By: Veronica York, Certified High Conflict Divorce Coach

April is child abuse awareness month. I believe we are all aware that child abuse is real, and it happens way too often-but are you aware that the legal professionals who are required to protect these children are quite frankly failing at the very profession they have chosen?

​Awareness of child abuse includes knowing what you can do to help. You can help stop child abuse by understanding these four key areas: Screening for Abuse, Assessing the Risk of Abuse,Effects of the Abuse, and How to Respond to theAbuse. You do not have to be a mental health professional to learn these key areas and be an advocate in your community.

I recently had a conversation with Barry Goldstein, a leading expert on Domestic Violence(DV)in child custody cases. We spoke of the desperate need for training and education for family court professionals such as judges, lawyers, Guardian Ad Litems (GALS), evaluators, therapists, and others.

The fact of the matter is that there are far too many cases of children being ignored, dismissed, and ultimately harmed as a result of poor judgement and lack of knowledge from the very people who vowed to protect their “best interests”.

The research has been done and training is readily available, such as theAdverse ChildhoodExperience (ACEs) training by the Centers of Disease Control (CDC), The SAFeR Approach training by the Battered Women’s Justice Project, The Saunders Study, funded by the U.S.Department of Justice, and the Family Court Outcome (FCO) Study by Joan Meier, funded by the National Institute of Justice.

So, why aren’t the ones who have the most impact on the lives of these children, involved in high conflict custody cases, not aware of or knowledgeable about these studies?

The problem lies in the way things have “always been done,” but these ways are failing our children and they need to be changed. Parental rights are trumping children’s rights and this needs to stop. There are 50/50 parenting bills, such as HB803 in Texas, being introduced right now in states across the country that aim  to make matters worse for children’s voices. 

Can children be coerced to lie or make up false allegations? Research shows that this is rarely the case. Children deserve to be heard, believed and protected by the family court system.

The research shows that the current trend of courts is not believing the child’s allegations of abuse, whether it be physical, sexual, or psychological, causing horrific outcomes including custody going in favor of their abuser, and in some cases, the murder of that child.

This is why we need to support foundations such as Kyra’s Law and the Stop Abuse Campaign, which puts child safety first.

April is a month designated to be aware of child abuse, but these issues need year-long attention. This is a global trend, and it will take our voices as parents, advocates, and communities to give a voice to those who need it most-our children.

https://vetoviolence.cdc.gov/apps/aces-training/?utm_source=search&utm_medium=adwords&utm_campaign=aces-training#/Saunders Study, by Daniel G. Saunders, Ph.D, Kathleen C. Faller, Ph.D., and Richard M. Tolman,Ph.D.:https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/2

By S. Anna Edwards
Original Post here

In Michigan it was discovered that a national domestic violence facility received Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) grant money. Forty Five percent of that Federal grant money went to judges, law enforcement, and prosecuting attorneys who sat on their board. this a conflict of interest and can lead to exparte communication with the judge regarding a case.
Women who leave their abusive marriage are told by their attorneys to not bring up domestic violence.
Not only are the women told to not bring up the issue, but judges are now getting to the point they do not want to give Personal Protection Orders (PPO) to keep the woman and children safe. This is done to keep from any statistics being studied on cases to not show that judges are giving abusive fathers custody. Domestic violence cases tend to turn into high conflict cases.
When the mother realizes that her and her babies are not going to be protect, it is already too late.
The mother is traumatized by abuse. She gets into the divorce system to get out of the relationship to stay safe and keep her children safe as well and she is abused. She is told by an attorney to not bring up the abuse. When something happens and she then files for protection, she is abused again by the system not helping her. The judge will not hold the abuser for contempt of court, violence or intimidation practice because they help to wear down the mother to make the sale of custody easier. When caseworkers, therapist, and guardian ad litems (GAL) do not help her and typically turn on her, she is abused once again.
The abuser is never sent for supervised visitations, but the mother is.
A course the facility workers are going to abuse her and try and control her some more, they are contracted with the court. Their judge is either sitting on the board or sitting on a team that is working to keep women and children safe, but really it is about the grant money.
Are judges, prosecuting attorneys, and law enforcement claiming their Federal grant funds on their taxes?
No one even knows that these elected officials are obtaining this money, let along if they are claiming these funds on their taxes. They could put the money in their pocket and no one would ever know!
There are judges who sign PPO orders and then a few years later give the abusive father custody.
How does a judge sign a PPO order and turn around and give the father custody? It has been found that after several violations nothing happened to the father or may be a $50 dollar fine took place. Once the abuser is on his best behavior and the PPO is dropped, he then will start alienating the children against the mother and create a high conflict case. He will not show up for visitations and cry to the court the mother will not let him see his child. The mother is fighting for her children and their safety with no one to back her up, no one to do their job, and no one following the “best interest of the child.”
Everyone sure is making the money, now aren’t they?
Laws are made for animals if the woman leaves an abuser, she can take the dog because the abuser will harm the animal. So much for taking her kids though, they are worth $$$$$$$ to the court contractors.
Colorado received $7.5 million Fatherhood Grant by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families in 2021.
The grant will provide services across seven sites in Colorado and is designed to serve adult fathers ages 18 and older through fatherhood partnerships. The program will serve 1,820 eligible fathers over five years. The breaks down to $1,500,000 a year for five years. Where is the Motherhood partnerships? There are none!

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