FAMILY COURT REFORM
1 in 3 families are directly impacted by domestic violence. But domestic violence affects each one of us and our communities. The health and safety of children and families is directly linked to the well-being and functioning of the community. Proper training on abuse can reduce incidents of domestic violence that might otherwise require more resources to address. When family courts, CPS, schools, or other agencies make decisions without proper training on domestic violence, child abuse, or coercive control, it can lead to families needing more social support, and putting an extra strain on local services like shelters, counseling, and child protective services.
We all need to be aware of what happens in Family court to keep children safe, because when women plan to leave their abusive situations, abuse often escalates, and follows them, and their children, into the family court system where they face ongoing abuses which can last 24 years post separation. Post separation abuse in family court puts the women and children in additional harm’s way and can result in deaths or life long trauma because the abusive parent is more likely to seek sole custody and are successful 70% of the time despite a record of abusive.
Tragically, abuse is not understood or believed by the courts, and 58,000 children in the US each year are ordered into unsupervised contact with their abusive parent. Family court reform is needed.
Did you know 60% of perpetrators who abused their spouse will also abuse their child? Adverse Childhood Experiences, such as domestic abuse, negatively impact a child’s development, their relationships, and their mental and physical health. The post separation the abused parent is often falsely accused of parental ailenation by their abusive ex spouse. Because their objective data is ignored by Family Court they can lose custody and face years of post-separation abuse that includes legal abuse, ongoing threats, jail, court action, financial devastation, homelessness, loss of their job, and even death. The separated children can face similar and they face the loss of their trusted parent.
Tens of thousands of women and children in the United States have been separated due to a broken court system needing educational reform that ensures safety first for the children and never removes them from their trusted parent(s).
We seek to aid in reforming Family Courts through education of different types of abuses and methods of aiding court in making safer decisions without removing children from their trusted parent(s), their school of record, and their home.