Parenting & kids - MA - Fathers' rights group looks for support

Fathers' rights group looks for support

BOSTON -- During this November election, voters in Somerset, Swansea
and several other neighboring communities will be asked whether they support
joint custody of children after divorce.

According to local legislators, it will create a level playing field
for fathers who typically lose custody of their children and are not valued
as equal in the court system.

Currently, the state typically awards custody to mothers and allows
fathers to see their children only every other weekend and Wednesday
evenings, unless a prior agreement is made between the separating couple.

That's not enough, according to Dr. Ned Holstein, an internal family
medicine physician and the president and founder of Fathers & Families, a
nonprofit organization that advocates for a child's right for the love and
care of both parents.

Fathers and Families is seeking shared parenting responsibilities
after divorce or separation, and for unmarried parents.

"We want to protect children's rights," said Holstein. Sharing
parental responsibility in a larger way is a "movement around the country"
that is good for children, he said.

The non-binding petition to appear on the ballot will basically ask
voters their opinion and gauge support. It will not become law.

Approximately 750,000 Massachusetts voters in 36 House districts and
one Senate district will be asked their opinion.

The question is the result of a statewide signature-gathering process
by Fathers and Families.

Locally, it will appear on the ballots in Somerset, Swansea, Dighton,
Rehoboth, Taunton and Norton. It will not appear on the Fall River or
Westport ballots.

"As a result of losing a parent through divorce, children suffer two-
to threefold increases in depression, suicide, school dropout, gang
involvement, substance and alcohol abuse, teenage pregnancy, physical and
sexual abuse, and other serious problems," said Dr. Michael Lamb, head of
the section of Social and Emotional Development at the National Institute of
Child Health and Human Development.

Lamb has written that "instead of promoting parenting plans that
marginalize one of the parents, custody evaluators should promote continued
involvement of both parents."

Fathers, according to Holstein, are often left out of the picture when
parents separate, but are now taking the lead to protect their children and
their rights.

"We have faith in the common sense of the voters," said Holstein.
"Ordinary men and women understand that joint custody helps save children
from heartache and an unhappy future."

State Rep. Philip Travis D-Rehoboth, is the primary sponsor of a
similar proposal, House Bill No. 3191, which would create legislation for
joint custody. The bill is not ready to be voted upon.

Travis said he thought it was a meaningful bill that values both
parents' rights and would make fathers equal to mothers.

"It brings a level playing field to the fathers," Travis said.

He also said that too often the "non-custodial parent is left out."
Travis said the legislation would make courts understand they have a
responsibility to allow children to remain in both parents' lives.

However, exceptions in granting joint custody would be made if a
parent is considered physically or emotionally dangerous to the child, has
abandoned the child or voluntarily relinquishes custody.

"The courts would be required to listen to both sides," said Travis.

Deborah Allard-Bernardi may be reached at .

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"The courts would be required to listen to both sides" Now here's a joke!
Kinda makes you think that that isn't supposed to happen at this point in
time. Even though, anyone having gone through, going through, or about to
step into that perilous ring of drama, -knows- from reading the local news
papers and the newsgroups that that is EXACTLY what NEVER happens in
"Family" court.

Judges almost never listen to the NCP and often times treat them as a
4th-class citizen!

And Travis thinks that his bill will force judges to open their eyes and
ears????

Call me paraniod, but I'm wondering what hidden bombshell he has tucked away
inside that bill he wants to throw out at us...

Dusty
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Eliminate the impossible and whatever
remains, no matter how improbable, must
be the truth.

---- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ---