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

This is an opportunistic post.  I exploited the opportunity to leverage another’s single, recent Tweet to make a few points and share some relevant information others that Tweet withheld. “You” in post title references who sent that quoted (and embed, with my responses) below.

I’ll repeat the title link and surrounding text below the “Foreword” added later:

Yeah, I talk Ohio HB 508, Ohio DVN (and with it, Ohio IPV Collaborative), OhioJudges.org (a bit),** JD Supra, LLC (in California) just because, UNLIKE NFVLCgwu, it published a few articles by Kohrman Jackson & Krantz LLP, KJK.com (an Ohio law firm with offices in Cleveland and in the state capital, Columbus) and because one of its just three family lawyers (with the most recent J.D. and Bar passage) actually did post a link to HB508 and even, briefly, explained a few things about it.

(**whatever I had to say about OhioJudges.org is on Twitter; I didn’t get to it this time around, and I do not have the full overview yet.  IT was referenced in the Tweet I’m responding to, and would be good to develop an awareness of, especially if you live in Ohio (and I imagine other states have their versions, too).

It wasn’t too surprising that the Family Law part of Kohrman Jackson & Krantz LLP had several references to High-Conflict and Parental Alienation.  At least, on JD Supra®, the article published by one of the Family Law team provided the courtesy of a link to the bill from a government website (continued below Post, and related post titles)..

Post Title:  “So, You Want Us To Speak Out Against Ohio HB 508, Maybe Listen for an HOUR, But No Time to LINK to it Up Front? [Publ. May 27, 2022].” (short-link ends: -ez3) . . . . 

Off-ramped “Foreword” — I had a LOT more to say, but moved it over to a related or “twin” post.  About to publish both of them the same day, or at most one day apart.  This one first…The other one delivers a bit of a bombshell, but at least helped answer some long-standing concerns I had about the situation in Columbus…

More Ohio, Ah, ‘Evolving Situations,’ Like Capital University Law School’s NCALP, I mean FYouthLaw (to end Aug. 2022) with its Ohio IPV Collaborative and Family Advocacy Clinic with Wexner-Epstein (Yes, THAT Epstein) Connections [Publ. May 28, 2022] (case-sensitive short-link ends “-eBE”)

The KJK.com article #1 of just 2 on JD Supra® platform:

Ohio House Bill 508: A Potentially Monumental Shift In Ohio Child Custody Law – Part 1: The Current Law by Janet Stewart Scalley.  (shown on JD Supra). Here’s “Part 2“

Neither part is dated, both are short. (Both contain a link to HB 508, at: https://legiscan.com/OH/bill/HB508/2021.)

JDSupra.com “Branding – Visibility – Intelligence – Guidance” ” Leverage Your Thought Leadership”
JD Supra, LLC Content Marketing (but began with focus on helping law practices develop their bran ds) is interesting and you probably should take notice, on its own.  Just two co-founders… Aviva Cuyler (name found on BizFileOnline.SOS.ca.gov, i.e., the LLC-lookup) and Adrian Lurssen (LinkedIn) (The “u” in Lurssen should have an umlaut). JD Supra, LLC is impressive, though several delinquencies noted at the secretary of state. I won’t deal with those here. Aviva Cuyler’s school of law was in Connecticut, she passed the California Bar, but has since (about 2015/ this LLC only formed about 2007) become inactive (through non-payment of fees), most likely because with this business model, she doesn’t need to practice law!

(For a sample, search @JDSupra on Twitter and see just how many types of accounts / newsletters, reports, etc. are shown!)

Also in the collective “Oppose Ohio HB 508” mix  I found getting some local Ohio media mentions, and in four comments submitted on the text of the bill itself) a unique, i.e., easily searchable surname “Nancy Fingerhood“[<~Facebook], a self-identified “NSPC” member and Tina Swithin One Mom’s Battle group member  (Nov. 26, 2021, in “The Vindicator,” and  Guest Opinion, April 15, 2022, in Cleveland.com). Fingerhood’s name surfaced while I was searching for the bill and “shared custody.”  She seems associated, so far, with New Jersey, Colorado, possibly California, or at least with OMB in California, and now Ohio…  I added to this already full topics list only because NFVLCgwu (whose Tweet I’m responding to) collaborates with, publishes supportive comments from NSPC (National Safe Parents Coalition) member (Ms. Swithin)  and was even featured on a paid-for press release.

In other words, an NSPC/”OMB” connection in this context is relevant; see my posts February – April, 2022. otherwise I wouldn’t bother mentioning a single, though vocal, individual. To find them, either just search “FamilyCourtMatters.org NSPC” (Google, or whichever search engine you use) to browse those post titles, or, I’ll make it simple — because my April 4, 2022, post lists the others and includes a captioned images from its PR-Web announcement. Someone associated with non-entity “NSPC” sponsored the announcement, NFVLCgwu seconded it (see nearby image).  Click on link to access the other post titles & links, in this color background.  If you want to. One of those posts details the name-changing/shape-shifting California LLC and nonprofit (as though one container was emptied and the contents placed into another), as well as its profiting alongside and copying the business model of AFCC individuals using the term “High-Conflict” (Bill Eddy and others)…  And charging Moms to sit through training, building that network, etc.

NSPC — ‘Coalition’ Meaning What? Rebranding the Same Themes with, Generally, the Same Entities … … ? [Begun Feb. 6, 2022, Publ. April 4]. (case-sensitive short-link ends “-dxg”).

PRWeb.com Fri April 1, 2022 Promo by NSPC for NSPC and NFVLC re getting STATES to pass VAWA ALL 50 States to pass Kayden’s Law). NFVLC Quote (right sidebar press release) ref. Danielle Pollack.

. . . .Why I use “NSPC” but those behind it, don’t.

---

…This post focuses on NSPC, but as both websites and their related social media accounts (of these, I only use Twitter) continue promoting what each individually and each other, and others who share their perspectives and paradigms, have been accomplishing, I now understand that the NSPC (website and campaign) was intended from the start to be the more temporary  and to help promote NFVLC. The NFVLC needed the passage of “Kayden’s Law – VAWA” for its director’s credibility, a victory to point to, on agenda of further nationalizing, first, United States’ family courts and eventually, the world’s

I also provide below an informal, by-recall, bulleted list of relevant OHIO factors I previously posted or at least noticed on this particular state.  Among those, the fatherhood grants (not always under the expected CFDA program numbers, that is, federal grants program labeling, far exceeds those allocated to domestic violence program numbers.  (CFDA.gov wording has changed, but the program numbers, I believe, are retained.  “Category of Federal Domestic (meaning, USA, vs. international) Assistance), and large amounts were going to a single Ohio university.

Because the May 18 tweet tagged (and a later one, quoted) the Ohio DVN, I brought up the Ohio IPV Collaborative at Capital University Law School (a private university in the state capital, with an “ECLA” seminary on campus, ‘Trinity Lutheran.”).  Ohio DVN is listed as a member of that “collaborative.”  (ECLA:  Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, organized in 1988, more progressive than some other varieties, three (churches) merged to form this one; some others, probably, split off in response over (the usual volatile issues).. Its HQ is in Chicago).

The Ohio IPV Collaborative automatically raises the issue of public/private partnership with (as to both public and private entities) known father-focused groups, parts of the state government, and and almost slavish, obsequious, “star-struck” commitment to sponsor David Mandel’s “Safe & Together Institute” model, state-wide trainings, etc. I will link to some previous posts (on Ohio IPV, some of this), but may have more to say here — ALL of this plays into the proposed legislation, and should (naturally) have been mentioned (years ago) by those so vocal to oppose it, whether or not such opposition is appropriate. (From what I can tell, it probably is — but that’s not my point here..).

RE: NFVLCgwu

Remember, as pertains to domestic violence, abuse of former or current (female) partners and subsequent murder of their (or her) biological children in the context of “family courts” —  as described on its website, “NFVLCgwu doesn’t even mention or say “family courts,” let alone “domestic violence,” but only “family violence.”

While we may like to assume there is a feminist drive and concern, this certainly isn’t embedded into the center’s purpose, as it was (at least in business entity name) with predecessor “Domestic Violence Legal Empowerment and Appeals Project (“DVLEAP“) under the same director, Joan Meier.   Its website, so far, hasn’t posted a public copy of any tax return beyond 2019 (Fiscal Year Ending Dec: EIN# is 201076297.

DVLEAP being also a member of the District of Columbia “Coalition Against Domestic Violence” (DCCADV.org) must “toe the line” of the federally-funded coalition, which in each state (or D.C.) also controls (basically) its members — and that standard we’ve already noticed incorporates tolerance and encouragement/welcoming of partnerships (informal or consulting or otherwise) with fatherhood-friendly, father-engagement professionals, across the board.

Support the National Family Violence Law Center  (url: law.GWU.edu/..(etc.)

Your support will help ensure that the National Family Violence Law Center advances the critical work being done at GW to improve the nation’s response to family violence. Grants and individual donations are tax-deductible, made through the university, and assigned to the center’s budget.

In this post I also raise surrounding points, and mention organizations and non-entities at law schools that continue to surface in my blog, regarding this strange state of Ohio. When you do this kind of writing for a dozen years or so, specific states have their unique characteristics, or catch my attention because of (usually) specific types of, well, corruption or centralization outrages.  Ohio just keeps coming up…

I footnoted another blog post where Ohio domestic violence (or fatherhood-promotion) organizations or other features play a key role.  I know there were several.

Another one, drawing down Federal SAMHSA funds, was so complicated, I felt I should issue a disclaimer “Don’t Shoot the Messenger” in its title, or close to its long, convoluted title… (AFCC member/s-involved… the field was parenting education)…I see it was posted Christmas Day: Dec. 25, 2018.  In my personal life narrative, I’d relocated from California, and was in a good, safe place (and lease!) at the time. FYI, in general, I just don’t do holidays — any of them — any more.

Assembling the Pieces: [1] AFCC Conference Diamond (top) Sponsor “Avirat” (2001 MN, later in UK, product “OurFamilyWizard(™)”) found promoting [2] “Family Works, Inc.” (last found registered in Oregon, running “ParentingWisely(™)”) which probably profits ℅ royalties from [3]“Center For Divorce Education, Inc.” (Ohio Legal Domiciled Nonprofit at the same Ashland, Oregon, address, under same CEO, running “Children In Between(™) “) which takes (for Out-of-State + Spanish-Speaking Parents) Court-Ordered Parent Education Business from [4] Cuyahoga County, Ohio’s Domestic Relations Court’s “Special Circumstances, Rule 34” (1994ff). (Short-link ends “-9lB” and the middle character is a small “L” not the number “1”) This link and full title will be posted again further below. Post as published is just under 12,000 words.

(How do you think I keep my own posts straight after nine years and almost 800 of them — by total recall and three-word reminders or by placing as many clues in the title as possible to the contents resulting in outrageously long, but memorable [to me!] titles?)

Don’t shoot the messenger.  I didn’t make this mess, I’m just translating some of it.

This post  “So, YouWant Us To Speak Out Against Ohio HB 508, Maybe Listen for an HOUR, But You’ve Not Time to LINK to it Up Front? [Draft May 24, 2022].” (short-link ends: -ez3) also tests my research to production speed, sort of a personal challenge. These can backfire, but rarely without educating myself alongside sharing what I find.  Without that side benefit, I might have quit years ago..

This is the May 18, 2022, Tweet:

Today on Ohio Public Radio

@nfvlcgwu Policy Manager is interviewed by @annfisherwosu

about risks to children in 50/50 child custody laws like that currently proposed in OH. Over 90 organizations oppose HB508 inc @OhioDVN @OhioJudges

FULL SEGMENT https://news.wosu.org/show/all-sides-with-ann-fisher/2022-05-18/shared-parenting-legislation…… @WOSU

(This and the next few quotes are in text format:  further below I provide as “Embedded Tweet.”  I can only embed my own Tweets, but as they’re replies, they’ll connect to the others).

“OhioDVN” I already knew, so I looked first (as I recall) at “OhioJudges.org”; learned a lot there, and said I said the next day, May 19, first:

[Me,] Replying to

@nfvlcgwu

@annfisherwosu

and 3 others

So, I was reading about http://OhioJudges.org & found the part of their biennial report relating to Family Law, learned that membership =/= public office but it seems no IRSForms990 are required, that it began mid-1900s & much more.

Then (a “Quote re-Tweet,” i.e., replying via RT):

If this is a public interest tweet, 1)where is a link to the bill proposed?; 2) who really knows #OhioDVN? (Srchable on my blog, its FY2020 return:https://tinyurl.com/OhioDVN-341622848-2020-FYESep…) dn even distribute its $4M+ govt grants to state DV orgs) read!); and 3) OH judges not quite org or govt.. etc.

So you can see that basically, this post springs from two urges: (1) my desire to share links and look-up of the Bill in question and some (not-that-) peripheral** discoveries to add to other awareness of who and what is “Ohio” and is going on in Ohio in this context because it’s timely, interesting, and relevant, and (2) my irritation at how the individuals associated with the NFVLCgwu (non-entity), boasting and publicizing consistently their resources (Endowed Chair for Director at GWU Law School) and any media or academic citations as showing their importance to the field emphasize joining and following but neglect basic, common-courtesy links and points of reference to what, at any point in time, they are actually talking about.