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

You are reading:

Standard Journalism on Each New Family Court Fiasco Wastes Your Time, and Mine [Publ. July 14, 2022]. (short-link here ends “-eRJ”)  

As revised Nov. 13, 2022 to clarify #EndTheAcronym “CAFR” (a term I used 20 times below; it’s been a theme in this blog for a decade) about 12,000 – 13,000 words, in clearly marked sections).  You will detect my sense of irritation and feeling both a bit besieged and betrayed in that opening section, which is narrative and not detailed documentation; but detailed documentation describes What I Do; when I summarize, I’m speaking from that awareness and years of investigations, not free-lance, not on any sponsored fellowship, or for employment.  I’ve done it because it needs doing, and because I’ve yet to see anyone PAID for doing this who’s willing to expose the public/private enterprises or the philanthropic sector as a whole, which my studies have led consistently to over the years, as an issue of its own. I’ve also done it for future generations, and as a mother: even though my children are now fully adult, not even that young; I still care about what they may face down the road.  

I want a record preserved of what I have seen, and what I have also talked a bout year after year, “to the contrary” of typical advocacy, typical journalism and which reflects at the highest levels on policy-making; on what this country is doing to its citizens WITH their resources, and where that’s going.

More to the point (of why I want to call attention to it, again), this post lists titles of seven planned posts around this theme, talking about themes I believe deserve higher priority, and in this list also featuring the nature and major players of the family courts, by name and (as to Denver, Colorado, USA specifically and also naming specific entities or agencies, Commonwealth Countries Canada, the UK, and of course Australia) and “time for a re-cap” of what, exactly, is the AFCC.

If you read nothing else below, read those titles (probably the bottom half of the post) and what’s immediately before the listing, with comments in between.  Know that of that list ONLY this one has been published so far (so no links shown there except to this one will be active as of Nov. 2022)..

Nov. 13, 2022, update sections (plural, next) aren’t a separate post only because I have other posts and obligations (life tasks) higher in priority. These sections are probably a third of the total length.  

It’ will sound and it feels awkward to go back and update posts written months (or, sometimes, years ago) but I am not in a position to do several re-writes.  This fix, an extended “update” typed directly onto an already-published post, is a compromise.  In different conditions, I would have started a new post with better-written updates and just link back to this one.

These updates are more informal, summary and rushed than anything below it, which information and expression I still stand by, enough to be re-posting it (probably with images) on Twitter, even a platform now owned by Elon Musk and with an uncertain future. Sometimes I feel speaking out NOW pre-empts speaking out PERFECTLY  (as to expression, not as to subject matter or basic content which I say is decent and fair).  Of course it contains some of my feelings and sentiment about dealing, long-term, with the same dilemma and with coalitions of people of indeterminate number, influence (but seeking major influence) getting press coverage, but whom I know as beyond unethical in the reporting and approach. They are not “the good guys” in the situation, even when possibly talking about even worse guys.

Rather than talk ABOUT the problem issues, these (FamilyCourtReformists and their favorite journalists and/or cheerleaders from outside the USA when talking about things inside it) pick “substitute” issues and talk them up instead, get published somewhere — several “wheres” in fact, and relentlessly refer to each other each time.

Quantity over quality prevails throughout.

These operate like cults and I say because of that, are corrupt, obstruct justice and because impervious to reason (while publishing and social-media promoting as though exercising it), also dangerous to sound government (while proclaiming it’s what they really want).  If RICO (a single, overall, “Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organization”) were the best and most accurate answer to this question: “what are the family courts and their peripheral operations as an enterprise?” this crowd would be LEAST likely to expose it, and are probably (therefore) IN on it, as it’s obvious they don’t want anyone else exposing it, either.

References to “cottage industry” (easier to dismiss or contemplate, minimizes) yes.  RICO? No.  But I’ve made and posted this comparison (Search RICO on the blog, top right sidebar).  The key concept behind “RICO” is “CRIMINAL” — organized crime.  That’s why when the problems keep showing up, it’s that organization that should be reported (how it’s’ structured — not individual laws or policies).  What do we do when government begins to resemble and act like “organized crime?”  Which is scarier — an individual abuser in a community, or that situation, which affects all of the communities, plural?

I don’t know exactly how, when, or by whom, these individuals and their respective entities (or, non-entities) were compromised, but that they have been (if they even started from a legitimate perspective or motive) is evident.  That this also involves Harvard, University of Chicago, at times Yale, Princeton, etc. graduates, law professors (east coast, west coast) and marriage/family therapists (like Mo Hannah, PhD,**) is no less disturbing, in fact more so.  With backing, often, by major tax-exempt foundations, or universities which have the same, in abundance not to mention institutional funds: large ones..

(** who co-founded the Battered Mothers Custody Conference, operating without incorporating, and  featuring, most years, a California nonprofit which has been since FTB/SOS suspended there, barely casts a fiscal shadow but shows up promoted on the “Safe Parents” website, welcomed as among the initial “members” while I’ve been blocked by both it and some of the (original) members, on Twitter).

Meanwhile, the IRS database (http://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/) even ProPublica.org admits isn’t current.  Beyond it not being current, its search results showing “location” aren’t always showing legal domicile; and entity addresses can change without legal domicile changing.  When there are many similar but not identical filings named after specific causes, how search by geography?

I’d love to take on THAT project; it is on my back burner to find out why.  A problem arises when the IRS isn’t posting the latest delivered tax returns; an entity may change its name before they do so.  Other data comes from those IRS returns.  I’ve read that, and some entities clearly understand (because their returns say so in a Schedule O (Supplementary info to a Form 990) they aren’t subject to questioning for tax returns older than three years.  If the postings are already two years behind, how is that supposed to help with open and transparent government?

<>Preview and Sound-Off, WHY I’m feeling a need to reference this post again:

(Nov. 13, 2022.  Yes, I voted!).

Although I never got to publish any of those seven posts, my describing them here with lengthy titles and some previews did announce aloud that this theme, in my voice, my words and with my (known) perspective was coming.

(From the post below, it shows there also):

Media awareness should also incorporate for-profit vs. tax-exempt awareness. Always look for the entity names and figure out which type it is or was. Media is often owned (and sponsored) by the powerful and well-connected. Access to or control of platforms as well as brands and entities are bought and sold, or rented (licensed). They may also be privately controlled, i.e. not public-traded.  They are rarely neutral.

That goes for universities too, though most are tax-exempt (private) or tax-exempt (because public); which is which also matters.

 (2) Why Denver and the University of Denver? IAALS.DU.edu (2006ff: AFCC IAALS leaders want to import/embed Australian FamilyCourt models despite their own failed pilot 2013-2017). What Other Family-Court-Facing Entities Call Denver ‘Home’? [Begun June 18, 2022]. (case-sensitive short-link ends “-eGa”)

 

(The above quote, above the title, is my voice. Although this post isn’t published yet, I quoted enough from it for anyone who’s aware of what I was GOING to be talking about, such as the AFCC connection to IAALS.DU.edu, and the “Healthy Marriages/ResponsibleFatherhood dynamic duo (or, trio if you include Galena Rhoades) at the same DU’s “Center for Marital and Family Studies” (Scott Stanley, Howard J. Marksman, et al.) — not to mention the presence for FOUR decades now of the nonprofit “Center for Policy Research” run, in part, by Jessica Pearson, Ph.D. (Also now active in FRPN.org, which I keep bringing up, as attempting to establish state-wide Fatherhood Commissions nationwide, and while the website references Temple University in Pennsylvania, the HHS grants in this project (and, FRPN is a project, not an entity) goes to the University, not CPR, which in turn subcontracts with that university.

“Family Court Fiasco” reporting could come from any state.  Such cases exist in many states: pick one, you’ll find several.  That Denver and Colorado seem to be current and VERY recent focuses seems a bit extra “coincidental.”  Whether or not it is, DV advocates and family court people, as well as family lawyers and of course judges should be and no doubt are well aware what entities in Colorado play significant roles in addressing domestic violence and child abuse in courts nationwide.

(Still Nov. 2022 update; I expect I’ll have embarrassed myself enough here to have to move it to its own place soon, anyway.  But I still need to find housing, so …. Can’t predict when this may happen.

<>UPDATE Nov. 13, 2022  because this post references CAFRs.  

Since then the acronym has changed, but the reporting requirements continue.  Pertains to government entity financial reports — audited and showing the cumulative operations, not just a yearly budget).

I have since learned that the government (vs. private entity (see my revised motto: Identify the entities, find the funding, talk sense)  comprehensive audited financial report, acronym “CAFR” is now supposed to be called “ACFR” for political sensitivity reasons relating to how it sounds when spoken aloud.  I used “CAFR” 20 times in this post alone.  I posted this on discovering it (see nearby image/s).  

Example:  “Connecticut Audited Comprehensive Financial Report, 2021” and you might get a link to that, or the previous year’s.  //End Update Nov. 13, 2022.

Most media covering family court fiascoes doesn’t give much relevant context of the family courts or of the media platforms.  Concerned people will have to get it, to educate themselves. To do this is to  become aware of the practice of censorship and dissemination of confusion in a coordinated attempt to manipulate public opinion and policy. Certain options have historically been kept off the table, without any reasonable explanations why, and without discrediting those options.

By options, I mean the option in selecting what to report from among all possible and plausible explanations of why these courts function as they do.

It seems that where we can’t be persuaded or manipulated to campaign for that which isn’t in our best interests, we may be left in an ignorant or confused enough state to just not oppose those who’ve already decided what’s in our best interests, i.e., we might just be conditioned to remain passive and consenting through silence, to just “let it go with the flow” for the FamilyCourtReformists et al.

The family court arena is critical to the nation’s future; those seeking to profit from it long-term know this well and from everything I’ve seen over the years wish to restrict its control to a few, inter-related private parties catering to those already in power. Overall, this is literally an coordinated attempt to undermine due process and basic separation and balance of powers within the United States. An appeal to what other countries are doing as a better model, mostly because more behavioral health services are involved, ordered, and/or mandated, is incorporated, whether in the administration of the family courts, or as regards domestic violence and child abuse issues.

As I write, the continued coverage (not on Fox News, however!!) of an alleged attempted coup/riot at the White House, our nation’s capital, January 6, 2021, is constantly in the news and being processed, with much indignation. As serious as that is, what about the family courts?

The family court arena deserves a serious, sustained and close look and exposure from other than — from outside —  standardized journalism, and from outside the coordinated collaboration of experts and stakeholders often quoted in such journalism, who have identifiable interests in keeping confusion and obfuscation going: it’s called, their career curves, reputations, and typically salaries.

This is my second run at a preview of my post series written between May 30 and mid-July, 2022.  The first run at that preview (written about halfway through it) I’ve now placed seventh, so it’s a “Re/View” although in fact it brings up some more general topics.  (See bottom of this post).  It’s called:

These seven draft posts have substantial content and are almost publication-ready, so I decided to list them here and describe what to expect, especially for the first three.  Their seven titles and links are marked clearly at the bottom in the format you see above (except titles there are bold).  That section is also clearly marked as:

THE (so far) SEVEN POSTS IN THIS SERIES (Named, Numbered, and Described)*

About half this post discusses the family court fiasco journalism contrasting it with an alternative rarely seen (I haven’t seen it yet…): exposing the underlying backbone and skeleton of the family courts and domestic violence (and responsible fatherhood) fields. This series takes that discussion forward, documenting existing, older networks I’d previously called out, and connecting interests I’d felt existed but hadn’t yet verified.  I look forward to finishing the series especially on the entities centered in the Denver, Colorado area (see series list, below), although Posts (4) and (5) below will be excellent resources — and they are significant “call-outs” to the public and affected parents to wake up! about what is taking place under their noses.

Also, since I use the term “INFRASTRUCTURE” to indicate what’s absent from standard journalism on these topics — the INFRASTRUCTURE of the family courts —  I wrote a section on it into this preview, with some images, links to others definitions, and examples of its common usage. My use is a little more generic, but the basic meaning of the underlying, sustaining structure of the operation(s) applies.  The “INFRA” in “Infrastructure” refers to that which is underneath, upholds, and sustains.

If the family courts are indeed producing fiascoes and disasters, it’s time to look at the foundations, the infrastructure on which they are built — and not just continually look at what bubbles up to the surface, or look only at programs run THROUGH them.  it’s the difference between the plumbing, sewer and irrigation systems and what flows through them.  Sure, they interact, but there is always some engineer or designer and (as I say so often here) “blueprints” involved.

Can you imagine a structural engineer who doesn’t understand the physical properties of a building, or the importance of understanding geology, bedrock etc.?  (Perhaps take a look at San Francisco’s sinking Millennium Towers if this seems irrelevant,  searchable on this blog).  Well, I need a term which can refer to the subterranean issues of the family courts and their foundations:  that is the level we should be discussing openly and in public; so should those reporting on them, or training lawyers in family law, domestic violence, etc.

INFRASTRUCTURE is a repeat topic for this blog, and a key concept for understanding how systems work.  While it’s usually and typically referring specifically to physical attributes of some systems (like highways, roads, bridges, courthouses, school facilities, tunnels, etc.) I’m using it figuratively to refer to the economic systems and conduits by which both information and resources (funding) circulates between the employed public and government, and between governments and private companies involved in these specific, developed fields.

INFRASTRUCTURE Section Preview.

In this section, I quote Cambridge English Dictionary, Investopedia (of course), refer to Bentley Systems 500, and either show, quote, or link to earlier posts I’ve written (for example, in 2019, on an Australia-originated model for a new asset class; it’s called “The Macquarie Model” and understanding that this is occurring may (should) help more of us comprehend that as physical critical infrastructure is being sold off for leasing and investor returns (complex enterprise arrangements), so too the family courts are primed for referral to outside contractors, who may be in fact more “insiders” than is obvious.

Add to this the categories of tax-exempt and not-tax-exempt as sectors, we have a complex, but still understandable, system in place to keep both customers, mandated services (referrals) and proliferation of practices supported by tax-exempt organizations + (see “university centers” also) to keep systems going, and these systems are also in a process of change (i.e., “systems-change mechanisms” are built in).

For illustration of one principle, distinguishing operations and programs or projects of entities as opposed to the Entities themselves — this applies to the family courts — I began with the example of “School Districts” (the entities) versus Schools (which are their operations and projecst) and — it’s headline news now — Uvalde School District in Texas. However I’m just doing this for illustration of the concept and to show that neither coverage nor the school district’s own website, is exactly forthcoming on its financials (but, I did find them).

Think about it (Robb Elementary School, May, 2022). There was a school massacre of children in  Texas.  Is this a “gun control’ or “mental health” or “communications” problem?

The family courts also seem to get children murdered, just not so dramatically all in one place at one time.  Both in hindsight could’ve been if not avoided totally, handled better, with fewer deaths.  There are indeed parallels between the systems. Sometimes looking at a similar (but not identical) situation helps comprehend, for comparison, the one at hand — which here is those family courts.

My focus is on how essential it is to use sensible and functional vocabulary among ourselves (and I do NOT include “FamilyCourtReformists” in this group, but especially women and mothers who’ve experienced seen the results of this system). We ought to by now understand and accept that we’re NOT likely to find this in: standard journalism; even on many public OR private entity websites, although that (accounting, entity-speak, economics, and finances) is the language spoken among these entities, in public/private partnerships, by investors, and for those who either do, or seek to, dominate any field and control enough assets  (revenue-producing wealth, often warehoused cleverly to avoid taxation across enterprises) to drive, manage, and plan the futures of society as it pleases them and their colleagues.

The masses are not necessarily to be educated on how that works; it makes (us) less manageable. Confusion, distraction, entertainment, shock-treatment (repeated, applied and avoidable social traumas, such as school shootings), without connections that the public can independently verify, are routine.

Is there hope? Is time left in which to make a difference?

I don’t know, but I do know there is still wide opportunity (for those with Internet access and who can or will make the time) to self-educate on these matters, and to become aware of and alert to patterns of communication which, again, strategically omit references to the system infrastructure of any problem being addressed, although details, anecdotes (a key feature for the journalism and story line “hook”), and sampling (cherry-picking, in fact) expert commentary on the same.

Talking about problem outcomes as though no infrastructure for the venues (Merriam-Webster: place where the thing takes place, whether a music concert, an art exhibition, or a trial) in which they occur even exists encourages readers to grasp at straws, to speculate, form ungrounded and unsound theories — or become more gullible to believe others theories stated or, more often, insinuated and implied, in such reporting.

(Etymonline.com):

venue (n.)

c. 1300, “a coming for the purpose of attack,” from Old French venue “coming” (12c.), from fem. past participle of venir “to come,” from Latin venire “to come,” from PIE root *gwa- “to go, come.” The sense of “place where a case in law is tried” is first recorded 1530s. Extended to locality in general, especially “site of a concert or sporting event” (1857). Change of venue is from Blackstone (1768).

Family courts are government operations with venues (rooms in courthouses,  or their own buildings).  They are not corporate or government entities, but part of some other government entity; they have no “personhood.”  They are budgetary items on a number of financial statements.  As government operations, they also have legal domiciles for that government (apart from its financing) and that too is going to vary by country.  It seems to me that Commonwealth countries such as the United Kingdom (as least in England and Wales) and Canada differentiate between public and private law, with family courts being considered “private” but child protection and criminal issues, public.

This also impacts who gets some defense counsel when accused, and who doesn’t.

This series was prompted by such an article I discovered with a built-in IMPLIED explanation for why women reporting domestic violence so often lose custody of their children.  Who does “implying” help?  (Post 1 in the series addresses this).

I have been saying (for years) start with what you know or can know that’s NOT majority hearsay and the rest speculation; work from the (definable) lowest common denominator known as to government structure, look at how it portrays its own operations, and get some working definitions of how resources flow from taxes through government entities, and in doing this you’ll have to also consider the private ones. You’ll need to comprehend the concept of “entity” to start with, and “non-entity”  and other terms with associated concepts, most of which will never make it into a news article about a family court fiasco (“fiasco” at least from the mother’s point of view after reporting abuse of herself or her children). I sometimes publicize phrases that call attention to such terms and concepts:

• A PROJECT IS NOT A PERSON (corporate or government entity).
• A BUDGET =/= A BALANCE SHEET

For Example:  public schools are projects, operations, of school districts, which are category a special government entities.  As such, they must cough up some financials and we ought to read them!  

Read the rest of this entry »