus was already set — there were states’ attorneys, and a (centralized development agency), the OECD, over which he appointed a crony (“walker”) (or, at least donor to his campaign, and with a financial interests in defeating this Ruled-Unconstitutional act. Power at work…).
Now, what to do with it? This is about FLOW and just an illustration. A large one, of course:
Flowback and Brine Treatment in Pennsylvania |
| Someone may try to convince you that using 6-million gallons of water for fracing one gas well doesn’t amount to a massive amount of water. Even if they are successful in making that argument, the next topic becomes flowback or brine. What do you do with the crap that comes back out of the ground?
Somewhere between 20% and 40% of the water used for hydro-fracing a gas well returns to the surface as flowback, and later as produced water. In addition to the frac fluids added by the gas drilling companies, this water picks up other contaminants from deep in the Earth (~ 7,000 feet deep) with one of the most notable ingredients being salt. |
Let’s talk about what’s in it: (from same site — just browse…)
These fluids contain sodium and calcium salts, barium, oil, strontium, iron, numerous heavy metals, soap, radiation and other components. This fluid combination becomes brine wastewater, and tanker trucks hauling it are labeled with RESIDUAL WASTE placard. Treated brine is also sold for deicing and other applications that utilize calcium chloride, often being applied to roadways.
((FRom A DIFFERENT SOURCE, same forum though, posted Mon July 9, 2012 11:09pm Link provided there was broken..):
“These first four categories represent effects that would likely be expressed upon immediate exposure, such as eye and skin irritation, nausea and/or vomiting, asthma, coughing, sore throat, flu-like symptoms, tingling, dizziness, headaches,weakness, fainting, numbness in extremities, and convulsions…”…”Health categories that reflect chronic and long-term organ and system damage comprise the middle portion of Figure 2.
These include the nervous system (52%), immune system (40%), kidney (40%), and the cardiovascular system and blood (46%). More than 25% of the chemicals can cause cancer and mutations. Notably, 37% of the chemicals can affect the endocrine system that encompasses multiple organ systems including those critical for normal reproduction and development. The category of other is more common, and includes effects on weight, teeth, and bone and the ability of a chemical to cause death. More than 40% of the chemicals have been found to have ecological effects, indicating that they can harm aquatic
Brine wastewater is difficult and expensive to treat, one of the same reasons we aren’t using much ocean water for agriculture and residential applications. The saltiness of this wastewater creates high levels of TDS (total dissoved solids). Incomplete processing of this brine wastewater, especially when dumped into rivers used for drinking water, creates a high TDS situation that causes drinking water treatment plants problems, likeTrihalomethanes. High TDS water reacts with chlorine when it is processed creating these TTHM’s.
Trihalomethanes (THM) are a group of four chemicals that are formed (along with other disinfection byproducts) when chlorine or other disinfectants used to control microbial contaminants in drinking water react with naturally occurring organic and inorganic matter in water. The trihalomethanes are chloroform, bromodi/chloromethane, dibromo/chloromethane, and bromoform (I inserted the “/”s)
That’s sweet, disinfecting with chlorine and other agents creates Chloroform, something used to kill butterflies and sometimes aid in a kidnapping.
BACK TO TOPIC ABOUT THE FLOW OF IDEAS —
AND WITH THEM, MONEY. SUCH AS IT IS….
ANOTHER THING THAT SEEMS TO “FLOW” (WITH CERTAIN “CARRIER” ITEMS) IS — POWER. AND THAT’S WHAT WE NEED TO BE MOST CONCERNED ABOUT, BECAUSE THAT POWER INCLUDES THE POWER TO INCARCERATE, THE THUMBS-UP OR THUMBS-DOWN POWER OF LIFE AND DEATH OVER PEOPLE, OR GROUPS OF PEOPLE.
SOME PEOPLE are just REAL INTENT in consolidating power, and have developed many ways to do so.
In my quest to see why I couldn’t even break a lousy individual (batterer husband) — or my own family off me, I came to understand more and more of these matters affecting the courts, and to understand (I believe) the courts for what they are — gateways to the flow of power DOWNWARDS and not for the right reasons. I’ve seen enough, and while knowledge is power, it is the delivery system which really counts (which those holding power certainly know) — as well as the MAINTENANCE OF MYTH:
When it comes to MAINTENANCE OF MYtH — there’s nothing like religion + internet. When it comes to hiding assets, there’s nothing like nonprofits and the internet — and pre-existing institutions. When it comes to DISTRACTION — there’s nothing like trapping people’s time in a SINGLE system (with captive, so to speak) audiences — rather than understanding how systems interact with each other.
As we speak, I have been accumulating layers (weaving, as it were) of understanding of various threads. ALL of those threads lead to distribution of money and bring up the question of the IRS. This brings up the question of whose bright idea it, and the Federal Reserve, and so many other coordinated things that they absolutely do comprise a FABRIC with a certain MODEL that is being (has been) stretched over the U.S. over time.
The CORE of this model is — I’m sure of it now — ECONOMIC
It is the centralization of wealth (as opposed to “money”)
with frightening systems of control, destruction, incarceration, potential forced psychiatric drugging, or simply peddling of narcotics (in addition to the drugging of kids in foster care — or schools — to control them, as well as the elderly, as well as the mentally unstable, as well as the . . . (get it?) )
we have become also accustomed (too many of us) to believe that DOLLARS are MONEY —
when Dollars are NOT real money– Dollars are Debt-Notes.
They might as well be play-dough.
And too many legislators have a dual allegiance — one of which is in the Vatican.
The others which say they aren’t Catholic have forgotten that George W. Bush has been called a better Catholic the John F. Kennedy. JFK actually had a fight with his conscience where faith fought his oath as President of the United States to uphold and defend the Constitution.
I don’t think the former Presidential contestant, Rick Santorum (nor, Michelle Bachmann)
would have had such troubling thoughts as a conscience of the law of the land might give.
They do seem to center geographically on Washington, D.C. (and historically so), with of course hot spots in various states where certain (nonprofit trade associations) have coalesced. Like, Denver, or Chicago — or some in California (Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco). In the middle of the country, Minnesota (out of all places) has been a hotspot of “DV” activity. Wisconsin seems to have been a test state almost, for welfare reform (Tommy Thompson, etc.) and is the home state of this “AFCC” I keep talking about. . . . . . Indiana, Kansas, Oklahoma are — well, what they are (very “fatherhood” friendly). Don’t ask me why NY comes to mind in this area — but it doesn’t.
LET’s CHANGE GEARS:
This blog has been “FAMILY COURT” focused (for its duration). However, as I kept pulling strands like this — ON MARRIAGE AND FAITH-BASED GRANTEES, SET UP BY HHS COMPASSION GRANTS, MARKETING MATERIALS FROM “SMARTMARRIAGE.COM” CONFERENCEES, DIVERTING FUNDS FROM WELFARE (NEEDY, OFTEN SINGLE-MOTHER HOUSEHOLDS) TO END UP IN PROGRAM HANDS, AS THE “LOW-INCOME” POPULATION STAY THAT WAY — BUT AT LEAST HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF BECOMING PART OF A SOCIAL SCIENCE ENGINEERING TEST RUN, IN ASSOCIATION WITH COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL MODIFICATION INSTITUTES ACROSS THE UNIVERSITY “CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE” LAND, INCLUDING IN GEORGIA, DENVER, AND ELSEWHERE: **
. . . . I kept running smack into the problem that, the problem is the dual class system set up by Nonprofit status, to start with. Nonprofits form boards, have salaries paid, either do (which = prosperity) sell out to HHS policy (which is itself blended with corporate wealth, see GWBush, already) — or go the private foundation route (i.e., PRIVATE wealth) — and from that platform, go about attempting to restructure the entire PUBLIC institution infrastructure, for its own good (as defined by the privately-founded wealth) etc. Roughly speaking, this might be called — and was exemplified by, the Robert Rectors (Heritage Foundation — i.e., just let us BE the United States Government, after all, we already know how to run things) versus the Peter Edelmans (Georgetown Law, and with the proven track record in Civil Rights, and in association with Children’s Defense Fund, see (his wife), Marian Wright Edelman, who are — let us FIX the United States Government — and by the way, we are taking private wealth.
What about people whose goal is NOT world change (“OUR version, for everyone — not THEIR version, for everyone), but, supporting ourselves and our families, staying active in our communities, and having time left to sleep — plus food to eat? Suppose we are happy within normal spheres of endeavor — we may want to travel some around the globe, but are not invested in owning and running it?
If I had to go to dinner with one of the two, I’d pick the Edelmans any day, but I do not endorse either of their policies; both are “change agents” and believe that their collective personal vision should be inflicted on future generations, whereas, I’m a single mother (or was), and have daughters — and just don’t happen to agree. Why? Because there’s such a thing as too much “SYSTEM.” Whoever runs a system for the nation, controls the nation — and a lot of its funding. And the public school system is similar to the family law system. They’re both here, feed on each other, and put IDEAS (not just people) in boxes, demand payment from someone else for doing this, but when it comes to FENCES (regulations on the administrators of the system), then the parents and nonparents supporting these systems — are FENCED out. See “metal detectors” and “lockdown.” I cannot think of a more overt collective attack on this country than those two systems, combined, have done to its children — and with the children, the parents who actually DO care about them, but must fight the government for access to their own kids, or a relationship with them.
In short, I don’t believe in nationwide SYSTEMS, period, except where absolutely essential. I say that having (sort of) survived an abusive “nuclear family” system and am still reeling from the extended family (plus friends) GANG simply because my children were wonderful (and irresistible), and, can you spell, “the love of money”? I believe this is what middle-aged people (both genders) do when their own (professionally OK, or even successful) lives are simply boring, unrewarding, or meaningless.
(SO, that long link above link is to a topic on Scranton PT which has a recent dredging of the marriage- and faith-based shell corps (and resulting headlines about their various frauds) AND shows how a major community change initiative by Saul Alinsky (Industrial Areas Foundation — now based out of Grace Episcopal in Chicago) (a) worked and (b) morphed from “using” the access to people that churches represented, to strengthening churches AS institutions and centers for receiving (federal) grants to change communities. It seems the HHS was fine with that — and somehow money is getting lost in the process.
CHURCHES COMMUNITY CHANGE AGENTS WITH CONTROL-CENTRAL:
A few of the posts (on that topic & forum) also uncovered in the process a COPYCAT of the Industrial Areas Foundation adapted to Christianity — or at least the veneer of churchianity — apparently some woman was overly impressed by some man who (it turned out) had himself been through PICO training. What “PICO” is appears to be a recruiting process — an organization trawls locally for leadership material and then recruits them into separate membership which becomes a “change agent” and then that local leaders goes forth and conquers. . . . . . . . I guess this is an alternative to normal judicial & legislative processes, perhaps…. (A SAMPLE COMMENT)
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PICO conducts six-day national leadership development seminars four times a year, teaching the theory and practice of congregation-based organizing. Each year an additional seminar is presented in Spanish. Local affiliates also provide members and leaders with training on building and sustaining strong organizations, identifying potential leaders through one-on-one relational meetings, researching community issues, developing budgets, and working with public officials.[11]
PICO leader attracted to ideas of Saul Alinksy, i.e. incl. Alinsky’s tactics were often unorthodox. In Rules for Radicals Alinsky wrote, “[t]he job of the organizer is to maneuver and bait the establishment so that it will publicly attack him as a ‘dangerous enemy.'” According to Alinsky, “the hysterical instant reaction of the establishment [will] not only validate [the organizer’s] credentials of competency but also ensure automatic popular invitation.”[8]
PICO is basically community organizing to solve the world’s (i.e., it mentions urban, suburban and rural) projects — with connections to Central America and Rwanda…
In PICO’s congregation-community model, congregations of all denominations and faiths serve as the institutional base for community organizations. Rather than bring people together simply based on common issues like housing or education, the faith-based or broad-based organizing model makes values and relationships the glue that holds organizations together.
PICO builds community organizations based on religious congregations, schools and community centers, which are often the only stable civic gathering places in many neighborhoods
REGARDING the North County Sponsoring Committee (aka Faith Works) — it’s basically a PICO affiliate.
FROM 2002 return, its nonprofit purpose is to provide leadership training:
To strengthen North San Diego County families and communities by assisting religious congregations and other community groups in the development of leadership that is educated and organized for effective participation in civic life
No officers paid yet, and no employees. Largest expense under “other” includes PICO consulting fee: $14,675, plus training fees and training mileage:
This is fascinating — but mostly in its context, which I realize you are not, just now.
…
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Pick one: Bread and Circuses — or Justice, and Freedom. Ideally, the latter…
“Justice and Freedom” (they’re partners!) are on really the auction block, and without dedication to doing something about this, one will need more Bread and Circuses (probably) to live at peace with one’s conscience — or to avoid acknowledging this.
Technology & Capital & Control of markets will always trump Law. And in this country law doesn’t exist for what we may like to believe it does.
Time to upgrade one’s financial literacy — as well as understanding welfare reform, as well as “give it up” on thinking that dollars = “money.” Dollars are not the only form of money by a long shot. And it’s unacceptable NOT to deal with some of this material after work, before work, or while unemployed, if one is. If our heads are a century behind the definition of a dollar, our behinds will be for sale even sooner.
MY EXPERIENCE WITH FHA-HUD
BACKGROUND INFORMATION FOR UNDERSTANDING
TAPEWORM ECONOMICS
By Catherine Austin Fitts
June 2003
- “The war on poverty was sold as helping low and moderate-income people.”
- “In retrospect, the war on poverty, like the war on drugs, had nothing to do with helping anyone in need and everything to do with organized crime harvesting places and building centralized control, including consolidating local small business and banking into large corporations and banks.”
- “For more on West Philadelphia, see “The Myth of the Rule of Law“
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- . . a great deal of money was unaccounted for from the US Treasury. This now totals over $3.3 trillion based on General Accounting Office (GAO) reports. The notion that the US Treasury, OMB and DOJ might be capable of significant fraud was gaining credibility in the investment community. A handful of courageous reporters published stories about what was happening.
- Capital gains are highest for those who can combine liquidity, the value creation of stock price multiples, and the power of new technology with the high margins of narcotics trafficking, financial fraud and control of the Congress, the courts and the enforcement agencies to create and protect markets
- In August of 1996, the San Jose Mercury News broke Webb’s story of illegal narcotics dealing by the US government, targeting South Central LA with crack cocaine…
- As a white, Anglo-Saxon protestant I had been counting on the rule of law to protect me. I found, instead, that it is a powerful myth, which has fuelled great wealth for those who run and rule the economy — both legal and illegal.
- ALSO See & “Narco Dollars for Dummies”**
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- This is simple enough — scroll down and read “the Economics of Production: Sam and Dave Do Boat Loads of White Agricultural Substances”(“Sam does Sugar & Dave does Drugs. Dave’s profit is obviously a multiple of Sam’s. . . . If Sam had sales of X dollars, let say that Dave had sales of 50-100 times X. Dave may carry the same amount of white stuff in a boat but from a financial point of view, Dave the drug man has a lot more “sales per boat” than Sam the sugar man…once Dave has set up his money laundering schemes, even after a 4-10 percent take for the money laundering fees, it’s fair to say his tax rate of 0 percent is lower than Sam’s tax rate. While it is expensive to set up all the many schemes Dave might use to launder his money, once you do it you can save a lot avoiding some or all of the IRS’s take.”
- which apparently is also exactly what “block grants to states for TANF” was about — it was about the missing money factor. Much easier than when there was an AFDC dollar-to-household match pre-1996. Child Support Enforcement? That’s a WASH, get real! $4 billion a year to LOSE money and set up new fatherhood programs?? (. . .. .)
- This is simple enough — scroll down and read “the Economics of Production: Sam and Dave Do Boat Loads of White Agricultural Substances”(“Sam does Sugar & Dave does Drugs. Dave’s profit is obviously a multiple of Sam’s. . . . If Sam had sales of X dollars, let say that Dave had sales of 50-100 times X. Dave may carry the same amount of white stuff in a boat but from a financial point of view, Dave the drug man has a lot more “sales per boat” than Sam the sugar man…once Dave has set up his money laundering schemes, even after a 4-10 percent take for the money laundering fees, it’s fair to say his tax rate of 0 percent is lower than Sam’s tax rate. While it is expensive to set up all the many schemes Dave might use to launder his money, once you do it you can save a lot avoiding some or all of the IRS’s take.”
***My story began intersecting with C.A. Fitts’ description of HUD mortgage defaults and “narco-dollars” repeatedly — particularly as the HHS has clear connections in some of its policies — like marriage/fatherhood policies, and faith-based ones — to money laundering through the grants system. For example, the other day, attempting to explain this to some Lackawannans (i.e., Pennsylvanians — Lackawanna being the county right next to the infamous “kids for cash” scheme in Luzerne) who felt discovering the religion of a hated GAL was some kind of information breakthrough– I looked another grantee with the words “faith-based” in its name, out of Oceanside, California (North San Diego, I gather)
This along with some in Florida, was one of the first (2002) showing as receiving a “compassion capital fund” startup. And yet its umbrella (associated) “interfaith community services” [at the same street address] was recipient of multi-million$$ federal grants, particularly around housing, and had been the subject of studies (it says) from both Texas (as to faith-based) and Columbia Univ. As I looked at “faith-based community development corporation” one short step (link) showed a related credit union. None of it was adding up, particularly as USAspending.gov said the group got $150K (same exact grant), and Taggs said it only got $75K. Both databases allegedly get their sources FROM HHS — and to boot, this FBCDC had an EIN — but no DUNS# (etc.)The umbrella (my term) nonprofit had been around, it said, since 1979 — incorporated since 1982. It didn’t take very long to start unearthing discrepancies (one day or far less). The next day, I studied more on Industrial Areas Foundation (Saul Alinsky) and found out how religious congregations and this type of programming are like male & female chemical receptors — both groups are hungry for power, immoral about how they get it, and have habitual under-reporting of income and failures to stay incorporated and transparent with the public. It was the match made in heaven…***
This blog here basically represents my study notes over a three-year period of WTF happened to “our” justice system — from the front lines of it. Not to mention WTF happened to “our” money (in the 1900s), and behind all this was the natural concern for HTF this happened to my life, as a mother (not just “parent” but a mother, in this century, in this political context, and as a person, as a member of a geographic and various other communities, and so forth.
I really do believe there’s truth in “Three Cities that Rule the World” (London, the Vatican, and Washington, D.C. — representing wealth, religion and the military/politics).
When the Bible said “The love of money is the root of all evil,” boy, did it tell the truth!
Also, the 10th commandment as “thou shalt not covet” (bastardized by one major religion into two separate commandments to cover for the deletion of the 2nd commandment about making and bowing down to graven images) — boy, did it tell the truth!
A lot of the evil in this world emanates from (1) political, (2) corporate, and (3) religious leadership in my own country, the USA, and most of this evil has been sold as “good” (or helping others). This triangle / “Triad” seems almost everywhere, the chief illusion being that they were ever truly separate. It’s a fine but basically meaningless distinction at this point.
The triangle image crops up everywhere, it seems — but even if it didn’t, those three do represent the major (earthly, at least!) power sources. Political (1) regulates the relationships (who hooks up with whom) between 2 & 3 — and really, this equilateral triangle could go almost any direction, with any angle on top — and have the same effect on the customers — financial devastation, homelessness, eventual death from that, starvation, or resulting riots, and definite eventual slavery along the way. EVERYONE accommodates to it — or is involved in fighting it. There are fewer and fewer DMZ’s left.
(these images sprang from my recent look-ups of HHS grantees with the word “faith-based” in their corporate names. I found out where HHS this millennia (and since welfare reform) intersects HUD (community development block grants) and has morphed. I also found out in this that the root of PICO (who trained one of the take the money and run nonprofits, in Oceanside California) is probably in on some real estate deals and has a board member whose nonprofit is based at a (Catholic) church — and which nonprofit was in effect something of a front for PICO Network recruiting. Don’t expect to follow all that unless you actually do the lookups, or at least read through where I did (bottom of this post). . . . .
That triad historically represents the major themes of a hierarchical society based on a caste system. Anyone NOT in the 1,2, or 3 sector is a client of it, and as such a target market (consumer). This includes the privatized prison industry, you name it.
The collective unconscious myths are crumbling, and people are looking for scapegoats.
Most of us have arranged our lives and made (too easy) a peace, I think, with these myths and are not willing (or possibly not able) to take the time to go through and dismantle, discard, re-organize and rebuild a world view with less cognitive dissonance.
And who has the guts and moral fiber to do this rebuilding without the easy way out — just joining another “church” — whether it be a literal religious-exempt 501(c)3 style (with or without a mortgage) — or the “church” of domestic violence rhetoric, family court psychobabble/cult-of-the-experts rhetoric, or fathers’ rights/family/children’s rights rehtoric, or “I’m holding down a job, therefore I gave at the office, whatsamatta with those people?” rhetoric (which is often internalized and not spoken openly)??
Unfortunately, the more I learn about where we are and how we got there, the more frightening and disturbing it becomes, collectively.
I have now fought the same basic fight, with pretty much the same basic tiresome people, for over 20 years; children have aged out, an elderly parent has died — with scarcely a pause in the hostilities. How does one get free of this without homelessness when one’s own governmental institutions are simply filled with fraud, and based on false theories about what causes poverty and violence (or at least on SELLING false theories about what causes poverty and violence to the public) ???
Like many others, members of (my generation of) my “family of origin” has some serious unresolved childhood issues it chose to work out on my hide, and bequeath to my children’s futures, at their, my, and society’s loss. So I have first-hand acquaintance of when & where the concept of “enlightening” sociopaths to the fact that their abuse is harmful to their children (try that when the adults in question HAVE no children….)
Many things are true — many concepts can hold water — but are not the fundamental, underlying truth surrounding an ongoing problem. Failing to account for the discrepancies and needing to move on, people turn to superstition and myths, and more “cognitive dissonance” — almost anything — to face truths that would cause a radical change in lifestyle anymore. Apparently those 1960s were a phase, now back to business — accumulating “money” (which isn’t accumulating wealth, but people still seem to believe this . . . . .). Similarly, feminism was a phase, now back to business: faith, family, fathers-dominant-model, & apple pie. . . . .we know it ain’t real, but who’s kidding whom? — it sells public policy!
This model of the wheel of abuse — it does reflect a reality, and more than “intimate partner violence” — it reflects the current relationship of the USA to most of its residents:
From Univ. Illinois @ Chicago, “Campus Advocacy Network“*
(*this “Power & Control” wheel is the hallmark of Duluth Abuse Intervention Programs, about which I have plenty on this blog… they are not “the good guys” for sure!)
This chart shows you the kinds of behavior abusers use to get and keep control over their partners. Battering is never an accident. It is an intentional act used to gain control over the other person. Physical abuse is only one part of a whole series of behaviors an abuser uses against his/her partner. Violence is never an isolated behavior. There are other forms of abuse, which are shown in the Power and Control Wheel.”
Noticing a dynamic doesn’t change the dynamic. While the wheel dynamic is helpful, that analogy is not thought through and applied well enough.
Those being hurt, railroaded, or simply spun off into a meaningless, powerless existence in such relationships — need the dynamic to be changed — or, alternately, those on it need to tap a highly superior form of energy & power to stop it, or just jump off it, or to cause that wheel to get stuck in its own rut, digging deeper and deeper. Using language to describe the dynamic does help — it distances oneself intellectually and psychologically, by commandeering a different language than (generally speaking) an abuser attempts to indoctrinate the target with.
When caught up in this situation, we need OFF the wheel. USUALLY it takes more than one person to break out when it’s whirling — or greater force than the centrifugal (etc.) forces.
However this doesn’t significantly change the person for who this wheel is a Grrreeeat and comfortable dynamic and worldview.
What happens next is, the energy of being freed from this abuse is a STRONG force in the freed person and, depending on the amount of damages they have to repair, they will often have the competence for independent and functional decision-making, along the lines often of what kept them alive while dealing with hostile environment (unless it was just luck or tenacity…).
But this is what happens when such a person has children — those children become bounty in a larger and different-players “wheel” of control, and often by virtue of needing welfare initially.
This welfare may come directly from the United States Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Title IV-A, and/or Title IV-D (Child support order) initially. Or it may come from someone outside, or both. But of all things such a family needs, immediately after the kickout — it’s generally TIME and SELF-DETERMINATION. . . . . Which are precisely the things they are least likely to get, as the entire country (as we speak) is itself caught up in another similar “wheel of power and control” based on the financial system, selling off debt, bailing out banks, and supporting an expanding administrative bureaucracy in which not just millions — but, literally Billions and Trillions of $$ are missing. GONE — unaccounted for.
As, we are finding — are children, and young adults, in this same system.
My children went missing for a month. But as law enforcement had deliberately enabled it, and there was legal profit to be made from it, eventually resulting in this blog when I found out WHY, I was on my own handling the shock, distress, trauma — and damage control, both with their school and my clients (work life). My work life never recovered — their (public) school never helped. At all — not an iota, including when I asked them for evidence they had. Nor did churches — anywhere. Why? In some religious worlds, a man and children in the congregation is worth something — prestige, finances, and public image. No matter if Mom is nowhere to be found and the Mom imposter isn’t even married to the guy . . . .
And in family law rhetoric, almost anything is worth SOMEthing in the system — a noncustodial father, a child support arrears, another person brought somehow back onto a dependency system who might have (with justice) stayed off it; more cases in the custody courts justifies they are “flooded” and need to initiate emergency triage procedures (and continue getting federal access/visitation grants which are only used to help the abusive parents, and/or fathers, regain access when access is an issue — not Moms. Trust us, that’s the truth!) — and you name it.
~ ~ ~I just wanted to say this today; I am heavy hearted from another round of the “power and control wheel” with someone who has their foot on my jugular IF my future requires finances, and the same person has had their foot on my jugular regarding access to and information about my immediate relatives. Barring outside intervention by the legal system, it’s up to me to make the critical situations in what to bail on and what to fight for. How’d YOU like to do this when it also included housing?
~ ~ ~So, when I talk about “myths” — the primary myth some of us still held (or in desperation, go through a phase of holding until the next rude awakening) is that government exists in this country to protect any form (whatsoever) of civil or legal rights more than it exists to complete draining the citizens of their blood — and assets — through various federal agencies (HHS & HUD, DOJ, DOE, etc.) — and in order to do this, a caste system must be maintained, as well as secrecy about the basic operations. My experience personally with my own (sick, truly!) family line (which maintains civic respectability, as many batterers also do) — has actually prepared me to reject inappropriate answers and continue mining for information that pulls it together in a reasonable fashion — that satisfies MY appetite for truth, and my awareness of many realities.
There are other whistleblowers more highly placed and financially literate than I have ever been (though improvement is always possible) — and they are also taking retaliation for it.
Of these — recently, I have run across the writings of Catherine Austin Fitts, formerly of FHA, and the daughter of a mother who, she writes, was on the Federal Reserve Board in Philadelphia. I first ran across the concept of “$59 billion missing from HUD” in association with approximately $14 million (collected but not distributed) child support being withheld inappropriately by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, which the attorney Richard Fine (for plaintiff father John Silva) discovered, and filed a case about: “Silva v. Garcetti.”
Fine ended up going to jail for exposing to much and getting disbarred also. He spent 18 months incarcerated. But, Kelly Patricia O’Meara wrote up some of this event — and some of the HUD material, such that when I ran across it again later, I paid closer attention.
There is a place where HUD meets HHS around so-called “low-income people.” (People can have high or low income, but that doesn’t define them as people! However one would never know this from policyspeak).
I have been blogging it over at “Scranton Political Times” for a while (where I also learned a few HTML tricks, as you can see by this post) — and I recommend you read some of those comments. Links at the top of this post. Thanks for reading this far!
“Danielle Ross buh-bye” (Ross being a local GAL). My comments are kind of off-topic; I simply write as I research in response to some of the too-local-focus of the forum. At this point, I don’t think it has high viewership and of the viewership, multiple usernames are probably the same person, i.e. Joe Pilchesky (sign on, and a disclaimer says as much). Joanne Pilchesky is incarcerated, wrongly or rightly, over elder theft somewhere in Pennsylvania and has been for a while; her voice is missed, but at least the forum’s not being used for a personal vendetta by either one, and they’ve tolerated me posting this research.
Comments along this line over there actually represent days of my look-ups and some conclusions. The ‘dunwalke” link is to C.A. Fitts writing. IAF and Saul Alinsky + Church networking + HUD + faith-based funding (HHS grants) = danger!
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The Godboldo case is yet another example of CPS working in league with the police in order to kidnap children. Godboldo was obviously an excellent mother and not a threat to the police. The fact they sent a tank to her apartment is more evidence that the state will react in a violent knee-jerk fashion when its authority is challenged.
- http://www.cchrint.org/tag/maryanne-godboldo/ 3-23-2012
- DETROIT (WXYZ) – The 7 Action News Investigators were the first to expose how a local court wasn’t following the law when it came to removing children from their homes. Now one of Michigan’s Congressmen is calling on the Department of Justice to investigate the state’s Child Protective Services system.
- Testimony under oath in the Godboldo case revealed that probation officers inside the court would routinely stamp Presiding Juvenile Court Judge Leslie Kim Smith’s name onto the removal orders. By law, a judge must review the CPS workers allegations of abuse, and then sign the order.
- After we reported on the rubber stamping that legal experts say is against the law – the court stopped doing it. But we still asked the court and DHS to tell us how long it had been going on, and how many children were taken from their parents illegally. Judge Smith was not interested in answering our questions.
- “But it was your name on those removal orders – why was this allowed to happen in your court,” asked Catallo.
- “I understand,” said Judge Smith.
- “Are you going to talk to us or not,” asked Catallo.
- “Have a good day,” said Judge Smith.”
NOTE — this only happened in 2011. Your town is next.
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LackaCommonSense in Lackawanna County (forum’s Admin v. Admin) detracts from Exposing “Kid$ 4 Cash”
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Psst! The “Kids 4 Cash” thread (all 165 pages of commentary, and an unknown ratio of real people to usernames) is now somehow back up. I’d grab it while you can — who knows where it’s going next and in what version! Then again, you can figure out, the same basic information is available, probably, through other sources (if you’re not into wading through dialogue on a forum).
| TOPIC: (Kids 4 Kash, Lack. Cty) Is the FBI digging for facts or burying them? Taking a long time. |
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Lackawanna County has a certain demographic (See http://lackawannafamilycourtfederal.blogspot.com, there’s a post on it) which may (or may not) make a difference in whether it’s possible to have an ongoing dialogue with people able to stick on topic. Judge for yourself….
Anyone around here old enough to remember “SPY v. SPY”?
Wikipedia:
Publication history
Prohías was a prolific cartoonist in Cuba and known for political satire. Prohías’ parodies of newly-installed Cuban dictator Fidel Castro attracted criticism, and faced with the loss of work, possible arrest and threats of execution, he fled to the United States on May 1, 1960 – 3 days before Castro took over the last of the Cubanfree press. Prohías sought work in his profession and travelled to the offices of MAD Magazine in New York Cityon July 12, 1960. After a successful showing of his work and a prototype cartoon for Spy vs. Spy, Prohías was hired.[1]
Prohías completed a total of 241 strips for MAD Magazine, the last appearing in Issue #269 (March 1987). During an interview with the Miami Herald in 1983, Prohías reflected on his career, stating “The sweetest revenge has been to turn Fidel’s accusation of me as a spy into a moneymaking venture.”[1] Ironically, Prohías was censored by MAD Magazine publisher William Gaines on at least one occasion. The strip that eventually appeared in MAD Magazine #84 (Jan. 1964) was altered as the Spies were depicted as drinking and smoking, and Gaines had a strong anti-smoking stance.[1]
Prohías eventually retired due to ill health, and died aged 77 on February 24, 1998.[1] The strips continued, with writer Duck Edwing and artist Bob Clarke creating the majority. As of MAD Magazine #356 (April 1997), Peter Kuper took over as writer and artist for the strip.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Art Spiegelman noted that “Getting published is very important to a young cartoonist, and I somehow have Antonio Prohias to thank for helping kick off my career.”[1]
[edit]
WELL, THIS IS A GOOD VERSION OF IT. . . . No wonder it’s so easy to fleece parents in the family courts, too. Divide & Conquer. Waste time. Turn the legitimate discussion into a circus.
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Maryland’s Family Court Expansion, AFCC Model, takes Unifying Symbols to a New Level: Paper, Cotton, Leather, Fruit, Wood, Iron…[Publ. Mar. 27, 2012, Reformatted Jan. 19, 2022..]
Maryland’s Family Court Expansion, AFCC Model, takes Unifying Symbols to a New Level: Paper, Cotton, Leather, Fruit, Wood, Iron…[Publ. Mar. 27, 2012, Reformatted Jan. 19, 2022..] (short-link added 2022, ends “/psBXH-13l”)(<~to differentiate “I, 1, and l” characters, as you can see, last three characters are two numbers (one, three) [as in “1,2,3,4,5..”) and a lower-case “L” as in the word “lower” in this sentence).
This post has some tags which I’ll post up here.
2012 text begins below the next two text boxes (Preface/Previews in this color and this color) (basically two sections for me to explain and complain a bit why it’s still necessary to promote and re-publish this information, i.e., why you should still read this and other very early posts, especially one dated Oct. 1, 2012).
Except for adding some structure (boxes, etc.) to the post, or removing large images with now-broken links (i.e., to condense it), the text is as when I first wrote it, cleaned up somewhat and if any added text, I’ve marked it.
This post’s tags (also visible at the bottom of the post) and I see also “categories”:
Written by Let’s Get Honest, March 27, 2012 at 6:38 pm:
Posted in (blog categories): 1996 TANF PRWORA (cat. added 11/2011), AFCC, Business Enterprise, Cast, Script, Characters, Scenery, Stage Directions, Child Support, Designer Families, History of Family Court, Lackawanna County PA Corruption Protests, My Takes, and Favorite Takes, OCSE – Child Support, Organizations, Foundations, Associations NGO Hybrids, Parent Education promotion, Parenting Coordination promotion, Psychology & Law = an AFCC tactical lobbying unit
Tagged with AFCC, AFCC’s agenda, Barbara Babb, Biblical Metaphors (Daniel’s Statue), Child Support, Child SUpport Incentive Grants, Dept of Family Admin, domestic violence, Education, Families Matter, family law, Fatherhood in OCSE grant priorities, Gloria Danziger, HHS influence on Judiciary, high-conflict, Jaycee Dugard, Kids’ Turn, Maryanne Godboldo, mediation, Mixed Metaphors, Parenting Coordination, Phil Garrido, social commentary, Supervised Visitation, therapeutic jurisprudence,Trayvon Martin,UBaltimore School of Law CFCC,Unified Family Courts
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
CONTEXT / TIMELINE of THIS REFORMATTING UPDATE, JAN. 2022:
If you detect some sarcasm (and very long sentences), that’s an indicator I’ve been recently exposed to some stunning levels of silence on the infrastructure and key players of the court as well as anything approaching tools to look for the funding, or remember what kind of Constitution we have in the United States of America, and what it’s goals are: NOT centralized control by an elite, self-anointed few who plan all in private and where possible seek to undermine rule of law and separation of powers between federal and state governments, and between the various branches of government. I’m also, upset by my own limitations in getting messages out while managing basic life responsibilities (even without young children still in the home), even after having fled “the scene of the crime” that is, the remains of my connections to my own family — and of course career — in California, after summer 2018…
Someone needs to stand up to the mis-information, not just “stand by” while it slides by and continues gathering momentum. Selling false hope ought to be, but isn’t a crime. It’s just unethical — but I believe that where good ethics fail to show up in the moral category, they’re not particularly likely to be present in legal ones either.
Withholding key information that would shed a different light than the one being sold on a situation, and which might lead to more sensible solutions — or at least refusal to waste time on ones with built-in failures and which refuse to look at the foundations of institutions (such as the family courts as parts of governments) is an indicator that the goal isn’t helping the public, it’s something FAR different, and far less altruistic.
This isn’t the place to identify which nonprofits or social media activity has “gotten to me” the past month or so. I will elsewhere, though..
I recently had cause to quote my October 1, 2012, post called:
Family Courts: Crippled, Incompetent and Corrupt — or just “Broken”? [Published Oct. 1, 2012..] (short-link ends “-1a4”]
Looking on my blog dashboard to locate and label (short-link), reformat it, I mis-remembered the month saw this published (and a few more draft) posts from March, 2012 which might also be worth re-posting. After all, anecodotal information tends to repeat and endure. While survivors come and go, somehow those saying the same types of things about the same systems they survived tend to have a longer “tenure” on publicity — for obvious reasons, i.e., their lives weren’t so disrupted ,devastated, and they didn’t, most of them, abruptly lose work, have to relocate in a hurry, and weren’t stranded a decade or a more in “high-conflict” (sic) divorces in a corrupt (not “broken”) family court system, USA, systems set in place by specific, identified tax-exempt organizations: two more high-profile than the third, but the third had the most vested interest in keeping the corruption in place. (The ABA, NCJFCJ and AFCC, in case you were wondering which ones).
Family Court “Reform” has been on a certain trajectory for two decades now (observed from the USA, but I also see the globe-trotting program reproduction and attempts to get similar legislation (can you spell “Coercive Control”?) legislated throughout the USA now that it’s been sold to the UK (2015ff).
I also think I’m going to re-post the Oct. 1, 2012 essay. It’s been over ten years and it’s time, altnough no lack of new developments to report on…
So, the globe-trotting and conferencing (without actual physical travel still possible) is even more intense recently, especially some of us “formerly-battered mothers/”family court guantlet survivors” haven’t forgotten what it’s like to see an entire sector (the domestic violence sector and self-appointed thought-leaders (as they’ve called themselves, on-line, on website, often for years) year after year spewing a combination of erroneous, undocumented on incomplete information to the unsuspecting, carried under advanced-degree and academic institution association status (i.e., as “experts” and all that goes with the common understanding of that word, in addition to legal definitions of it when testifying in court), and commending and giving air-time and in-hindsight sympathy to any mothers (target niche for carrying pre-fabricated messaging forward) so badly traumatized or devastated in the family courts trying to move on, protect themselves, protect their children, function independently from an impossible dynamic, they’ll go on “auto-pilot” without screening for truth, logic, reliability, and completeness of that which they’ve been fed, or screening what those who’ve been feeding it have been routinely, almost ritually, withholding, because it conflicts with the media messaging and the particular policy goals of such groups.
WHY this Update: To make it more readable while I’m in the vicinity of this post as blog administrator (and only contributor). I now include date and year published, borders, width-limits, and post title with visible short-links (in the opening body of each post). Also a blog format update (to two front pages, allowing one stationary front page and another for “Current Posts”) somehow turned all former posts into a sort of sickly-pale-green background — not pleasant to look at!).
Even though I doubt my older posts are re-read much; they are a record of what I was saying when — and a witness to FOR HOW LONG so much of tis information has been covered-up by people simply with SO much to say, SO many people willing to say it for them, mostly (so it seems) for free, and for a little attention and sense of purpose.
The cover up is just as effective by social “excommunication” from close-knit and in-synched messaging by certain people who’ve been driving the “family court reform” sector as if it were an owned turf — when it’s not. Others live in this country too, and what we have to say matters, whether it’s popular or not. Unfortunately, some us have had to also say — often — that dishonesty and withholding IS the character of cults, abusers, sociopaths, and people with an ulterior motive than truth-telling, or fixing government (for the better, that is). I didn’t ask for that role. Finding enough truth and having a conscience basically has obligated me to speaking it.
Preface to Formatting a VERY OLD (nearly ten years ago) but what I was saying then might as well still be news, given the typical “Family Court Reform” rhetoric, including of known survivor mothers who channel certain nonprofits intent on NOT saying what I’ve been saying — unlike most of these — since the time I first heard of it.
There’s a need to keep at least ONE voice continuing to say this alive. I’m still alive, so I’m intent to keep this voice out there, although it takes longer to put together and document with links (and/or uploaded images) post using reason and proof, than it does to repeat the mantras, incantations, catechisms so people go into trance mode and, like any good cult members, groomed personalities (or, are possibly being paid in more than just moral support and retweets, “honorable mentions” on-line for their collective silence on key elements and more probable causes of the family court custody crises), continue speaking the same ‘details-devoid, proof-absent, omitting the elephant organizations in the room rhetoric.
Meanwhile, periodically and privately, I’ll get messages (either on this blog or Twitter) saying how the information I post (i.e.. here and/or on-Twitter) or shared (privately as I have publically when it came up) has validated what they sensed, and were feeling really isolated about for not going along with the crowds who don’t like to talk specifics or keep “survivors” honest (keeping certain other organizations honest isn’t about to happen, I found out the hard way)…//LGH Jan. 19, 2022.
ORIGINAL (2012) TEXT BEGINS HERE:
This post is PR on something I just discovered recently and, to be honest, am distressed enough about to follow up by phone with the leadership of some of the groups involved, asking they why these things should be happening statewide.
The dialogue illustrates what’s going on, but is a little complex, and unless you have an interest in monitoring the expansion and methods of expansion of the family law bureaucracy WITHIN or as an ADJUNCT to our court system, you may not want to go through it all.
I think there is some legitimacy — however widespread, commonplace, and entrenched this system currently is, and however expensive and status quo it has become — to a theory that the “Family Court Services” if not the “Family Courts” themselves (as it pertains to divorce and custody) — are illegitimate. They are private enterprises posing as public ones, and servicing their funders, who as it happens, tend to occupy high places in (1) the Executive Branch of the United States Government (I’m talking HHS, DOJ in particular) and (2) the corporate /tax-exempt foundation stratosphere — almost none of which is truly accessible to individuals who are coming through these courts, unless they already have prior involvement.
First of all, they are about as unbelievingly condescending and patronizing (‘move over, let us experts handle your family — give us your kid, etc.’) as it is possible for any human relationship to be, apart from some truly unhealthy (i.e., violent/abusive) ones. They deal in force, and subterfuge when it comes to proliferating the program, and like any good, truly “disaster capitalism” enterprise, they deal with distressed populations, exploit them, and call that service. I come from California, and preliminary expose on this was done courtesy one of the oldest and (not exactly being updated) sites around — but it still is up and still serves a purpose — Johnnypumphandle.com. [[FYI, that website is still up I’ve linked to it in the title.//LGH 2022]]
Dedicated to Exposing Illegal and Immoral Practices in The Courts
… Particularly the Family Law System which includes the Courts, Attorneys, Family Services, Psychologists and Therapists,Visitation Monitors, Ad-Litems, Social Workers, Child Protection Agencies and all of the agencies that support these so-called professionals.
Collusion among individuals within the family law system takes place to extract assets from troubled parents. The system is designed to increase the wealth of the family law professionals at the expense and heartbreak of families. Corrupt practices abound. [EndQuote]
For example, why does the “Los Angeles County Superior Court Judges Association” change its name to simply “Los Angeles County Superior Court” in its IRS filings? and what are they actually doing at their special events, including sporting events, and how do they manage to have (year 2010) a net loss of $10,000, being such smart judges (only revenue — membership dues, totaling $50K that year)?
….. (This is a table from the Foundation Center; its format looks different, but I’ve posted tax returns from this source throughout the blog for years. //LGH 2022)…….>> Look under “Candid.org/research-and-verify-nonprofits/990-finder” to re-run this search (use the EIN# below, “95-4663773” NOT entity name!), or go to the IRS (apps.irs.gov/app/eos/ for, these days, probably a more current return. Or check the Secretary of State (businessSearch.sos.ca.gov) if this entity is still registered, which it probably is. The adress in 2019 still read 111 Hill Street (#204)…
ORGANIZATION NAME |
STATE |
YEAR |
TOTAL ASSETS |
FORM |
PAGES |
EIN |
| Los Angeles Superior Court | CA | 2010 | $120,654 | 990EO | 10 | 95-4663773 |
| Los Angeles Superior Court | CA | 2009 | $95,314 | 990EO | 12 | 95-4663773 |
| Los Angeles Superior Court | CA | 2008 | $102,801 | 990EO | 11 | 95-4663773 |
| Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Association | CA | 2007 | $87,134 | 990EO | 9 | 95-4663773 |
| Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Association | CA | 2006 | $90,509 | 990EO | 9 | 95-4663773 |
| Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Association | CA | 2005 | $70,106 | 990EO | 8 | 95-4663773 |
| Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Association | CA | 2004 | $55,818 | 990EO | 5 | 95-4663773 |
per “Johnny” (at ‘JohnnyPumphandle.com’)
The Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Association is a good example of one of the latter Non-Profit organizations whose stated purpose is “promotion of judicial profession pursuant to section 501(c)(6)”. (see form 3500 – Exemption application). The Association boasts a budget of over $100,000 – none of which will be received from members dues {?} – and most of which will be funded by “Professional Education programs for the legal community”. Unlike most professional organizations, this organization was granted(?) the use of County premises, complete with facilities for it’s [sic] office space and management of it’s business within the County Court facilities at 111 North Hill Street.”
They call it collaboration, or cooperation, or “interdisciplinary.” This person calls it, more correctly, “collusion” and states the purpose as accurately as anyone else . .. to extract assets from troubled parents. Like I said, disaster capitalism. Ambulance chasers. Sometimes they (family law professionals) get impatient and take control of the wheel, cause accidents, and then show up to help solve the resulting “Family conflict,” at public and/or parent expense. How philanthropic.
REGARDING THE TITLE OF THIS POST:
I called up Liz Richards of NAFCJ.net (who I think I’ve made it clear, has provided the skeleton which started my years of investigative reporting here on this blog and off it — not the motivation, but enough clues to grab onto, validate, and develop as now my own material).
She declared (I would like to see) that any family law judge in the state of Maryland must be an AFCC member to take office. That’s an INexact quote, but I was very shocked to hear that possibly membership is a pre-requisite to the practice statewide. Whether or not that’s so, it’s absolutely clear that this state is pretty well sewn up by those interests.
I have blogged before (herein) on UBaltimore’s School of Law “CFCC” in context of therapeutic jurisprudence.
This time, let’s talk about whose idea was it to create a system of family courts in the state? Perhaps you should forward questions to this person about what analogies of Paper, Cotton, Leather, FRUIT, etc. say about the Department of Family Administration’s disturbing (in)ability to sort, label, categorize and prioritize information.
Barbara A. Babb
Director and Associate Professor of Law
B.S., Pennsylvania State University (interesting — does she keep up with the Penn State, Luzerne County or Lackawanna County scandals?)
M.S., Cornell University
J.D., Cornell Law SchoolUB faculty member since 1989. Member, New York and Maryland bars. National leader in family justice system reform, focusing on creation of unified family courts. Spearheaded Maryland’s efforts to create a family court in 1998. Advisory Board Member, ABA Standing Committee on Substance Abuse. Member, ABA Unified Family Court Coordinating Council and the AFCC Family Court Review Editorial Board. Past chair, Family/Juvenile Law Section, Association of American Law Schools.
Telephone: 410-837-5661
E-mail Barbara Babb
This professional is clearly AFCC-friendly (so is the ABA, it seems), and heads up this Center at a Law School. Notice the bolded part. This is what AFCC professionals, who can do this — do. They Unify Family Courts (then preside over them, and appoint cronies). I’ve seen it in state after state. The Hon. Chester Harhut did this in Lackawanna County (as I recall) and the parents are already picketing outside the courthouse. Or, were, until some of the protesters got manhandled (so to speak) by a local judge’s sheriff’s, resulting in a federal lawsuit on the civil rights violation, and a second one on the inappropriate pushing of the GAL system on the county without running it by the public!
I’m only including the next individual to show that she hails from London! (see “three cities that rule the world”) in a country from which, allegedly, the United States fought a war of independence, in part to establish a DIFFERENT form of government …
Gloria Danziger
Senior Fellow
B.A., London University
M.Phil., Oxford University
J.D., Georgetown University Law CenterFormer staff director, ABA Standing Committee on Substance Abuse, focusing on how substance abuse/truancy are addressed in the justice system. Former director, Communities, Families and the Justice System, an ABA unified family court initiative. Former public policy consultant, reporter and editor.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
The Families Matter Symposium: Working Toward a More Therapeutic Family Justice System
The invitation-only “Families Matter” Symposium was held last Thursday and Friday, June 24 and 25, at the University of Baltimore. Co-sponsored by CFCC** and the American Bar Association Section of Family Law, the symposium promises to be a powerful catalyst for change. It was exhiliarating to participate in the exchange of groundbreaking ideas that emerge when you put together some of the leading professionals from a range disciplines to discuss how to improve the experience of children and families in the family justice system. More exciting, however, is the fact that this group of high-powered experts is committed to move from theory to action by implementing many of their recommendations for changing the family law system.
[[IN HINDSIGHT: Jan. 19, 2022, update: re-formatting and re-reading this post nine-plus years later,]] I notice that “CFCC” is not an entity and so cannot co-sponsor anything. This is part of a sales pitch (I’m currently struggling to get out — again — several posts detailing and showing how awareness of exact ENTITY names involved is key to following any funding. When it comes to the “CFCC” at the University of Baltimore School of Law, know that this School of Law along with the University of Baltimore is part of the Maryland University system — it’s a PUBLIC UNIVERSITY. Hence this symposing was in effect a public/private “invitation-only” symposium held at public expense. Also (I’m blogging this as I speak), the ABA Section of Family Law isn’t a separate entity. So the real sponsors here (at least as labeled) were too huge established institutions pursuing what seems like a private agenda for “Families.” How does that fit with the established ways to represent the will of the people and get laws passed? This group of “HIGH-POWERED EXPERTS” intended to CHANGE THE FAMILY LAW SYSTEM.
The irony of it, the ABA and AFCC (obvious primary connection Babb, and likely also Danziger at the CFCC) were, along with (per a 1997 Ohio Supreme Court document which I blogged, probably under the post titled “Blueprints” or a nearby one) the NCJFCJ, the ones who spearheaded establishments of family courts around the country — and by the turn of this century, hadn’t even got them in all fifty states. So, apparently if you established a thing, you’re also in charge of reforming the thing. No matter what the public does or doesn’t know about its origins, its financing and the private cult-like behaviors and allegiances of those administering it — and no matter that the public pays for it collectively AND, as parents going through it, individually. //LGH 2022.
Most definitely, if laws, and law systems are to be seriously changed, it should be through closed-door conferences of high-powered experts excited about their collective clout, at law schools –and absolutely not through the legislative process involving the general public voting on bills they had some say in, or (God forbid) perhaps even initiated.
A Dec. follow-up specifically acknowledges AFCC leadership in this, and gives a detailed plan, which I gather has been followed, and we might as well read about for a retrospective!
Thursday, December 2, 2010 Families Matter: Reforming the Family Law Process
It is hard to believe it already has been almost six months since CFCC and the ABA Section of Family Law co-sponsored the Families Matter Symposium. We at CFCC are excited about the work that has been done since the symposium to expand the Families Matter initiative. Because of the partnerships that this initiative created – among CFCC, the ABA, the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ), to name a few – we are able to tackle the issue of family law reform from every angle, something that has been a struggle in the past.In the coming months and years, we will work together with our partners to ensure that therapeutic reform touches legal and court structures, relevant service providers from across disciplines, and the lawyers and other legal actors who work so closely with families.
“and other legal actors”???
The 2008 newsletter I quoted is titled” Families Matter.” Now that we know where that came from, let’s go back to this 2008 piece of ?? listing marketable commodities to connect with court reform years….
“. . .Paper, Cotton, Leather, Fruit, Wood, Iron…”
SERIOUSLY?
Yes, apparently. Look for yourself:
Newsletter of the Department of Family Administration
…and this is now nearly four years ago! Shame!!! on those who did NOT blog the AFCC when they blogged against “PAS,” subconsciously? taking cues from leadership who, while knowing quite well about this, chose not to mention it in their press releases, news letters, or triumphantly mainstream on-lines, leaving the job up to volunteer bloggers, commenters (on those on-lines) and other “lone wolf investigators” who were honest enough to recognize something was missing in the protective mothers AND in the domestic violence rhetoric.
These people — and they still exist, generation after generation — should expect something a little better than to have the same groups simply sell out the mothers for profit, for professional respectability, for the ability to publish, for public platforms in setting agenda, and for nice websites.
To better understand this, also see the site “MDJustice.com” (I have a draft post explaining the presence of Parenting Coordination right next to Domestic Violence in a Family Law Task Force. This is relevant because the training and resources are intended for PRO BONO service providers. However, it would make this post too long….
I was very upset (and tweeted this) to discover HOW inbred the Women’s Law Center, and a spiffy website resource (MDJustice.com) focusing on pro bono legal services — not only are they sharing language of “parenting coordination” right next to “domestic violence” talks in the family law task force, (a clear indication of AFCC’s fathers’ rights agenda. You can talk about domestic violence, or even child abuse, so long as you don’t seriously believe this should affect how much contact the offender has with the victim, and act on that belief to protect the child or (often as not) his/her mother.
Newsletter of the Department of Family Administration
Maryland Administrative Office of the Courts (“AOC”)
Vol. 8, No. 1 summer 2008
What’s going on when a system of progressive reform and expansion of the family law system (with a token nod towards protecting people) chooses to name each year of reform after a COMMODITY? Subliminal message, much?
-
PAPER
-
COTTON
-
LEATHER
-
FRUIT
-
WOOD
-
IRON
-
WOOL
-
BRONZE
(See newsletter). These are collective labels to conveniently (and privately to those who get the newsletter) describe an 8-year agenda for family court reform. The use of these unifying symbols is specific to this court (from what I can tell) and is just — to tell the truth — weird. I am remembering about this time how Hitler was adept at using symbols, flags, mottos, gestures, and of course music & staged events to get his point across. So are the Boy Scouts. So were are certain religious cults. Is this what we’re heading for, again?
What do these commodities (which they are) have to do with the situations they are hooked to, except to, in the minds of the readers, signify some collective progress achieved in a collective goal?
Even little kids are often taught as youngsters, sorting shapes, and being tested on their ability to categorize various common objects. But look at this order — is it by durability? Is it by function? Is it by value? No – it’s a hodgepodge:
-
PAPER COTTON LEATHER FRUIT WOOD IRON WOOL BRONZE
By the most obvious (to me, at least) functions of the material, it would go:
- Writing, clothing & linens, clothing & bookbinding, FOOD, building & fuel, Building & tools, Clothing, Statuary-sculptures.
- very, very less, Huh?, yes, with some tinder, no – must be smelted, yes, no unless you have a serious furnace.
The book of Daniel (Daniel 2), (Old Testament) Nebuchadnezzar’s dream , at least stuck to one material, and stuck them in some sort of order, from precious, to common, showing the ability to (1) sort and (2) prioritize.
1And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him. 2Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king. 3And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.
In some ways, reminds me of our current Republican (?) system, complete with task forces, commissions, institutes, and initiatives.
4Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.
5The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.6But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.
31Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible.
32This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 33His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
Perhaps our current leaders should take a lesson from history — and learn to sort and select: The statue was described in general — and then in particular, from the HEAD to the FEET. Each part, in order, was described as to what it was made of. Then, stage set, the action was described:
34Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.35Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
36This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king
To begin with, the four empires with their metals and beasts [different part of “Daniel”] fall into a simple pattern: they are listed in order of decreasing splendor and increasing strength and cruelty to symbolize their moral degeneration from one to the next (cf. Daniel 2:39).
In the vision of the statue in Daniel 2, the four empires are symbolized by four metals: viz., the golden head of Babylonia, the silver chest of Media, the bronze loins of Persia, the iron legs of Greece, and the iron-and-clay feet of the successor states of Greece. The metals decrease in monetary value yet increase in strength from the top to the bottom of the statue.
Our author probably got the idea of the four ages from Hesiod, an eighth-century BC Greek poet. Hesiod taught that the world has gone through four ages, each one morally inferior to its predecessor: viz., the ages of gold, silver, bronze, and iron (Works and Days 106-201).[8] Our author need not have read Hesiod; he and his fellow Jews probably picked up the idea from Greeks living in that part of the world.
SO, What, exactly, is the organizing and ordering principle behind this Department of Family Administration Newsletters’ selection of:
PAPER COTTON LEATHER FRUIT WOOD IRON WOOL BRONZE
IS THE TRUE MESSAGE BEHIND THE METAPHOR ITS INHERENT MEANINGLESSNESS?
BASED ON THE CONTEXTS, POSSIBLY THE CONTENTS AND WORDS ARE, INDEED MEANINGLESS, ESPECIALLY GIVEN WHICH IS NEXT TO WHAT….
Here’s the cute description provided in newsletter, after which on to more serious matters, for example, what is the DFA doing, anyhow? Why are there DFAs? WHY are courts adding divisions to their regular courts, and doing so in particular “flavor”??
Scroll past my indented summary in this color font, to get to that discussion. The choice of metaphors is basically frivolous and meaningless — the real agenda has already been identified years earlier and is in operation nationwide, anyhow. The newsletter simply makes it sound more legitimate….
PAPER – Year 1 — “we have produced a lot of paper in ten years!” ~ COTTON – Year 2 — “Courts have found creative and powerful ways to make connections with their communities. In 2006, Carroll County Circuit Court participated with a network of community providers to create a guide that provides survivors of violence with a roadmap to recovery.” (Cotton refers to a “Clothesline Project” The word “Cotton” is as arbitrary as Paper in usage). LEATHER – Year 3 — “Over the past decade, the public “purse” that supports the family justice system has been strength-ened thanks to the advocacy of Chief Judge Robert M. Bell and State Court Administrator Frank Broccolina and the support of the Maryland General Assembly. Family divisions and family services programs are supported by jurisdictional grants given annually to each Circuit Court. In Fiscal Year 2008, courts received $11.2 million to support case management innovations and services to families involved indomestic and juvenile case types.” (LEATHER — the Purse Strings. The State Legislature, obviously, opens and closes that purse, and for its own reasons, opened it towards the establishment of more programs and services). FRUIT – YEAR 4 — “We profoundly hope that the efforts of the last ten years have borne “fruit” in the experiences of Maryland families and children. {{for that level of grants, it had better be more than just “hope”}} One measure maybe the level of involvement parents have in their children’s lives post-litigation. {{translation: access/visitation grant systems, plus some.}} WOOD – Year 5 — “The Maryland “bench” has been innovative in the last ten years,{{and produced a lot of paperwork}} and courts have shown a willingness to try new approaches. Administrative judges have adopted case management strategies to ensure family and juvenile cases are handled effectively”
(Currently in Pennsylvania, those administrative orders, for example, to hire a certain guardian ad litem, are coming under FBI fire (Lackawanna County, Stefanov case, Pilchesky case, see my other blog http://lackawannafamilycourtfederal.blogspot.com and recent local news coverage)
WOOD is for “The Bench.” Cute. etc. For example, WOOL – Year 7 — “Families entering the justice system are wrapped in the “mantle” of services that enable courts to make more effective decisions and that aid and guide families in transition. All Maryland courts offer co-parenting education, Family Law Self-Help Centers, child access mediation, and custody evaluations. Some courts offer psychoeducational programs for children and specialized parenting courses; others are experimenting with parenting coordination, employment programs for child support payors, and special dispute resolution services for high-conflict families.”*(*IN OTHER WORDS, BUSINESS AS AFCC/CRC/WELFARE REFORM USUAL). BRONZE – YEAR 8 — “The Judiciary’s family court reform efforts have brought attention to bear on the special needs of victims of domestic violence.” (It seems very appropriate that the concern for domestic violence should be limited to their “special needs” not their protection — and come last.)
The Administrative Offices of the Courts (nationwide) are enough of an issue themselves (and the various “CFCC’s underneath some of them, like in California). Yet under this Maryland one is a Department of Family Administration. I guess we all one big happy family, then? Or if not — and there are some unhappy upstarts, this can be administered? (reminds me of the Texas Office of Attorney General’s “Office of Family Initiatives” associated with, at least recently, Michael Hayes).
NOTICE THE DETAILS:
Family Administration – Maryland state court system (http://mdcourts.gov/family/index.html)
Notice of Funding for Family Division/Family Services Grants: Grant Documents
http://mdcourts.gov/family/grantadmin.html
Yes, please do click on the “notice of Funding” link above. You’ll see about 9 different categories of funding. I looked at “Child Support Incentives.” These are programs that bring money to the courts, if these services are utilized (the $2/1 ratio, I believe) and while it’s labeled sometimes Welfare, there is a way to get non-welfare cases involved as well. For example (and this is a CURRENT, 2013, OPEN (well, just closed 2/2012) grant solicitation):
“NOTICE OF FUNDING AVAILABILITY — CHILD SUPPORT INCENTIVE FUNDS GRANTS — ISSUED 1/3/2012, APPLICATIONS DUE 2/15/2012″
(Hover cursor over link or click on it to read description of the grant’s purpose — this is important, because it shows the HHS/Maryland Judiciary financial connection, in a Cooperative Reimbursement Agreement (CRA) according to performance incentives — i.e., how many child support orders did you establish, etc.
(update note: The link is broken, but the text showing if you “hover over link” is housed on this blog and can still be read (a magnifying glass might help.. or “zoom” function).
Given that, Funding Priorities, Category “A” actually seem to relate to — child support enforcement. Such as: “Privatizing and outsourcing of child support enforcement services; Improving automation capabilities; Creating public awareness projects; Developing programs and special projects;
But Category “B” may sound familiar to some parents with the toughest custody cases around, that are behaving very oddly, given the circumstances of the case: And this includes (notice order of Priorities here).
Other categories of programs that are considered “non-Title IV-D” that may still be eligible for funding upon the receipt of a written exception by the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement are set forth in OCSE-AT-01-04** and include, but are not limited to:
Fatherhood programs; Education and job programs for non-custodial parents; Programs targeting incarcerated or putative fathers; Teen pregnancy programs; Parenting programs; (in CALIF, this would be a “KIDS TURN” or KY or PA, a “KIDS FIRST” get it?) Mediation or couples counseling (including as provided by faith-based grantees, no doubt), and Visitation issue resolution when linked to non-payment of support.**
**WTH does that mean? When a noncustodial parent actually says, “I’d be more willing to pay my child support ORDER if I were given more ACCESS to my KID(s)??” In practice, this may possibly include supervised visitation, it may also include abatement of child support arrears in exchange for more time with the other parent.
These programs must also demonstrate a clear connection and collaboration with the Maryland Child Support Enforcement program.
**”OCSE-AT-01-04” refers to an “Action Transmittal.” Overall, this shows us that (no matter what a parent may have been told while filing for custody, or its modification up front) the judiciary is deeply hooked into the HHS financing and its incentives to do this, or that, regarding something as essential to life (in many cases) as child support. . . . . . And I believe this particular grant notice demonstrates that the OCSE/Child support Incentives ARE indeed in good deal about fatherhood programs” and parenting education (etc.).
Supporting Children Through the Judiciary Conference
(Broken link/Image removed/ description read simply “Photo of children and families.” The url reads: http://mdcourts.gov/family/conferences.html)
The Department of Family Administration is responsible for assisting Maryland’s courts in developing a comprehensive family law system. Family Administration has overseen the creation of family divisions in Anne Arundel County, Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Montgomery County and Prince George’s County, and family services programs in the remaining 19 counties. We work with judges, masters, court administrators and family support services coordinators to develop family law policy and to identify and promote best practices in the handling of domestic and juvenile cases.(1*)
“The mission of family divisions is to provide a fair and efficient forum to resolve family legal matters in a problem-solving manner, with the goal of improving the lives of families and children who appear before the court. To that end, the court shall make appropriate services available for families who need them. The court also shall provide an environment that supports judges, court staff and attorneys so that they can respond effectively to the many legal and nonlegal issues of families in the justice system.”
Connie Kratovil-Lavelle, Esq.
(*1) The sentence “we work with judges, (etc.) . . . to develop family law policy to . .. identify and promote best practices…..” indicates a different identity, a distinction between (1) “WE” (meaning the Dept. of Family Administration/”DFA”) and (2) said judges, masters, etc. . . . . . .
As I can see below, the Executive Director of this DFA is promoting AFCC policy, hook, line and “sink-it.”
There’s a long, colorful newsletter above, which mixes talk of in order, page 1, Civil Protective Orders (DV issues) & Parent Coordination Promotion.
(An AFCC created profession, hostile to mothers in practice, which does an end run around legal protections and due process (as it was intended to) and to date already has brought up serious objections from parents and issues of billing, in PA at least (I blogged this over at http://thefamilycourtmoneymachine.blogspot.com, including the underlying case Yates v. Yates, where a father protested the parenting coordinator, and the family law div. of PA Bar Case Notes (newsletter 2009), exulting in how they shot down all his arguments. Some of the casework I read showed a custody evaluator appointed in 2002 or 2003, who I looked up. It turns out that in 2004-2005 (per 2006 Winter Psychology Board newsletter), this same man was cited for discipline and subjected to supervision of his practice!
NEWSLETTER, PAGE 1, TOPIC 1 — “SEE, WE ARE HELPING STOP DOMESTIC VIOLENCE!”
Statewide Civil Domestic Violence Database to be Launched this Summer
By Clifton Files, Esq., Domestic Violence Specialist, Administrative Office of the Courts, Department of Family Administration
The Maryland Judiciary will be one of the first states with a comprehensive database of civil orders of protection when it launches the Domestic Violence Central Repository this summer. In September 2006, the Department of Family Administration was awarded a grant by the Office of Violence Against Women from the Grants To Encourage Arrest Policies Program (GTEAP). The focus of the grant was to develop a Statewide Civil Domestic Violence Database. The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) and the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence (MNADV) coordinated with an advisory committee and held six regional focus groups to discuss and consider recommendations on policies, procedures, and uses for the database.
The end result of these efforts is a central database for District and Circuit Court judges and staff that will store all domestic violence orders, produce statistics, and enhance enforcement (cont’d on page 23….)
PAGE 1, TOPIC 2 — “BUT DON’T WORRY, DADS & AFCC PROFESSIONALS — WE REMEMBERED YOUR AGENDA TOO”*
Refining Emerging Practices Proposed Parenting Coordination Rule Completed
By Pamela Cardullo Ortiz, Esq., Executive Director, Department of Family Administration
Innovation always happens on the ground.*** In their efforts to better serve families, courts have experimented with emerging practice models, especially those with promise for assisting high conflict families who often require a great deal of court intervention. Over the last several years, a number of Maryland Circuit Courts have begun to refer high conflict families with child access issues to “parent coordinators.”
As practiced in other states, and defined by the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC): Parenting coordination is a child-focused alternative dispute resolution process in which a mental health or legal. . .(Cont’d on page 24)
..professional with mediation training and experience assists high conflict parents to implement their parenting plan by facilitating the resolution of their disputes in a timely manner, educating parents about children’s needs, and with prior approval of the parties and/or the court, making decisions within the scope of the court order or appointment contract. (Guidelines for Parenting Coordination, Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.)
A Maryland Version of Parenting Coordination
To ensure that Maryland courts have the requisite authority to order parties to work with a parenting coordinator, and to guide courts and define the practice in light of Maryland law, the Custody Subcommittee of the Judicial Conference Committee on Family Law has developed a proposed parenting coordination rule. The subcommittee, chaired by Judge Deborah S. Eyler of the Court of Special Appeals, worked for two years with judges, court professionals, parenting coordinators, attorneys, and others to devise a draft rule and proposed application for parenting coordinators. Those documents were reviewed and approved by the Committee on Family Law at their meeting this April. The proposed documents have been approved by the Conference of Circuit Judges and will be forwarded to the Rules Committee for consideration.
The proposed rule defines the practice for Maryland courts and addresses issues relating to the appointment of a parenting coordinator, qualifica- tions, selection, term of service, removal and withdrawal of a parenting coordinator, fees, and the powers and scope of appointment.
Innovation always happens on the ground.*** In their efforts to better serve families, courts have experimented with emerging practice models, especially those with promise for assisting high conflict families who often require a great deal of court intervention. Over the last several years, a number of Maryland Circuit Courts have begun to refer high conflict families with child access issues to “parent coordinators.”
by Diane Bukowski (photo from http://justice4maryanne.com/) August 12, 2011
DETROIT – Despite testimony that Mia Wenk, a “social services specialist” with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, authorized the psychiatric hospitalization of Ariana Godboldo-Hakim, 13, and the administration of four dangerous psychotropic drugs, without reviewing the child’s medical records, a jury found Aug. 9 that it was Ariana’s mother Maryanne Godboldo who had neglected her.
Godboldo, who obtained alternative holistic treatment for her daughter from a medical doctor, testified earlier that she was suffering from a reaction to immunizations administered in Sept. 2009. She said Ariana had been diagnosed with encephalitis, not a psychiatric disorder. Neither she nor Ariana’s father Mubarak Hakim authorized their daughter’s treatment at Hawthorn Children’s Psychiatric facility after an army of police seized her from her home on Blaine near Linwood in Detroit March 24, 2011.
Sometime the silence is religious, but not always.
So, when these mothers then figure out there are more activist, feminist women’s groups who really do say NO! !!! to sexual assault (including in relationships) and violence — and seek some help or leadership in navigating their legal and civil rights in the matter, and/or the police force, reporting, district attorney’s office, or as it may be, nonprofit domestic violence support groups which might help them file a pleading to protect their lives (and/or their kids), when they couldn’t safely flee or separate on their own — we should expect to be treated as equals and intelligent adults in knowing who has a seat at the roundtable deciding our future, and the future of others in our shoes.
In Maryland, it’s crystal clear — the women’s law groups and pro bono service providers — do not see fit to check back with these mothers after years after in the court, and to perhaps courageously revamp whether the Parenting Coordination Pushers deserve a seat at the round table.
FIRST, mothers, being women, tend to look for women’s groups for leadership when it comes to defense against severe violence in the home, or in attempting to terminate a relationship. I know that’s all who helped me out — no patriarchal institution around did squat to stop, report, intervene with, or refer me to anyone who could intervene with, my ex’s nasty habit of assault & battery when offended, or when simply ornery, plus all the other things that I later learned compromised domestic violence (but knew at the time were simply terrorism).
Such mothers in these situations KNOW we could be killed, and after separation, are sometimes being stalked, threatened, have suffered serious injuries, major setbacks to maintaining stable employment and social involvements outside the home — or only such social involvements as will NOT intervene with the family situation and tell the batterer to stop!!! or suffer at least social consequences.
We also know (by now) that while the domestic violence groups have developed a language to describe and “unify” such situations, the domestic violence groups have lumped women WITHOUT children together with women WITH children (i.e., mothers), and focused their efforts on tactics and issues that assist the former — while failing to report in a timely and transparent manner about their dealings with the “fatherhood” (men’s supremacy) groups. They do not even report that these groups exist, what their names are, and how their influence affects custody hearings.
They do not even name the groups, do not name the primary groups running the family law system; they do not warn mothers about what lies ahead in enough time to protect themselves, or to build some sort of “ark” to keep from being financially and psychologically drowned in the legal system after the DV group got its warm body, a protective order, a ## to put on a report, and enough to justify next year’s funding.
In short, they do not report what they know because it’s simply not a transparent situation.
Mothers are not told that they are fighting a contest which is funded on the opposing side by the welfare institution that perhaps may be providing them with housing, food initially. That this institution literally has been diverting millions of dollars to assist “noncustodial fathers” in regaining contact with their kids, based on the theory that these same mothers are the serious risk to their own kids’ futures by the fact of not having a man in the home who is that kids’ Dad even when that kids’ Dad was assaulting her and/or them (or molesting them) is as such not a fit parent.
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For Further Info — and Reflection
See also (next-gen blog, at least for me)
The Family Court Franchise System
Blog author in need of redecoration, has set up shop elsewhere. This doesn’t mean NO more posts over here, but perhaps better organization over there. I tangled one too many times with the gigantic “quotes” function & disappearing paragraphs here; I like the more flexible fonts available on the other platform. You probably will too.
Besides which, anyone who hasn’t figured out yet that the family court system IS a franchise system, I feel sincerely sorry for them. Last attempt to convince you of this? (just a sample)
PENNSYLVANIA-GEORGIA CONNECTIONS
For sale, on the site:
DIVORCE RESOURCES
For more information click on product page
The Psychotherapist As Parent Coordinator in High- Conflict Divorce: Strategies and Techniques
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Sold in sets of 20
Show and Tell Cards for Play Therapists
This simple flip book provides 29 pages of activity sheets that may be reproduced by play therapists working with young children ages 3-10 years. In addition each section provides information regarding different ways in which each sheet may be used with young children
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Crossroads of Parenting & Divorce 5 Steps to Prevent Divorce Abuse
Handbook
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Sold as part of a four hour video based divorce seminar or sold as a stand alone. Parents are often surprised to learn that some of the actions they take inadvertently harm their children. This parent guide provides parents with five steps to prevent unnecessary damage to their child.
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This four hour divorce seminar is intended for use as part of the mandated divorce seminar requirements. It may also be provided separately or done as a six hour seminar for divorcing or divorced parents.
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Here’s a brief trying to push the hybrid model, more:
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Ms. Termini (of Pennsylvania) coordinates the GAL program at Lackawanna County, and Mr. Joe Pilchesky, as part of his public service, this WAS a public service; more people should do it!) posted her receipts to the Scranton Political Times on or about Oct. 3, 2011 as follows (a few months before he was himself thrown off the site by Joanne, who apparently got tired of certain behaviors, including cheating on him, dissing her (with a few threats implied) on the forum, and continuing to operate out of a home she owned, literally. No child victims for the local courts in that situation, but they are going to duke it out anyhow). BUT — here it is, Ms. Termini’s SS# redacted….
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The hotel stay image, here, 8/22/09 — coincides with a presentation Termini, Harhut & Ross were doing at the National Association of Counsel for Children (“NACC”), only $215.43 for one night. It’s Danielle Ross (not Termini) who is the NACC member (per their lists, at least).
And some more:
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and some more, for 2011:
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(I sure hope those links continue to function….)
And he summarizes what he did, which doesn’t sound to me like rocket science. Posted 10/3/2011. Maybe it was rocket science, but somehow, I don’t think so:
All these were, and as of today (2/24/2012) are at Scranton Political Times under the co-parenting thread, which is under the topic “Doherty Deceit”
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NACC seems like another networking opp for the same sorts of AFCC personnel, only focused around child support and abuse:
32nd National Juvenile and Family Law Conference – Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, NY
8/19/2009
When: August 19-22, 2009 Where: Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge
333 Adams Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201
United StatesContact: Daniel Trujillo (trujillo.daniel@tchden.org)
>>>Title of Conference is typically modest of these professionals, modeled after the parent organization, AFCC:
STANDING AT THE FOREFRONT: EFFECTIVE ADVOCACY IN TODAY’S WORLD
This was the “32nd National Juvenile and Family Law Conference of the National Association of Counsel for Children”
These organizations (at least one who is an affiliate of NACC) sponsored:
Co-SpoNSorS
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Barry University School of Law
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Ciccolella Family Law, P.C.
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Colorado Office of the Child’s Representative
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Georgia Association of Counsel for Children (NONprofit group started 8/26/2003, admin. dissolved involuntarily 5/2008 for ‘failure to file,” paid up and reinstated about a year later (4/2009) and now is back and running, though a little late on their 2011 filing also, it says)….would be nice to find an EIN# but the search site re-routes users to a licensure site instead. Hmm.
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Legal Aid Society, Juvenile Rights Practice
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Legal Aid Society, New York City
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NACC Megan Louise Furth Youth Empowerment Fund
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Northern California Association of Counsel for Children
CALIFORNIA *Northern California Association of Counsel for Children (NCACC)
Christopher Wu Phone: 415/865-7721 AOC/ Center for Children, Families and the Courts 455 Golden Gate Avenue San Francisco, CA 94102
Christopher.Wu@jud.ca.gov (this links shows you the OTHER members on that blue-ribbon commission)
Mr. Christopher Wu
Executive Director
California Blue Ribbon Commission on Children in Foster Care
One member (notice affiliations) incl.
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These “cooperated”:
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ABA Center on Children and the Law
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ABA Section of Litigation, Children’s Rights Litigation Committee
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Association of Family and Conciliation Courts
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Connecticut Commission on Child Protection
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First Star
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National Center for State Courts
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National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges
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National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association
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National Institute for Trial Advocacy
- Judicial Council of California Center for Families, Children, and the Courts
(SPEAKING OF ‘INTERLOCKING DIRECTORATES” — WHICH MY “FOR FURTHER INFO” BLOG ALSO DOES — ):
The California Child Welfare Co-Investment Partnership . .
is a collaborative group of state agencies, foundations and other nonprofit organizations whose purpose is improving the lives of children and families who are in or are at risk of entering the state’s child welfare system. Founded in 2006. . . .“Our public-private
partnership includes
eight partners that
collectively invest
more than $2 billion
in the state’s child
welfare system.”SOUNDS LIKE IT’S A PAY-TO-PLAY OPERATION…..
Partner organizations and representatives include:
- Administrative Office of the Courts
Chris Wu, Supervising Attorney, Center for Families, Children and the Courts- California Department of Social Services
Gregory E. Rose, Deputy Director, Children and Family Services Division- County Welfare Directors Association of California
Frank Mecca, Executive Director- Philanthropy:
- Annie E. Casey Foundation
Elisha Gilliam, Site Leader, Pacific Region- Casey Family Programs
Miryam Choca, Director of California State Strategies- Stuart Foundation
Teri Kook, Director of Child Welfare- Walter S. Johnson Foundation
Amy Freeman, Interim Program Officer- Zellerbach Family Foundation
Ellen Walker, Program Executive
Advisory CommitteeThe Partnership’s Advisory Committee is made up of nearly 40 diverse organizations that inform and advise the Partnership about its work and priorities.
sometimes I wonder where they are getting all these abused children FROM — and if the money were put into supporting the parents, PERIOD, there wouldn’t be such a need for CPS, welfare, and foster care to start with. in other words, MOST parents, just ordinary people, are paying these organizations to craft policies that drive their lives, and MOST ordinary wage-earners are NOT forming nonprofits to avoid paying excess taxes — because they can’t, or don’t know how to.This is how wealth is centralized, and this is who is driving our government. I suppose I should give the run-of-the-mill crooks a break, after all, they are just following the examples of the wealthy philanthropic elites of the country, which they hope to (obviously) join the ranks of — or possibly have, by now. (by comparison AFCC is starting to look like Kid Stuff, not that I forgive them their agenda (I’m female….) . . . .All they want to do get their piece of the coming utopia, which will likely eliminate the “useless eaters” once their purposes have been served.Do NOT kid yourself this agenda has changed, whether or not the rank-and-file have picked up on it yet. Another use of the term occurs HERE: The question is, what are you going to do about it?The Drug Story By Morris A. Bealle
“To teach the Rockefeller drug ideology, it is necessary to teach that Nature didn’t know what she was doing when she made the human body. But statistics issued by the Children’s Bureau of the Federal Security Agency show that since the all-out drive of the Drug Trust for drugging, vaccinating and serumizing the human system, the health of the American nation has sharply declined, especially among children. Children are now given ‘shots’ for this and ‘shots’ for that, when the only safeguard known to science is a pure bloodstream, which can be obtained only with clean air and wholesome food. Meaning by natural and inexpensive means. Just what the Drug Trust most objects to.“
This book was written in the late 1940s and is valuable reading in these perilous times. Read about this important book at http://educate-yourself.org/drugstory.html.
I take the drugging issue up a little more in the blog mentioned at the top. When a woman protecting her child from home invasion is handled with swat team and HELIcopters, over the issue of adverse responses to vaccinations + refusal to continue “Risperdal” after its dangers to her child became obvious (and an M.D. apparently verified), then we are simply in the situation of sitting ducks.“UNFREEZE – CHANGE — REFREEZE” has already happened. now, we need to apply the same theory and change things — not back — but to a different setup than this ‘partners in change” that see abused children deserving of foster care where they do NOT exist, and fail to see them where they DO exist. Perhaps if they weren’t spending half their time preparing for conferences, presenting at them, poring over each other’s research (and billing hotel costs to their local counties), this information might have surfaced earlier. Who knows….ANYHOW, apparently Ms. Termini DID show up (per brochure) in 2009, Brooklyn — with cohorts a judge and a GAL — and you can search the name in the brochure.
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Domestic Relations on “Doherty Deceit”: Pennsylvania “Expose Corruption” Forum Moderator’s Wife says Enough! (in a kickout order), to the tune of Cheers and Jeers (Publ. Dec. 23, 2011)
~ |Update Comments, Aug. 1, 2019| ~
Post Title: Domestic Relations on “Doherty Deceit”: Pennsylvania “Expose Corruption” Forum Moderator’s Wife says Enough! (in a kickout order), to the tune of Cheers and Jeers (publ. Dec. 23, 2011) short-link ends “-Wx” (approx. length, just about 12,000 words, including several tables.. and this intro which I expanded by looking up an organization referenced in the post.)
The usual update routine: This older post came up in a search, I didn’t have a shortening (“Click to Read More”) link, meaning the entire post would display in search results intended to show which posts dealt with the topic, so I came back and put one in. While here, applied the usual html to clean it up some. Older posts do not have margin specs, and when the blog capacity was upgraded, the default background color changed to, I think, an ugly light blue/green. Those are simple fixes.
The Updated comments followed up on (just) one entity mentioned in the post, found it had been IRS-revoked (w/ Chicago address) for not filing three years in a row, was re-instated (by the IRS) in Dec. 2015 and is now based in Texas. Someone needs to counsel the “Council on Contemporary Families” about basics of staying registered with the IRS as ethical behavior, especially for those focused on analyzing and counseling others. The current address reflects a “Population Center” at a U-Texas Austin, no doubt because the principal officer listed works there now.
The forum quoted and referenced below has gone down, but my time on it, and looking into things “Pennsylvania” was definitely memorable. As the state has come back up again, in pending (?) bills targeting family court decision-making, and as this post despite its title and beginnings, has a lot of organizations profiled towards the bottom, I’m applying a quick face-lift, the usual title + short-link protocol, and hoping for the best. //LGH Aug 1, 2019.
ByTheWay, this came up in a search for “enhancing judicial skills in domestic violence cases” (search without the quotes) on the blog, i.e., an internal phrase search…. also, the publish date I added to the title (now my usual protocol for all new posts) was taken from the URL which displays, actually, last edited date (probably the same). That search generally leads straight to something involving the NCJFCJ, which may also be seen as a recently pinned Tweet at my @LetUsGetHonest Twitter account (somewhat more active in recent half-year or so).
Post Title: Domestic Relations on “Doherty Deceit”: Pennsylvania “Expose Corruption” Forum Moderator’s Wife says Enough! (in a kickout order), to the tune of Cheers and Jeers (publ. Dec. 23, 2011) short-link ends “-Wx” (approx. length, just under 12,000 words. That includes several tables.. and this intro which I sort of expanded by looking up an organization referenced in the post.)
I see TAGGS or other reports on: PCADV, NRCDV (one of its projects), the PA Dept of Welfare, a reference to Jeffrey Leving, Esq., to the Council on Contemporary Families (“CCF” EIN#52-2070511, established in IL ca. 1998; it has a journal, I believe), and because it relates to Lackawanna County PA (which this forum did), some mentions of Justice Chet Harhut (who was AFCC-related), Ms. Termini (who was NACC, and both were “working” the Lackawanna County court-referral system quite well, as I recall). (CCF FY2008 990EZ was its first tax return; I see revs. typically under $50K, no more filed since. It may be filing Form 990-Ns). Without posting it all here, the IRS says it was legitimate, but their “Determination letter” showed it as since Dec. 2015 and with an Austin, TX address (“305 E 23rd Street Stop G1800, Austin, TX 7871″). Turns out they were auto-revoked (for not filing three years in a row, will do it…) in 2012, which was posted 2013, then re-instated LATE 2015, and have been filing Forms 990-N ever since, with principal officer “Jennifer Glass” and the website “contemporaryfamilies.org” (that information available on an IRS tax-exempt organization search). (“EOS”). Anyone want to place a bet whether kept publishing while inactive and IRS-revoked? (Either way, the operational size shown is small).
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- CCF hasn’t filed a (full 990) tax return under its EIN# since 2008, per FoundationCenter.org (checked 8/1/2019) so I went to look over at the IRS.
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- IRS.gov says the CCF “Chicago, IL” (but street address beneath shows Austin TX now) still there. I clicked on org. name for details.
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- IRS.gov details on “CCF” show it was Auto-Revoked 2012, which was published 2013, and re-instated (as its new “Determination Ltr” also shows in 2015. Below that, the top of four Form 990-Ns filed since (for 2015, 16, 17, and your’e seeing 2018) gives street address (in Austin, TX, website, fiscal year, and principal officer Jennifer Glass.
Found Jennifer Glass, Ph.D. (UWisconsin-Madison) (as suggested by the above website) at UTexas Austin, under the Population Research Center. Curriculum vitae shows a Lifelong Sociologist, from way back, and cites at the top of “Honors and Awards” “Center for Contemporary Families – 2015 – ” (!). Steady work and publishing career, though. This is not the place to discuss it… But what a sorry-ass website (check it out! The CCF’s I mean, not Dr. Glass’s!)||
Otherwise: TAGGS grants shown here run off the right margins, but can be easily re-searched again on the government website, so I’m not restructuring them at this time. Enjoy!!
~ |end, “Update” comments, Aug. 1, 2019| ~
(Below here is Dec., 2011 text and in a different tone than the update comments, obviously):
I hope I wasn’t responsible for provoking this incident, or lighting the final fuse, when I took on Joe Pilchesky’s mixture of excellent political activism + personal public misogyny below. But a bouncing caricature of a tube-top set of boobs, and various other parts of (clothed) female anatomy, either animate or inanimate, characterized or photographed — is a little different than a naked woman half out of a pool (?) in a forum where the leader is being a real man and taking on other men for oppressing defenseless mothers. Plus I felt the groupthink in that no one else did. I still have some question (based on the “members on-line views and a few other things*) on whether some of the usernames do or do not have a single author.
This is a case where unless one knows a little more property, business (ownership of internet forum) and legal marital history, one probably can’t know the whole story, but certain educated guesses are possible. However, in the process of detaching and detoxing (I felt I at least “delivered the goods” to the area, and some helpful links & analysis), I also responded to one too many “Shut up, Woman!” remarks from the local folk hero. The habit was inappropriate, and I don’t feel that whether or not I am getting fVcked at any point in time should affect whether or not I have a right to speak. Especially to someone who appears to be about my age, and had been asserting that the family law system didn’t have anything to do with gender, and federal grants were not gender-specific (both false).
After posting what’s below, I went back on-line yesterday morning, and found out that not only had Mrs. Pilchesky evicted her husband from her (per property deeds) home — possibly enabling her to either move back in, sell it, rent it, or whatever she wants to do with it — but she also took control of the forum and apparently is purging it of “defamatory, personal or libelous” commentary. And the fur is flying for sure. Some claimed she “mutinied” (interesting metaphor; that ship had a captain), others that it was about time! She abandoned poor Joe to handle the forum alone; she put up with his crap too long, how can you put a guy out of his home right before Christmas? . . . well, it wasn’t exactly “his” home . . . and attempts to boycott the forum, go follow the leader!
As of this morning, the site still looks like this, or at least this was a precipitating message from the Mrs.: (image link broken)
(from Joane Pilchesky): (image link broken; it was probably a gravatar)
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Status: Offline
Posts: 2172
Date: Dec 21 10:21 PM, 2011
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My point was, we need more leaders, and fewer blind followers. I expect that got rather lost in the din….
Meanwhile, people, plural (that means women) have continued to contact me on-line privately about their cases, meaning I get to hear more nightmare information about HOW very young children are separated from their mothers, who sure sound pretty coherent, given that situation. And I’m not that hero… or an attorney . . . or ready to live more vicarious trauma. No, I want to tell the truth in a principled format; so that others can check THEIR particulars, and if the shoe fits, pull it on and start making some tracks.
So, if you like gossip — there you go. Moral? Those who post to forums should be sure to save their work!
ANOTHER TRADE (membership-based) NonProfit, with professors, speakers, authors, historians, therapists . . . (and Jeffrey Leving) — which can’t file a tax return?!?
Yep.
Scroll to bottom for another nonprofit association of the FBI-raided GAL from Scranton, PA: Council on Contemporary Families.
- ANYHOW — This next section is partial dialogue, but also delivers more data — and proves, yet again, that a simple google search on a person’s name can unearth some strange bedfellows, and more nonprofit associations. Heads-up towards the bottom on a new AFCC+Arts/Farts & Ph.D.-staffed nonprofit from Illinois — which has illustrious membership (plus a GAL from Scranton, which I’d have to characterize as social climbing, given the company) — and in its entire existence, complete with state-of-the-art email marketing (obnoxious, actually) on its website — has filedl it looks like ONE (count it, ONE!) tax return — that’s for the IRS.
- The tax return shows an Illinois address, in fact UIC (University of Illinois Chicago) – – – but Illinois itself shows NO record of the group, either incorporation or as the nonprofit which the tax return shows it is. While the income shown on this membership organization is modest (and possibly falsified/understated — they have about 220 members now, $100 a pop except students $50, and showed between $14-$16K membership income in only 2008. I’d love to see the membership roster.
WRITTEN 12-21-2011 and earlier, continued from previous post (I copied some overlap for context):
This is why I’d bother to give the forum the time of day. Because it’s different. What a shame that means wading through the misogyny as well, and not just for me. In a workplace I wonder if that’d be grounds for harassment. (I blogged this earlier:). Look at how the Good ol’ boys handled it:
Read the rest of this entry »
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For Scrantonians — To Assert is Fine, but To Prove is Best. Study How Kentucky Got Its 70 Judicial Center Projects, 9 Court Programs (including 11 Divorce Ed. courses so far). You’re Next!
This post sounds more state-specific than it is. When pilot programs and model courts are being coordinated with help from outside the state to within any state, there’s little state-specific about the courts taking place these days. Remember also the influence of federal funding, and the speed of change facilitated by our lovely internet technology (think, approximately 1980s becoming more popularly accessible — but governments (especially military, who of course need great communications and data processing), academia, and lawyers will generally be further ahead than most of the public).
Original Post Published 12/21/2011. I had occasion to refer to it, and began updating 9/8/2015, in part because the Kentucky State Court had re-arranged its website, creating broken-link-syndrome. On noticing they, too, unified the court system, and by “Judicial Article” in 1976 created an “AOC” with a Chief Justice (i.e., centralized operations), I immediately remembered the NYS Unified Court System and its “Public/private partnership” with the under-reported “Fund for the City of New York,” (first funded 1968) which was labeled at some point, possibly post-1993, the Center for Court Innovation.
The Center for Court Innovation being often mischaracterized in print, I decided it was time to talk about how the system is set for privatization, and of course, global alignment internationally. This would be hard to achieve directly and get past most voters — but it’s already been arranged to do it INdirectly, under the lable just improving systems, and helping families, communities, and in the public interest.
Tax-exempt, tax (and privately) funded, and WHERE did your famous legal rights go?? Perhaps a better question to ask is where did the money go, which might help answer the former questions.
I added a substantial section (light-green background) to my 2011 commentary and word-battles (at a few points) with a now-defunct forum in Scranton, PA. It will become a separate post soon, I hope. If so, this one will be shortened, with a referral link. Maybe. (Catch it while you can…)
🙂
Righteous Indignation, Determination to do something, and a Healthy Sarcasm — admirable, I love it.
Also one has to love anyone who can file enough Right To Knows, get information sufficient to file a CIVIL suit against a FAMILY court racket(eering set of individuals), have (I believe as a result of that and related) suit, the FBI come charging in to haul off evidence (for what purpose, remains to be seen) and post it for all to see. And keep posting. Again, I came here from Kentucky — after I found some dude from this area (Dunmore, PA) getting his product marketed through the Kentucky Family Court System, which has a ridiculous number dof “Divorce Education” programs and one that clearly uses extortion to get Dads in arrears into fatherhood program probably aimed at about 6th grade (maybe tops, 8th) level of intellect. And that is called a “Court of Justice”!
Judicial Center Projects **
Since 1998 the Kentucky Court of Justice has completed, authorized or begun construction on 70 new judicial centers.
These new facilities have given Kentucky citizens safe, efficient, cost-effective buildings in which to exercise their legal and constitutional rights
[**Original Post was 12/21/2011; Updates, Link Correction (different background color) @ 9/8/2015]:
The Courts.ky.gov web pages have changed since this post, and no longer so clearly display the 11 divorce education programs below. More info at. Notice the AOC was put in place in 1976 by “the Judicial Article.” Their summary provides no link to that article, or description of who issued it, was there a referendum, did the judges come together in decide, or what.
Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts
The Administrative Office of the Courts is the operational arm of the Judicial Branch. The AOC supports court facilities and programs in all 120 counties, with its main campus in Frankfort.
The AOC was established in 1976 as a result of the Judicial Article. The Judicial Article created Kentucky’s unified court system and made the chief justice head of the state court system, also known as the Kentucky Court of Justice.
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Substance-Poor, Repetition-Rich: Parsing ~ Parent Coordination ~ Rhetoric ~ and some Organizations..(Publ. Dec. 14, 2011, updated (format) Oct. 30, 2017)
Substance-Poor, Repetition-Rich: Parsing ~ Parent Coordination ~ Rhetoric ~ and some Organizations..(Publ. Dec. 14, 2011, updated (format) Oct. 30, 2017) (WordPress-generated, case-sensitive shortlink ends “-WN”
My practice of adding borders and listing the post title with shortlink is more recent.
Currently this post is NOT listed on any Table of Contents (my lists only go as far back as Sept. 2012)…I see that many of the logos will not display, and that this post as written was about 10,000 words long. This update made only because a basic search on the blog for an organization I’m writing about again brought it up. (Update this time is only minimal format changes for easier reading; is not in detail and doesn’t include fixing broken links/missing logos, or more recent information on the organizations referenced).//LGH Oct. 30, 2017.
INTRO:
Overall, I seriously doubt that it’s possible to clean up or straighten up the family law system — at all, and I am utterly serious in saying this. There is too much incentive for fraud, and too much need to “pay the mortgages” in the courthouses by ordering more services, and too little oversight and tracking of the funding. There are too many public employees forming nonprofit corporations to franchise for-profit curricula (marriage, parent education, etc.) — in the old NonProfit/ForProfit combo.
There are too few tools in many states to track WHO is repeatedly forming corporations that go belly-up, only to have a partner or other person formerly on one board just go forth and from another one — in another state. Many of these groups, as my last post showed, are membership organizations — membership is charged, conferences run, and we have some evidence from county payrolls or vouchers from court-connected professionals, that the public is billed to fund attendance at nonprofits whose ONE purpose is to expand their services. Child support is one of the worst of these, but they come in all flavors.
Despite the bleak outlook — I still report and I am going to finish reporting on this field of Parent Coordination until it is CLEAR what the AFCC professionals’ intent is in establishing this field and, if possible, having it legitimized at the state level by establishing standards, or by mandate.
The Association for Family and Conciliation Courts runs many task forces at a time, as part of its strategic plan to expand (itself) and transform the “old” language of criminal law into more friendly-to-its-practitioners concepts. One of them which they are taking VERY seriously in promoting — and I take VERY seriously in protesting — is Parenting Coordination.
Parents didn’t ask for this — it’s no grassroots movement, and from what I can tell how it’s been (1) advertised (2) pushed and (3) practiced — there’s no genuine NEED for it either. For that matter, I see no historical record that parents as a sector (both male and female) asked for the family law system, either.
Why I’m addressing it — again:
(1) AFCC PROMOTED IT – NOT PARENTS. NO REAL NEED EXISTED, and SERIOUS ISSUES & OBJECTIONS AS THEY DID.
The LizLibrary lists a page of them, and towards the bottom, some legal opinions, too: Parenting Coordination: A Bad Idea
Here’s less than half the list — and so far I agree with ALL of them. Thank you, Liz (Kates, the FL Family Law attorney, not Richards, of NAFCJ.net)
© 1996-2011 argate.net frcp:
- Parenting coordination is an inappropriate delegation of the judicial function
- Parenting coordination is an impediment to court access
- Parenting coordination is a denial of due process
- Parenting coordination violates privacy
- The parenting coordinator concept encroaches on family liberty interests
- Parenting coordination represents arbitrary dictate by a person, in denigration of rule of law
- Parenting coordination is a make-work role newly invented by psychology trade promotion groups
- No studies indicate parenting coordinators make good decisions
- No studies indicate parenting coordination improves families’ lives or child wellbeing.
- Nothing qualifies a stranger to make family decisions for other people
- Nothing qualifies a mental health professional to interpret a court order or legal document
- Nothing qualifies a lawyer to play at being an unlicensed, unregulated therapist for hire
- Nothing qualifies any third party to “fill in the gaps” in someone else’s contract
- There is no definition of what constitutes a successful parenting coordination
- Parenting coordination does not, in the long run, alleviate court docket congestion
- It creates additional issues and leaves the door open for return trips to resolve them
- Parenting coordination provides a new forum for squabbling over petty disputes
- Parenting coordination is an additional expense that many can ill afford
- Parenting coordination enables one parent to spend the other’s funds
- Parenting coordination is time-consuming and tedious
- Parenting coordination is not confidential
- Parenting coordination constitutes continuous government discovery, 4th Amendment
- Parenting coordination constitutes continuous discovery by each parent into the affairs of the other
- Parenting coordination can never be “voluntary” because it implements unwanted court orders
- Parenting coordinators demand that the parties sign “consents” that give up constitutional rights
- Some have demanded that parties give up the right to go to court, contact police, or involve their lawyers
- They are hired or appointed under shadow of the threat of court sanctions or loss of custody
- They are agreed to by parties ignorant of the repercussions, in fear, out of funds, or overwhelmed
- Parenting coordination does not result in increased family well-being
- Parenting coordination does not make children happier, healthier, or better adjusted
- Parenting coordination is not therapy but coercion backed by the state’s police power
- Parenting coordinators tend to be hostile to, and at odds with attorney-client relationships
- They align with GALs and other court appointees in a pretext of “focus on the children”
- They encroach on parental-child relationships and decision-making
- They undermine the parental authority children require for a sense of security and well-being
- Instead of at least one authoritative parent, children have no authoritative parent
- Petty tyrants place a premium on the perception of who is cooperating with them
- Cooperation with the parenting coordinator is court-ordered and
- They alone decide if a parent is “cooperating” with them
From the same page, a case “Parenting Coordinator Out of Control” — and I have to note that it’s an appeal from an order at the FL (presumably 20th) Circuit Court Level bearing Judge Hugh Starnes‘ name!
- DVLeap brief in 2010 case (Washington, DC) arguing some of the constitutional issues More from DVLeap
“The Court’s parenting coordinator orders unconsitutionally delegate judicial power and violate due process… The Special Master Order’s requirement that Appellant pay for the parenting coordinators to whom she objects violates law and public policy… The Special Master Order requiring Appellant to waive her medical privilege violates her statutory and constitutional rights to privacy…”
AFCC could care less. They DEMANDED it and are still finishing up trying to get this mandated in every single United State.
- Even the brother of the Marriage Promotion President, the “Family” family, George Bush — as Governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, FL (2004) had the sense to object based on sound principles. A newly formed (probably for this purpose) chapter of AFCC strategized, lobbied, publicized, practiced, and finally managed to ram it through, over his veto. It only slowed them down slightly.
June 18, 2004
Ms. Glenda E. Hood Secretary of State Florida Department of State
By the authority vested in me as Governor of Florida, under the provisions of Article III, Section 8, of the Constitution of Florida, I do hereby withhold my approval of and transmit to you with my objections, Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 2640, enacted during the 36th session of the Legislature, convened under the Constitution of 1968, during the Regular Session of 2004, and entitled:
An act relating to Parenting Coordination. . .
Committee Substitute for Senate Bill 2640 authorizes courts to appoint a parenting coordinator when the court finds the parties have not implemented the court-ordered parenting plan, mediation has not been successful, and the court finds the appointment is in the best interest of the children involved.
- He lists 5 objections, two of which clearly recognize that it in effect allows a parent coordinator to function as both judge and jury of parents’ or children’s rights, and one of which is that it fails to protect victims of domestic violence. I also note from the language that it looks like a Committee (not the general legislature) attempted to have this substitute for an existing Senate Bill. . . . .
(2) The “Termini/Boyan Factor” —
- The People fixed on training parent coordinators have a terrible track record when it comes to staying incorporated(I found another one today — Seminars for Advanced Interdisciplinary Family Professionals, or “SAIF.” Formed in 2006, it’s already behind in its filings, in the state of Indiana. And it appears that, again, a nonprofit/for-profit combo, originating not with litigants, but with the professionals, was set up to give (again) some family law attorneys the right to crow about their own parent coordination training seminars they helped run themselves. By and large, that seems to be the situation in Indiana — which it seems New Hampshire liked a lot, too. Termini/Boyan are Georgia/Pennsylvania — but same general idea.
(3) The language of “parent coordination” is impoverished and repetitive.
Here’s an example, from a family law attorney, a bona-fide certified one (although the nonprofit membership she cites all over is anything but “bona-fide” when it comes to filing charitable returns in the home state!)
It’s even from an Amicus Brief (I THINK it got filed, although this isn’t the stamped version). Actually, this is where the title to my post came from:
CASE NO. C064475
SUPERIOR COURT CASE NO. 34-3009-80000359
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL FOR THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT
__________________
RANDY RAND, ED.D. Plaintiff and Appellant, v. BOARD OF PSYCHOLOGY, Defendant and Respondent. __________________
ASSOCIATION OF CERTIFIED FAMILY LAW SPECIALISTS __________________
Face sheet as posted at CaliforniaParentingCoordinator.com (using link from this 12/14/2011 post).
[Three images, inside blue borders, added in 2017 update. See also their list Table of Authorities].
In the statute of authorities for this brief, bearing the name “Leslie Ellen Shear” and “Stephen Temko” (although the certificate of interested parties form bears the name Shear, and is dated 1/27/2011), after the legal and rules of court list, comes:
Table of Contents from Amicus Brief (source url shown on gray window-frame at top of image).
“Treatises, Law Reviews and Other Authorities” – and on reading it, I see it quotes, among others:
- The nonprofit ACFLS (which she’s head of Amicus Brief Committee on, or was)
- AFCC itself (at least twice)
- A host of people, known to be AFCC professionals anyhow, for those who pay attention — such as Ahrons, Coates, Deutch, Greenberg, Kelly, and who knows about some of the others. These quotations include those from the AFCC publication, Family Court Review (joint with “Hofstra Univ. School of Law”) and AFCC newsletters, etc.
- Herself, like 3 times, in:
- Shear (2008) In Search of Statutory Authority for Parenting Coordinator Orders in California: Using a Grass-roots, Hybrid Model Without an Enabling Statute 5 Journal of Child Custody 88…………………………………………..5, 18, 25 (cited on page 5, 18 & 25).
(I’m also adding this quote in 2017 update, from the Amicus Brief):
ACFLS’s purposes in appearing as amicus are to protect and perfect the parenting coordination service model in California family courts, discuss the implications of the issues raised in this case for the future of parent coordination in California, and address the implications of those issues for other family court appointed neutrals including but not limited to child custody evaluators4, minors’ counsel appointed per Fam. Code §3150 et seq., mediators, therapists, members of collaborative family law teams, and other court appointed or connected quasi-judicial dispute resolution professionals.
In other words, to protect her own kind….
Note title — trying to legislate parenting coordination.
Another set of professionals tried to write “Kids Turn” into law around 2002, right? (see my “Kicking Salesmanship Up a Notch post.”) then-Governor Gray Davis (properly!) vetoed even the version of it put out which didn’t overtly say “Kids’ Turn” on its face.
So here’s a sample section of this Amicus:
On page 4, quoting AFCC person Greenberg (whose writing I also ran across) cites who came up with the idea, vaguely characterized as:
In 1994, the concept of parenting coordination was spawned by a concerned group of professionals in California and Colorado who realized that some high conflict families remained chronically mired in conflict and required something different. . . For these families, the traditional tried and true approaches to containing familial conflict such as litigation, mediation, forensics, and therapy had not worked. Thus, the concept of parenting coordination was conceived as a different and needed dispute resolution intervention.
(Tried and True? [is that really an appropriate phrase for use in an amicus brief?]
Try “Tried and found seriously wanting.” Don’t believe me? Look here. I’ve already mentioned the Seal Beach (CA) massacre enough times, so here’s one fresh off the press — like YESTERDAY, in Florida. Actually, it seems there’s an acquiescent mother in this one: even after Dad murdered the son, the surviving children (including one witness to that murder) miss their Daddy. And they shouldn’t even be supervised, but be able to go to events like church, sports, etc.
Sounds like perhaps this is a stepfather (or second family) situation here, judging by age of the children. And the shooter was a retired police officer!
Dad accused of killing son wants custody rights to surviving kids; judge lets him have unsupervised contact (Orlando, Florida)
POSTED: 5:56 pm EST December 13, 2011
UPDATED: 6:45 pm EST December 13, 2011ORLANDO, Fla. — A former Orlando police officer accused of killing his son was back in court, arguing for custody rights to his other children.
Timothy Davis Sr. won a victory of sorts Tuesday when a judge granted him the ability to pick up his younger children from school, including his 9-year-old daughter who authorities said witnessed the killing.
The retired police officer is accused of shooting his son, 22-year-old Timothy Davis Jr., to death at their Apopka home in what he said was self-defense after his son attacked him, injuring his knee in October.
Here’s another involving 3 children, and a custody hearing, plus prior assaults on the child and wife.
Dad managed to get himself shot (to death) after apparently attacking a state trooper. I do not call this ‘tried and true.” This was an American military, married in Germany, but the divorce action appears to be HERE. He also was Marine Corps.
Here’s one from Texas; 40 year old father, who apparently had custody? (or certainly unsupervised visitation), emails nude pictures of his 12 year old daughter. This man was living with his mother who, thankfully, was honest enough to do something about her pervert son, although somehow the courts weren’t alert to this in custody decisions:
by KHOU.com staff
khou.com
Posted on December 8, 2011 at 8:58 PMKATY, Texas – A 40-year-old father is facing charges for allegedly distributing nude photos of his 12-year-old daughter online.
According to court documents, the suspect was living with his daughter at his mother’s house in Katy when the offenses occurred.
Investigators said that in August of 2011, the suspect’s mother found emails sent from the suspect’s gmail account that contained nude images of children. Some of those images were of the suspect’s daughter, the grandmother said.
Sorry to bring up this very unpleasant reality-check, but when in Amicus Brief a parent-coordinator pusher talks about previously tried methods that work — the definition of “works” or “tried and true” apparently / generally just means “tried, sometimes resulting in death, physical or sexual abuse of minors post-separation, or having minor children showing up in child pornography in father’s possession.” All of these were from December 2011 news articles, only.
Keep these incidents for a point of reference while I quote from p.12, a whole chapter on how parent coordinators have such difficult parents to deal with, “poor them”:
… cases are usually referred to parenting coordination because they are chronically litigious and difficult to manage.** These parents have often had several attorneys, evaluators, and mediators — professional hopping and shopping is rampant. Their court files are thick with motions, court appearances, and allegations of wrongdoing by the parents.
Coates, Deutsch et al. (2004) Parenting Coordination for High-Conflict Families 42 Fam. Ct. Rev. 246, 252
**Difficult-to manage parents are the bread and butter of the family court. They are the income producers. Assigning them to parent coordination is yet one more source of income for the professionals, taken from either the parents, or (looks like there’s some effort to make even broke parents participate in this too — AFCC-CA has a workshop or presentation, on the 2012 hearing on this).
Perhaps the professionals in question should re-think the business of “managing parents” to start with.
So, the opening quote to this chapter is from two long-time AFCC professionals (Coates/Deutsch) in an AFCC publication?, although it’s only 2004, using an AFCC-originated concept and term, “high-conflict families” (although I hear Bill Eddy now says they are high-conflict individuals — see my post on “yet another AFCC wet dream.” and his High-conflict Institute….)
The child custody cases referred to parenting coordinators are the most complex, acrimonious, difficult and demanding cases. Most parents regain their perspective and bearings within two years of separation, and do not need this kind of intensive and ongoing service model. Parents who continue to re- turn to court with enforcement and modification requests after completing co- parenting educational programs,* and after a child custody evaluation are can- didates for parenting coordination,
* perhaps this speaks to the quality of the co-parenting educational programs, more than the parents.
* or perhaps they are pissed at being forced to take co-parenting classes to start with, not mentioning affected if they also have to pay.
Parents who need a PC intervention are typically a special group for whom the passage of time has not reduced the rage and angry behaviors of at least one if not both parents.
A casual dismissal of whether it’s just one — or both — parents here. We KNOW that many of these cases — not just some — are in fact cases involving danger, abuse, and etc. These cases do NOT belong in family court at all — but they are there because of greed of professionals, and because of the fatherhood movement (backlash to feminism) that incentivizes and insists that single motherhood is bad for kids. For that matter, even if Mom remarries happily, it’s still supposedly bad for the world if biological father isn’t in his kids’ life.
In short — Ms. Shear and Mr. Temko (whoever drafted this) — are, with their colleagues — unable to literally distinguish between one parent and another when discussing “parents” in front of others who have some privilege (like a statutory justification) or grant to give them.
BUT — their own handbooks, and some appellate cases already involving parenting coordination, show clearly that they are QUITE able to distinguish one parent from another, and not only do, but literally plan how to, target mothers, specifically, for badmouthing and possible intervention in the form of getting the kids away from her. (I have two links to parent coordination handbooks on this post, you can check them out.).
The 10–20% of parents who remain in entrenched and high conflict two to three years after separation/divorce are significantly more likely to have severe personality disorders and/or mental illness (Johnston & Roseby, 1997).
You can’t see it here, but on the pdf it shows: in this quote, we have a triple-layer AFCC site. I believe Johnston is probably Janet Johnston (AFCC Board, or was). Kelly, (below) who’s being quoted in the section, if it’s Joan B. Kelly, has been called the “grande dame” of AFCC and mediation promotion in the family law courts. She runs a Northern California Mediation Center, and obviously publishes too. And Shear is AFCC. So — if so — that represents:
AFCC Shear quotes AFCC Kelly quoting AFCC Johnston, as to parent coordination, which is an AFCC idea. (this is FAR more common than most people — who are less obsessive about looking things up than me — realize. I have labored through some pretty detailed writings (NYState) where when they ran out of ideas, they simply restated them, and I literally read ALL the footnotes too, most of which were “ibid.”
Understanding the characteristics of parents with severe borderline, dependent, narcissistic, and antisocial personality disorders, why these parents react so strongly to rejection and loss, how the child is used in attempts to re-stabilize their functioning and punish the other parent, and how personality disorders are exacerbated by stress, conflict and the adversarial system will facilitate more effective work with these difficult clients.
Kelly (2008) Preparing for the Parenting Coordination Role: Training Needs for Mental Health and Legal Professionals 5 Journal of Child Custody 140,149-150
I don’t know how to state this clearly enough. The difficulty any professional has — who by definition holds an option to quit the profession (which they chose) in dealing with a ‘difficult client” is no comparison with the difficulty of dealing — year after year thanks to policies — with an “ex” who has threatened to kidnap or kill, who has beaten one before, or who may be and/or has molested children, possibly one’s own (dep. on the case) before. Suppose the shoe was on the other foot? Again, if professionals don’t like the difficulty they have an option — find another line of work.
But thanks to their insistence on THIS line of work, i.e., at public AND private expense, and explicit danger to the communities — almost no parent — and I’m going to say mother, specifically– can actually get free from real criminals they’ve had children with, even when he’s already in jail.
I know of one case where the person has already done time in an unbelievably severe situation, and this mother/daughter who already went through hell — is being stalked again. Until she’s safe, I’m not naming names, but once she is/they are, I will – because this case was high-profile and has been in the news.
One point of view is dealing with comfort, and potential burnout, in the performance of one’s duties that have internationally networked, federally-funded, county-judicial-level endorsed, and more — support groups. The other is of staying alive, housed, and after that, functional and employed at all.
If one continues to read the Amicus, it continues to complain and blame. The next quote by Shear is of Shear. Here’s a little further on in the Amicus:
Parenting coordination is a very intrusive model, inserting state authority into the daily family lives of parents and children. With those intrusive powers comes a duty to exercise restraint, discretion and wisdom.
This work often creates the perfect storm. Parenting coordinators struggle to avoid being triangulated into the family’s conflicts.
Well, they triangulated themselves in there to start with, intentionally! Which shows a lack of: “restraint, discretion, and wisdom” per se.
From page 18 (“just one more”!) – This chapter complains that California hasn’t legislated parenting coordination by stipulation (i.e., authorizing it by force) yet:
The only thing that is clear about appointment of parenting coordinators in California is that family courts are without jurisdiction to make them without a stipulation. Moreover, no published case has upheld orders resulting from a stipulated appointment of a parenting coordinator.
The quote from Greenberg in this Amicus acknowledges that professionals in California & Colorado (two hotspots of family law leadership; Center for Policy Research/Jessica Pearson et al. are in Denver) “spawned” the concept. Or rather, it “was spawned” — we can’t name an individual father, so perhaps it was a sort of psychological gang-rape that produced the idea (just kidding). Unlike “collaborative law” which actually names a father, “Stu Webb” out of MN. . .. And that this began in the 1990s.
We are now in 2011. Perhaps it’s time to admit that it’s a bad idea to start with; if even in California — where AFCC originated — they can’t get it into law!
The text continues — and understanding that I don’t know the underlying case, have not read the entire brief and am not an attorney, I’m to add a comment to the next section:
Of course, courts have no power to modify statutes. Statutes prescribe and proscribe what courts may do.
Damn right they do! On the other hand, has that really slowed down AFCC initiatives, has it? I think there’s been a track record of resounding success, if getting around constitutional and statutory limits pending changing the statutes to accommodate more income streams to court-connected (or formerly court-connected, like retired judges) professionals… is what’s intended.
The California Constitution (art. VI, § 22) prohibits the delegation of judicial power except for the performance of subordinate judicial duties. A trial court lacks either statutory or inherent power to require the parties to bear the cost of a special master’s services, even where it may have the authority to make the appointment. (People v. Superior Court (Laff) (2001) 25 Cal.4th 703)
The Court of Appeal reversed trial court orders delegating authority over the visitation schedule to a child custody evaluator, requiring one of the parents to participate in psychotherapy and requiring that all future custody mat- ters be heard before the same bench officer in In re Marriage of Matthews (1980) 101 Cal.App.3d 811, 816–817 because there was no statutory authority supporting such a delegation.
Just GUESSING here, but perhaps if over a 21-year period (in one state), it’s still being stated that there are Constitutional limits on delegating Judicial power, and three years later the Governor of Florida (Jeb Bush) brings it up in a reason for vetoing a parent coordination stipulation — there just MIGHT be a good reason! Parent Coordination is hardly an Occupy San Francisco (or anywhere else in California) grassroots protest or demand, is it, either?
We’re third generation fatherhood programs out here, we are also probably at least second-generation post-TANF (1996), post fatherhood (i.e., about 15-16 years since they passed), and perhaps– just perhaps — the last thing this state needs is more ideas originating from this nonprofit and all its collaborators in therapeutic jurisprudence great ideas.
Perhaps — just perhaps — it’s a good thing if constitutional and statutory limits on out-sourcing the judicial function mean something around here, for a change! Be content with what you got so far, as authorized by access/visitation (three categories of potential program fraud enabled) and all the marriage promotion money too, plus lots of the nonprofits — like ACFLS — not even bothering to report into the state Registry of Charitable Trusts (OAG) anyhow!
(REASON 4)
(4)
Moreover — like most AFCC promotions — the language promoting parent coordination continues to refuse to think or talk in terms of legal rights to INDIVIDUALS as the Declaration of Independence asserted, which helped kickstart the USA, claims they are. The language of parent coordination is continually pluralized, or group-talk. It does not, really, acknowledge that a person could be a member of a family (like “parent” “father” or “mother”) and yet really have — and deserve — equal standing as an individual in any matter, before the law.
Here’s an example from ParentCoordinationCentral.com (Termini/Boyan site). These are the supposed GOALS OF PARENT COORDINATION:
-
Educate parents regarding the impact of their behaviors on their child(ren)’s development.
[supports my thesis that AFCC members are often frustrated teachers. They want to teach EVERYONE, and if people don’t agree, they are clever about figuring out ways to force this, and be paid for it, too.] -
Reduce parental conflict through anger management, communication and conflict resolutions skills.[increasing the expense of divorce, treating parents like kids, undermining judicial authority, & due process, and invading one’s privacy sure will “reduce parental conflict”!! . .. And I haven’t even got (this post anyhow) to the training manual which has an openly hostile attitude towards mothers, it’s unbelievable).
-
Decrease inappropriate parental behaviors to reduce stress for the child.[goes with AFCC goal of switching from a legally defined set of prohibited behaviors to an arbitrary, subjective, and personalized version of what is appropriate or inappropriate parental behavior. Instead, how about just accept the basic definitions in the law, and as to court orders, compliance with them?]
-
Work with parents in developing a detailed plan for issues such as discipline, decision-making, communication, etc.[Good Grief! — Go have your own children, and raise them — well. Let’s see what fine examples they are, then parents can judge FREELY whether Mr. , Ms. & Mrs. Parent Coordinators are competent to make these plans. I mean — the concept is ridiculous! What about various cultures and family values, so long as they are not child abuse, domestic violence, or otherwise illegal?] [Even then it probably wouldn’t be a comparable situation, because the psychologists involved with the court, and AFCC professionals can usually drum up plenty of high-paying business, whereas a lot of the parents they are dealing with probably, by the time they are on the scene, absolutely cannot.]
-
Create a more relaxed home atmosphere allowing the child to adjust more effectively with the new family structure.[You want to have a more relaxed home atmosphere with children/ Again, go have your own and show it to us. Then we can, awestruck by your competence – – and if we want to — copy it!]
-
Collaborate with professionals involved with the family in order to offer coordinated service.[that’s closer to the real reason for it — more business referrals to colleagues]
-
Monitor parental behaviors to ensure that parents are fulfilling their obligations to their child while complying with the recommendations of the Court.[Children need due process, and they need an active, and respected Bill of Rights, for when they grow up. One purpose of the Bill of Rights was to keep snoops out of one’s private business, so long as that business didn’t ramble over into the criminal arena. It’s called LIFE, LIBERTY and PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. How can one pursue anything with the thought police on one’s heels?. . . . .Anyone who’s trying to function as a parent coordinator, and talking about children’s needs constantly (to justify it) apparently doesn’t comprehend what long-term dedication to one’s family AND country entails. It entails respecting its laws. I have before blogged an SF-area parent coordinator and family law attorney, who posted on his own site that the Constitution needs to be scrapped and rewritten, why revere it like Christians revere their Bible (guess he’s not one, and doesn’t understand how few Christians actually practice what’s in their Bible — or Constitution — to start with…)]
- The NH “Parent Coordinators” Association of 2009 “FAQs” suggest a benefit is:
- Q. What are the benefits of Parenting Coordination?
Parenting Coordination offers a much better way of resolving parenting plan issues than returning to court. And the resolution comes much faster than waiting for a court date and then the court decision. The Parenting Coordinator educates the parents about the harm to the children of hostility between parents, mediates issues as they arise, and if the parents are unable to resolve minor issues, makes the decision.
As ever, when selling their services, AFCC professionals see themselves as the mature adults on the scene, and the parents as a “plural,” and refuse to assign responsibility where it’s perhaps due. They seem to utterly lack curiosity in fact-finding as to that matter. This is understandable, because they deal in “psychology” more than law– which is the culture of the association. While two individual parents are often involved, in the marketing prose, it’s always “the parents” v. “the helping professionals”
However, once in the door, and in practice — then they are quick to blame ONE parent, often the mother, and recommend severe intervention, often removing of contact with the children to counter supposed “alienation.” In other words, they are hypocrites — professing neutrality and to be helping, but planning in advance (in this case) to do harm to one gender — the female, should she as a parent (mother) counter them.
I blogged this earlier, but again (from the same site) — here is their “sample” report from the handbook:
A handbook for the purpose and practice of parenting coordination prepared by PCANH.
Parts of this were credited (fn1 inside) to “Families Moving Forward, Inc.” in Indiana. This is a nonprofit formed in 2005, EIN# 432074631 with principal listed c/o “Gloria K. Mitchell.”
So of course I looked this person up — she is a Rising Star Super Attorney, member of National Association of Counsel for Children, and works in a four-woman firm. The nonprofit, however, is categorized as “exempt — earning under $25,000). website’s “Divorce and Parenting Research Links” is typical, plus a direct link to the Children’s Rights Council” (hover URL). CRC is pretty big in Indiana… Six years after passing the bar, Ms. Mitchell was on the Executive Committee of Family Law Section of Indiana Bar Assoc., and chaired it in 2005. The articles of incorporation show it’s a 501(c)4 (not “3”) and by address its place of business is another law firm in Noblesville, Indiana: Holt, Fleck & Romini. If the image (showing org.’s purpose) doesn’t show, it’s viewable for free on the site below.
| Entity Name | Type | Entity Type | City / State |
|---|---|---|---|
| FAMILIES MOVING FORWARD, INC. | Legal | Non-Profit Domestic Corporation | INDIANAPOLIS, IN |
Indiana Continuing Legal Education Forum
3rd Annual Family Law Summer Institute
and Family ICO Training Session July 28-29, 2005*
Amy concentrates her practice in matrimonial and family law matters. She was one of the first Indiana attorneys trained in collaborative law, and she has been instrumental in introducing the approach in Indiana. She has practiced collaborative law since 2007, has attended several conferences of the International Association of Collaborative Professionals,* and has been trained by collaborative law founder Stuart Webb. In addition, Amy also practices traditional litigation.
*Readers probably may not remember, so I’ll remind us. the “IACP” is another incarnation, membership association — out of many — formed by AFCC-type professionals, as you can see by the description:
ACP is the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, an international community of legal, mental health and financial professionals working in concert to create client-centered processes for resolving conflict.
In May of 1999, the first annual AICP [=American Institute of Collaborative Professionals] networking forum was held in Oakland, California. The following year, a meeting was held in Chicago to discuss the state of Collaborative legal practice across the country. The nearly 50 practitioners who attended this meeting agreed that AICP should serve as the umbrella organization for our rapidly-growing movement. At the same time, they recognized that since Collaborative Practice was also developing exponentially across Canada, the organization needed a broader, more inclusive name and mission. Thus the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals was born in late 2000, officially changing its name in 2001.
The Collaborative Review has been published continuously since May, 1999. The work begun by initial editors Jennifer Jackson and Pauline Tesler. . .
Jennifer Jackson (FYI, I’ve never met, spoken to, or dealt with her in court) is kind of branded in my mind as having helped start up Kids’ Turn (SF):
FYI — here is another Super Lawyer, high-profile, longstanding success. Her “about” page lists many accomplishments. Notice which comes first; notice also the variety of terms which are basic to the field: I’ll bold them:
About Jennifer Jackson
Before becoming a family lawyer in 1985, Jennifer Jackson was an illustrator and photographer, raising three children.
A LITTLE LOCAL COMMENTARY relating to this Super-Productive/Super Attorney and her many Nonprofits:
I know artists, including photographers and illustrators. It’s not that easy to make a living at; this speaks of either a good prior divorce settlement, (or not marrying) or some substantial education somewhere along the line, undergrad plus law school. That’s quite a set of accomplishments, but I don’t think represents an indigence. See Resume:
- BA with Honors in 1966, became family lawyer (passed bar?)
- 1985, with Professor’s Assistanceships (in law school) on child-related and mediation topics. Maybe I can assume that almost 20 year gap is called “Mom” and “Wife” time.
- In 1987, she helped found Kids’ Turn and was simultaneously involved in PTA Board at “Campolindo High School” where her kids probably attended. Campolindo is — well, its site describes it well:
“Located in the hills east of the University of California, Berkeley, Campolindo serves the professionally-oriented and well-educated suburban communities of Moraga and Lafayette. Students, teachers and parents work together to provide a positive climate for learning where mutual respect, trust and esteem are valued. ” . . .”In statewide API (Academic Performance Index) ratings, for the fifth year in a row, both the Acalanes District and Campolindo are ranked in the very top percentiles of all public high schools in California with an API score of 919. Nationally, Campolindo is recognized regularly in Newsweek magazine as one of the “Best High Schools in America”. The Association of Californa School Administrators honored Campolindo’s Principal, Carol Kitchens, as the Secondary Principal of the Year in 2009
Blending this background of creativity, caring and flexibility with her legal training enhances her practice of family law and expands the options for her clients.
Jennifer believes that a lawyer must be actively involved in her professional community, and that life is about making a difference. Jennifer is one of the founders of Kids’ Turn, a program for separating families begun in San Francisco which has expanded exponentially in size and in quality of service to children and families.
(If you know my blog, you know EXACTLY why and how Kids’ Turn “expanded exponentially in size” — see family law attorneys, evaluators & judges on the board, see access/visitation funds “facilitating” parent education programs. . . . .As to the quality of service? That’s debatable, but as I haven’t sat through any of the classes — except to note they use the word “parental alienation” a lot in stating benefits, i.e., “reduces parental alienation” type claims. I’ll withhold judgment on this, as should others who haven’t !!)
She is one of the founders of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals and served for eight years as co-editor of its journal, The Collaborative Review. She has had leadership roles in her professional organizations at local, state national and international levels, and is a past president of the Northern California chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.
Within five years of passing the bar, she is serving as a judge pro tem– how common is that? Or this?
Standing Committee on Custody, North: Chair 1988-1990
San Francisco Bar Association
Executive Committee, Family Law Section: Chair, 1992; Member: 1987-present
Fee Arbitration Panel: 1988-1990
Barristers Club, Co-Chair, Family Law Committee: 1988-1990
BASF Delegate to the State Bar Convention: 1989, 1990
Volunteer Legal Services Program Volunteer Attorney: 1986-2000[[This is almost another topic — I’ve footnoted it [VLSP* at bottom of post, a section in itself….]
Expert: Temporary Restraining Order Clinic
Jennifer has been given an “AV” rating by Martindale-Hubbell and has been named one of the top 50 female lawyers (“Super Lawyers”) in Northern California in all areas of practice by Law and Politics Publications for the past five years in a row. Jennifer practices alternative dispute resolution exclusively; she has trained extensively in mediation and collaboration, and is committed to keeping clients out of court and at the negotiating table.
| The IACP has created Standards for practitioners, trainers and collaborative practice trainings. It has promulgated Ethical Guidelines for Practitioners, and continues to support excellence in collaborative practice through resources, training curriculum, practice tools, mentoring and a comprehensive website, allowing collaborative practitioners to continue our tradition of sharing and learning from one another. |
Where we are going…
Today, the IACP has over 4,000 members from twenty four countries around the world. We are dedicated to educating the public about the Collaborative alternative. We are committed to fostering professional excellence in conflict resolution through Collaborative Practice. We invite you to peruse this site to learn more about IACP, our services and initiatives.
Amy is the past-chair of the Family Law Section of the Indianapolis Bar Association (2003) and is president of Families Moving Forward, Inc., a multi-disciplinary non-profit organization devoted to developing healthy approaches to family transitions.. . .[Law Degree summa cum laude Indiana Univ. School of Law, 1999; admitted to IN bar same year, graduate “with high distinction” in 1986. ]
5 years of work and/or law school, and within 4 more years she’s charing the Family Law Section of Indianapolis (that’s one city, not the whole state’s) Bar Assocation. What a nice nonprofit and what accomplished professionals, and how successful they are. As such, we should believe what they say, especially as the nonprofit “Families Moving Forward, Inc.” is DEVOTED to a HEALTHY APPROACH to “Family transitions.” (typically called divorces or custody matters).
FAMILIES MOVING FORWARD, INC., is an interdisciplinary organization of attorneys, mental health providers, accountants, and other professionals committed to improving the process of family transition in Indiana, by reducing conflict and cost, creating healthier outcomes for children, and enhancing the satisfaction of professionals serving families.
Seminars For Advanced Interdisciplinary Family Professionals
| Date | Name (Type) |
| 7/27/2006 | SEMINARS FOR ADVANCED INTERDISCIPLINARY FAMILY PROFESSIONALS, INC. D/B/A SAIF (Assumed)) |
Segments from the Indiana 2005 Sample PC report (handbook):
The sample report begins with a situation between father and stepfather which was hostile. Both wanted to coach on Little (10) Joey’s baseball team.
Therapy for both TOGETHER is recommended:
5. Mr. Smith and Mr. Doe should attend counseling sessions together to attempt to resolve their(For example, the mother did not want the father to volunteer on Fridays at school any longer. She maintained that the children were emotional and upset on those mornings and did not want to go to school. The teachers were contacted and reported that the children looked forward to and enjoyed their father’s presence.
AFCC CLAIMS CREDIT FOR HAVING DEVELOPING PARENT COORDINATION:
From their 5-year prospectus:
AFCC Guidelines for Parenting Coordination
In 2003, AFCC President George Czutrin appointed a Task Force to develop Model Standards of Practice for Parenting Coordination, following the first Task Force on Parenting
Coordination that conducted research and published the 2003 Report on Parenting Coordination Implementation Issues. The Task Force determined that the Parenting Coordination process was too new to use the term “Model Standards” and, in May 2005, proposed to the Board of Directors the AFCC Guidelines for Parenting Coordination. The Guidelines passed unanimously and are available on the AFCC Web site at http://www.afccnet.org/resources/standards_practice.asp.
AFCC Parenting Coordination Task Force: Christie Coates, J.D., M.Ed. (Chair), Linda Fieldstone, M.Ed., (Secretary), Barbara Ann Bartlett, J.D., Robin Deutsch, Ph.D., Billie Lee Dunford-Jackson, J.D. , Philip Epstein, Q.C., Barbara Fidler, Ph.D., Jonathan Gould, Ph.D., Hon. William Jones (ret.), Joan Kelly, Ph.D., Matthew J. Sullivan, Ph.D., Robert N. Wistner, J.D
. . . .
The following new publications have been developed since 2002 while dated products were been eliminated:
• Parenting Coordination: Implementation Issues
There are scholarly articles galore about this. One by matthew Sullivan, Ph.D. (and a parent coordinator) uses the phrase repeatedly in the abstract — but to access the article one-time costs $34 and permanently $155. Needless to say, not many people who have parent coordinators in their lives can afford to read up on it….
“In 1994 the concept of parent coordination was spawned by a concerned group of professionals in California and Colorado who
WHILE PROMOTION EFFORTS TEND TO PHRASE PARENT COORDINATION PASSIVELY (as if a natural development), IN PRIVATE PUBLICATIONS, IT TAKES RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PROMOTION OF THE FIELD:
AFCC STAYS FOCUSED ON IMPLEMENTING AND PROMOTING PARENT COORDINATION:
And I am going to show you what apparent frauds some of the prime “trainers” are in this field too. But first, let’s look at the upcoming 2012 conference called:
The New Frontier
Exploring the Challenges and Possibilities of the Changed Landscape for Children and the Courts:
This is an upcoming (Feb. 2012) meeting of the California Chapter of the AFCC. An entire day is dedicated to a workshop on Parenting Coordination, and a secondary one talks about how to get it in there — even if parents are indigent.
Here are the presenters’ bios (please scroll through). Some are more than a page, others short. Notice the types of professionals involved (typical), Judges, Attorneys and Psychologists, Mediators, etc. Some have been around forever (Joan B. Kelly, Dianna Gould-Saltzmann) others seem newer:
Graduate of Tehran University School of Law and Harvard…
Abbas Hadjian, Esquire devotes a substantial part of his family law practice to educating the Farsi‐speaking community on the comparisons between the American and Iranian legal system and recently published “Divorce in California,” which is written in Farsi. He is an expert on Iranian culture and laws.
(from his website, partial description of an amazing background):
Mr. Hadjian was born, educated and lived in Iran until 1980. Between 1959 and 1968 Mr. Hadjian was a professional journalist in Iran, with positions including editor, writer, reporter, translator and commentator in major Iranian publications and news agencies. His profession a journalist required and helped Mr. Hadjian’s foundational understanding of the Iranian legal, social, economical and political structure. Between 1962 and 1966, Mr. Hadjian attended the School of Law, Political Science and Economics in Tehran University. Among others, he received courses in Iranian Constitution, Civil, Family and Probate law, furthering his understanding of the legal, social, economic and political infrastructure of his native country.
Upon graduation. Mr. Hadjian became a political appointee in the Office of the Governor General, Iranian Southern Ports and Islands (Persian Gulf), where he acted as a ranking civil officer in the region until 1978, the year of the Iranian Revolution. As deputy to the Governor General in social and economic affairs, Mr. Hadjian relied heavily on his legal studies and implemented them in real life situations. In 1975, Harvard University accepted him to the renowned Edward S. Mason Program for Public Development on full scholarship, acknowledging five years of Mr. Hadjian’s services in developing the Persian Gulf region as one year of post-graduate studies. He was awarded a Masters Degree in Public Administration
A related site from “Culture Counts.net” (site has three diverse professionals) has a page about fatherhood, the new normal, which “surprisingly” reminds readers about:
Positive Effects of Father Involvement on Children
- Children display increased self-confidence.
- Better able to deal with frustration and other feelings.
- Higher grade point averages.
- More likely to mature into compassionate adults.
- Paternal emotional responses to sons were associated with a 50% decrease in sons’ expressions of sadness and anxiety from preschool to early school age
Positive Effects of Father Involvement on Men
- Helps men reevaluate their priorities and become more caring human beings who are concerned about future generations.
- May reduce health-risk behaviors.
- Decreases psychological distress as emotional involvement with children acts as a buffer against work-related stress.
- Happiness and increased physical activity.
- Sense of accomplishment, well-being, and contentment.
- Men tend to be more involved with extended family and others in the community.
- Over time, fatherhood increases marital stability.
Leslie Ellen Shear, JD, CFLS, CALS
Ms. Shear is a graduate of UCLA School of Law and admitted to the California Bar in 1976 and maintains her practice in Encino, California. A frequent lecturer in custody matters, she has been involved in a number of high-profile custody cases over the years – most recently, Marriage of LaMusga and Marriage of Seagondollar.
9:00am – 5:15pm
All Day Institute (2)
(I2) Inside Parenting Coordination Practice in California: Managing Roles, Responsibilities, and Risks
- Lyn Greenberg, Ph D
- Alexandra Leichtner, JD
- Leslie Ellen Shear, JD, CFLS, CALS
- W1 Establishing a Local Parenting Coordination Program Including Pro Bono PC Services to Indigent FamiliesHonorable Lorna Alksne// Charlene S. Baron, JD, MA // Shirley Ann Higuchi, JD // Lori Love, Ph D
http://www.link.cs.cmu.edu/link/submit-sentence-4.html
III. Parenting Coordinators Work With the Most Difficult Family Court Population – Those Most Prone to Assert Grievances and Challenge Decisionmakers
… cases are usually referred to parenting coordination because they are chronically litigious and difficult to manage. These parents have often had several attorneys, evaluators, and mediators — professional hopping and shopping is rampant. Their court files are thick with motions, court appearances, and allegations of wrongdoing by the parents.
Coates, Deutsch et al. (2004) Parenting Coordination for High-Conflict Fami- lies 42 Fam. Ct. Rev. 246, 252The child custody cases referred to parenting coordinators are the most complex, acrimonious, difficult and demanding cases. Most parents regain their perspective and bearings within two years of separation, and do not need this kind of intensive and ongoing service model. Parents who continue to return to court with enforcement and modification requests after completing co- parenting educational programs, and after a child custody evaluation are can- didates for parenting coordination,
Parents who need a PC intervention are typically a special group for whom the passage of time has not reduced the rage and angry behaviors of at least one if not both parents. The 10–20% of parents who remain in entrenched and high conflict two to three years after separation/divorce are significantly more likely to have severe personality disorders and/or mental illness (Johnston & Roseby, 1997). Understanding the characteristics of parents with severe borderline, dependent, narcissistic, and antisocial personality disorders, why these parents react so strongly to rejection and loss, how the child is used in attempts to re-stabilize their functioning and punish the other parent, and how personality disorders are exacerbated by stress, conflict and the adversarial system will facilitate more effective work with these difficult clients.
Kelly (2008) Preparing for the Parenting Coordination Role: Training Needs for Mental Health and Legal Professionals 5 Journal of Child Custody 140,149-150
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[VSLP*]. This footnote comes from a fragment of attorney Jennifer Jackson’s resume, which itself came from a bio of another nonprofit, Families Moving Forward, Inc. in Indiana. I was following up in another nonprofit, “International Association Collaborative Professionals” and I guess you can see about how curious I am about the inter-relationships of various nonprofits.
I looked at the staff. This one caught my attention — because of the specialties, not him personally:
Chris Emley (in 2011, or at least now on the website.)
Chris is a certified family law specialist and a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, with 41 years of experience focusing on child custody litigation. He has been included in Best Lawyers in America since 1991. He has helped to govern VLSP since its inception in 1979. He received the State Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award in 1983, the Legal Assistance Association of California’s Award of Merit in 1989, and two Awards of Merit from The Bar Association of San Francisco (1977 and 2004). He was a BASF board member from 1979 through 1981, and chaired the Lawyer Referral Service Committee. Chris was Vice President of the San Francisco Child Abuse Council, Chairman of the Board of Legal Assistance to the Elderly, and Chairman of the Board of Legal Services for Children, Inc.
There happens to be one pro bono group in the SF Bay area which used to help women leaving violence and eventually in the news (and had I known at the time to check all these 990s, I’d have seen the notation that it specialized in helping NONCustodial, low-income fathers, I’d have realized why this group refused to help so many mothers stuck in the family law system.). The presence of a Certified Family Law Practitioner on the board of VSLP, with his emphasis being on children’s rights, and without question, children in ANY institutional system these days need help and representation, does make me wonder who is helping with women’s rights when it comes to actual mothers who aren’t in jail for killing their batterers (which have some groups advocating) — but actually dealing with the horrors of year after year in a custody battle with a violent or abusive ex, and doing so without even a grasp of how it works, or who pays its bills.
General Comments:
I don’t see anything in VSLP which remotely deals with the situation, and was able to get no actual help (legal representation of any sort, pro bono) in my case either, not past the initial restraining order, and a perfunctory (and NOT in court) attempt to renew it, which I was told would be a non-issue, it’s often granted automatically! No one came to court where I, like many, many other “custodial” mothers after leaving abuse, was blindsided by a prior ex parte movement consolidating renewal with a divorce and custody matter, thus shifting the case into the family law system, where it remained, and where the actual topic of ongoing DV was drowned by the type of talk we see in these realms — psychological states, not literal deeds!
The moral is, every program and every nonprofit has its target clientele. As the target clientele (for keeping in their proper place) in so many federal grants to the states are fathers (when it comes to custody matters), it would make no “sense” for the government to also pay the opposing side, the protective mothers!
[[Interesting program, project of SF Bar: its family law person Chris Emley also on Board of “Legal Services for Children” which (as of 2001) got funding from City & County of SF, SF Dept. of Public Health, and SF Dept. of Children, Youth & Their Families.
Its address seems to be a few doors down from Kids Turn: 1254 Market vs. 1242 Market Street. “Legal Services for Children” (2010) shows no Chris Emley on the Board, but its main purposes are: 1. Guardianship for children wanting it; 2. Helping kids dealing with expulsion and school-related issues; 3. Immigration. . ..It also represents children in foster care and helps support LGBT youth. 200 Volunteer attorneys gave over $1mil worth of their help. The group received over $1 mill. of contrib& grants, and gave $65,000 to a DC nonprofit, National Juvenile Defender Center (EIN# 02060456. On “Foundation Finder” this EIN doesn’t pull up a tax return…..for any year. Nor does a name search! However from NCCSdataweb, I see that it was incorporated in 2002 (legal services for children, in 1975). This “National Juvenile Defender Center” interests me: 2002 income, 0. A 2007 letter from Andrea Weisman, signed DC Dept of Youth Rehab. Services (“DYRS”) (shares address with a Board member of NJDC, Mark Soler, 2002) expresses the serious problems of Youth in Adult Facilities. Weisman and Soler (again, board member of the group which got $65K grant from the West-Coast “Legal Services for Children,” which takes funding from various depts. of SF and its city & county) worked together (1999?) on “No Minor Matter: Children in Maryland’s Jails.” Weisman notes she got a $1.6mil grant from OJJDP. ]]
National Juvenile Defender Center:
2002– income is zero. By 2009 — they are into Technical Training and Assistance. And ExDir. Patricia Puritz as only paid director, gets $134K salary) — and have landed over $5 million of grants, and earning $10K from investment income and have some serious program income in 2010 ($119K= almost (but not quite) enough to pay their own Exec. Director:. Check it out. So why, in the following year (revenues down to $405K — but probably some leftovers, wanna bet?) did a group in SF just grant them $65,000? Or was that a sort of tax equalization between them both. I live in the same state as “Legal Service for Children, Inc.” and we know that our K-12 schools are taking a serious hit? Why should enough money to feed, clothe and house three families in this area for a year, be given to a nonprofit out of DC that just got $5 million the year before?
The National Juvenile Defender Center (NJDC) was created in 1999 to respond to the critical need to build the capacity of the juvenile defense bar and to improve access to counsel and quality of representation for children in the justice system. In 2005, the National Juvenile Defender Center separated from the American Bar Association to become an independent organization. NJDC gives juvenile defense attorneys a more permanent capacity to address practice issues, improve advocacy skills, build partnerships, exchange information, and participate in the national debate over juvenile crime.
They operate 9 US Regional Centers; the California one is in SF and among its projects is:
MacArthur Juvenile Indigent Defense Action Network (JIDAN)
In 2008, California was selected by the the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation as one of four sites in the nation to participate in the foundation’s Juvenile Indigent Defense Action Network (JIDAN). The four JIDAN sites, Massachusetts, Florida, New Jersey and California, join the four MacArthur Models for Change “core” states of Illinois, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Washington to form an eight-state network.
The California team is led by the Youth Law Center, and includes members from the Center for Families, Children and the Courts of the California Administrative Office of the Courts; the Loyola Law School Center for Juvenile Law & Policy; the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office; theSan Francisco Public Defender’s Office; the Contra Costa County Public Defender’s Office; andHuman Rights Watch.
The eight-state network is coordinated through the National Juvenile Defender Center (NJDC), and engages juvenile defenders, policymakers, judges and other key stakeholders in designing strategies to improve juvenile indigent defense policy and practice. California was chosen as a result of its demonstrated ability to achieve measurable reform on juvenile indigent defense issues. California’s JIDAN work will be centered in the Pacific Juvenile Defender Center.
The Exec. Director of this “NJDC.INFO” nonprofit (inc. 2002) was in 2003 appointed by the Governor of Virginia to a Board of Juvenile Justice:
This bio/blurb places Ms. Puritz Professionally, prior to here, she was ABA Juvenile Justice Center, etc.
Much of this relates to the “OJJDP” and the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act. This is an entirely different category than “Parenting Coordination” through the family law center; it is dealing with things such as the US being the world largest per-capita jailor, that those in jail are disproprotionately minority, that horrible things are happening to youth while in confinement, etc. By comparison, the “Parent Coordinator” issue seems like kids’ play unless one begins to wonder how many of the youth in detention had parents stuck in the family law system, which definitely cuts down on actual parenting time and focus!
p://www.americanbar.org/groups/child_law/policy/juvenile_justice.html
Let's Get Honest! Absolutely Uncommon Analysis of Family & Conciliation Courts' Operations, Practices, & History 
For the year 2011