Family Court Reports

Dr. Reena Sommer specializes in addressing issues pertaining to false allegations of child sexual abuse and also maintains several web resources like the website: Solutions4PAS

"A major thrust of Dr. Sommer's work is in the area of separation and divorce and assisting divorcing couples explore options in restructuring their lives. In the past, Dr. Sommer conducted court ordered custody evaluations and oversaw courted ordered supervised access. From time to time, Dr. Sommer is asked to provide expert testimony."

"Dr. Sommer is guided by the belief that children should not be denied a relationship with their parents simply because their moms and dads decide to divorce. She views her role as a family life consultant to help men and women develop effective parenting plans that make it possible for them to maintain a positive connection with their children."

I was able to pose a couple of questions, comments, but more importantly discovered an amazing resource for parents that suspect false allegations might come up from the other parent and shared it with those that were participating. I shared the resource below with Chrissy Chrzanowski, Tawnya Maddox, Dr. Amy Baker, Dr. Reena Sommer, and Katrina Daniels, whom I often refer to as the "Parental Alienation Task Force."

THE RESOURCE: DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN TRUE AND FALSE ALLEGATIONS OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE IN DIVORCE CASES: RESPONDING TO CRIMINAL CHARGES.

The article/study was authored Charles E. Bridges of Bridges, Nichols & Seibel. The link above is a repost of the original content at Delta Bravo, an affiliation of Separated Parenting Access & Resource Center (S.P.A.R.C.)

The introduction sets the tone of the piece:

"This article will focus on those procedures which may lead to false allegations of sexual abuse. By focusing on false allegations, I will be emphasizing what I believe are the weaknesses in the present system of identifying sexual abuse in children. My personal opinion is that the vast majority of sexual abuse allegations are true and that the dedication of the experts that I am critical of in this article has resulted in the conviction of sex offenders who might otherwise have gone free to abuse other children. So much deserved praise has been given these experts that I do not feel the need to say more. However, there has been so little deserved criticism of these experts that I do feel the need to criticize those procedures that can lead to false accusations of sexual abuse. False accusations can be devastating both to the innocently accused and to the child incorrectly diagnosed as a sexual abuse victim."

For anyone that might be facing the possibility of false allegations of child sexual abuse, know first and foremost that it is a very real threat and you could face jail time if the event is not handled correctly. It might not even be a bad idea to print out the report and pass it along or burn a copy of the talk show program "SplitNTwo" with Dr. Reena Sommer to a cd as a gift. Knowledge is power and making a mistake in handling false allegations can be devastating and cause the complete loss of your freedom and/or access to your children. No matter what, hang in there and share the information.

Harry Crouch of National Coalition for Men (a/k/a National Coalition of Free Men) joined host Lary Holland on Get Off The Bench Wednesday August 27, 2008. The discussion was simple, Men's Issues and a new approach to balancing the equality equation.

It is well understood that the area of gender discrimination and gender issues have been widely distorted by propaganda and misdirected federally funded programs, but many advocates don't seem to want to address the very real issues associated with "Mens' Issues." To those that don't want to stand up and help balance the media distortions and quiety tip toe around such issues "To hell with them," states Harry Crouch. Simply put, Harry Crouch exposes several key areas in the above episode of Get Off The Bench.

Harry Crouch is the current president of the NCFM-SD (National Coalition for Men in San Diego) and delivered a power message on Get Off The Bench. I encourage all to listen and help spread the messages that Men's Issues are quite real and help balance the gender equation by objective advocacy. It's not about being "anti-woman" it is about being "pro... man." No simpler explanation can be used.

If you are unfamiliar with Men's Issues, you can visit the California Men's Center website or watch the video below about the subject. It is a thoughtful and well guided piece on Men's Rights/Issues. Let me know what you think about Men's Issues via email at getoffthebench@familycourtreports.com. I will air some comments on our next show.

Youtube Link to Mens Issues Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57EWApOypIQ

The Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Guardianship Support Act of 2008, also known as Senate Bill 3038 has two significant changes that you just might need to know about. Some people are calling for the complete annihilation of the Title IV-E Program, which as some of you already know funds the Foster Care and Child Protective Services related programs in the various states.

The original reference to Title IV-E is under the Social Security Act. You can find the complete text located at the Social Security Website or under the US Code. (Begins: 42 U.S.C. 670)

Under the Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Guardianship Support act of 2008, funding will be continued for the program but two notable changes are also be amended to the program. This is absolutely necessary, since it is what most would consider an essential services program. Some organizations are inadvertently calling for the non-renewal, but this is neither feasible or logical. The Federal government MUST continue to fund the state program under the contracts.

In the past, the federal government would only begin making payments to the states in the event that a child was taken and then placed with a licensed foster care facility. As you can imagine, the result was that the states wanted to be paid and would automatically place a child preferentially with a foster care facility instead of a stable relative guardian.

The first key change that occurs should S.3038 be passed, as it is anticipated to soon, the state would begin receiving payments if a child was taken and placed with a stable relative guardian. This will yield a reduction to the state foster care caseload and likely save every state money, allow for reduction of foster care caseloads, and have positive effects for the children involved. The more important factor is that a removed child will be able to continue living with relatives until the reason for the taking is cured.

Also in the past there was not a solid requirement to use electronic databases to locate the second parent that may not have any knowledge whatsoever that their child was removed from a single-parent home. Under the Improved Adoption Incentives and Relative Guardianship Support Act of 2008 there will be a requirement to utilize the Federal Parent Location databases to find the other parent for placement, again increasing the likelihood of a child being placed with a relative instead of sometimes hazardous state care.

There are other significant changes to the program, including an increase in funding, but the results of this bill are likely to cause each state to pass a statute that refers to payment for relative guardian placement. In the near future if your state does not pass such a statute, we can help provide model language to get the job done.

Statistics for Joint Custody, IE: Joint Custody Statistics, are now available at a plain language website that you can reference in your rebuttals to propaganda that pops up from time to time on websites across the nation.

For the most part, there are distinct actions that can be taken in every State. Some of which includes requesting State Constitutional Amendments, Resolutions from Government Officials, and Statutory/Legislative requests to appropriate levels of government.

Children Need Both Parents can be referenced by anyone across the United States. If you have information that you would like updated, we will be expanding some simple references for judicial, legislative, and executive communications.

There are additional sites linked such as SplitNTwo.Com that should be reviewed as well for more official information and references. Let's spread the word. Tell two new people every day!

"Once finding his mother, Bryan embarked on a difficult, heart wrenching journey of discovery; research at libraries and courthouses across the country as well as speaking to family members he had not seen in forty years, has brought to the surface, the ugly truth of the deception wielded by his father, for so many years, in the name of God. Bryan offers his, and his mother's bittersweet story."

For additional information about Bryan Lee McGlothin: http://www.bryanleemc.com

Have You Seen My Mother visit: http://www.haveyouseenmymother.com

Bryan's speech is archived on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXAZhq6_6xk

Chad Gist & William Dunn of Fathers Supporting Fathers Florida presented at the DC FESTIVAL 2008, Family Preservation Festival. This dyamite couple couldn't even wait until arriving at the festival before they had an article in their local newspaper. The Ledger, thanks to the great reporting of Shoshana Walter, published the article: Fathers' Rights Activist To Travel to Festival. As you can see in the article that was published August 13, 2008, before the festival, "Dunn and Chad Gist, the head of the organization Fathers Supporting Fathers, will lead a talk about false allegations and host a screening of the movie "A Father's Rights" at Upper Senate Park in the nation's capital Friday."

True to the papers word, Chad Gist and William Dunn came to Washington DC and delivered their speech on Saturday, August 16, 2008.

You can find their speech on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM7d98qc_fI

When I spoke with Chad Gist this morning he indicated that "we needed people to come together and do this," and solidified the message with "we are united and we are everywhere."

To find out more about Fathers Supporting Fathers of Florida, visit their website at: http://www.fatherssupportingfathersfl.com and be sure to look them up on YouTube.

Chrissy Chrzanowski of SplitNTwo delivered a compelling, emotional, and true account of parental alienation before the crowds at DC FESTIVAL 2008 and now the entire Internet. Parental alienation is the mental manipulation of children, which can result in destroying a loving and warm relationship they once shared with a parent. Parental Alienation can occur in intact families, but is mostly seen in separated and divorced families. Parental Alienation is Child Abuse.

Chrissy's Speech Can Be Seen on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnFUJeDt8cI

Through the participation of so many dedicated advocates working throughout the United States and coming together in a united front, I have two things to say:

1. Parental Rights should be respected and protected by all.

2. We are united and we are everywhere.

The time for speaking to the choir is over, and all our efforts will be directed at content production, advocate training, and public outreach. We are united and we are everywhere. Respect parental rights or your election will enter our sights.