Lary Holland: Official Blog, Links, and Resources

A Mother that was stripped of her parental rights was ordered to pay child support when she shouldn't have had to pay anything at all. In fact this is something that went on for over 6 years. In the North Carolina Charlotte Observer a breaking news article was released on a new lawsuit. (Charlotte Observer; Suit Seeks Refund of Child Support; Feb. 28, 2009; Orig.)

Locked in a filing cabinet in the Johnston County courthouse is a judge's order that would have spared Rebecca Jones about $19,000 in
child support she has paid for children she couldn't rear.

Without her knowledge, a judge in 2001 took her parental rights. His ruling should've ended her duty to pay. The rule – no rights, no
responsibility – has been state law since about 1969. Instead, $300 of Jones' monthly income was garnished for more than six years.

It would appear that in North Carolina that even when a parent has no rights, they still want to receive free federal money from Title IV-D of the Social Security Act. In fact, as long as the State can keep the child support case open, they receive additional caseload monies from another federal source.

Jones' lawsuit challenges a system that works mostly in private. Orders terminating a parent's rights are guarded so that even officials
working for county child support enforcement agencies can't get them. That secrecy is designed to protect parents who have given up a child
for adoption, as well as those who lose rights after investigations. A judge must grant permission to look at the records.

It really is about federal money, not privacy. At the end of the day, just search out more information about Title IV-D and see that this is happening to parents all across the nation and not just in North Carolina.

Additional Information About Title IV-D Can Be Found:

• Pennsylvania Judicial Corruption: What About Judges Jailing Parents for Cash


• Nationwide Child Support Enforcement Fails Needy Families


• Mounting Accountability Problems With Child Support Programs: Data Stolen


• Child Support Clerk Charged With Embezzlement: program needs oversight


• Lary Holland Explains How Federal Grants Obstruct Equal Parenting


• Nationwide Blueprint for Title IV-D Reform


• Title IV-D Overview - Original
  

We are spearheading one of three campaigns to raise awareness of parental rights on a nationwide scale and are looking for your help. Join us live tonight (February 25, 2009) for the first of several in a series of political discussions and activist awareness campaigns regarding parental rights.

Tune in live on Get Your Justice Live tonight at 8PM EST. Also, please take a moment and visit Children Need Both Parents for more information on the Federal Parental Rights Amendment and its' supporters. We need your help.

Live Call Ins: 724-444-7444 Talk Cast Id: 39517

You can also click this convenient badge to join our free live chat tonight at 8PM EST.

Please note that this language is being reintroduced into the 111th (2009-2010) session of the United States Congress. We have a
ton of work to do and our other legislative activities build upon this single issue. After all, parental rights should be respected and
protected by all.

On June 26, 2008, US Congressman Pete Hoekstra introduced H.J.Res.97, the Parental Rights Constitutional Amendment, which would protect parents’ rights to raise their children from unnecessary government intrusion. The amendment would allow for government intervention in instances of child abuse or neglect and would protect parental rights from the overreach of international law.

The State Shouldn't Be so quick to separate families? Interesting article in the Detroit Free Press this morning that has around 11 comments so far as of 10:45am. You can of course help change that. Link at bottom of this post direct to article under background information.

Some talking points in the article that you might remember.

Little Leo was placed in foster care after his father inadvertently bought Leo a lemonade spiked with alcohol at Comerica Park. Leo was separated from his parents for several days, and his father was banished from his family's home in Ann Arbor for more than a week before child protective workers concluded that Leo's exposure to hard lemonade had been an innocent mistake.

...a new report by the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform concludes DHS removes other children from their homes on similarly dubious grounds and diverts money to expensive foster care and group homes that could be better spent helping families overcome temporary difficulties.

Richard Wexler, executive director of the Alexandria-based coalition, says Michigan's child protection bureaucracy suffers from a "take-the-child-and-run mentality" that treats parents who lose their jobs or fail to pay their utility bills the same as those who abuse drugs or physically harm their children.

I drummed up a complete copy of the report from Richard Wexler's National Coalition for Child Protection Reform for you to review.

NCCPR's Michigan Report and related materials are available via the following site:

http://www.nccpr.org/reports/michiganinfo1976.html

You might also be interested in some of the foster care changes under last year's S.3038 that I wrote about pertaining to "Improved Adoption Incentives" here:

http://www.laryholland.com/serendipity/archives/530-Improved-Adoption-Incentives-and-Relative-Guardianship-Support-Act-of-2008.html

Make your comments to the Detroit Free Press about the Foster Care System:

http://www.freep.com/article/20090223/OPINION01/902230314

Under House Bill 190, parents who more than $5000.00 on child support will have their driver's license suspended for "90" days. This is actually a federally recognized "expedient administrative remedy" that will qualify the state for more federal incentive money. The State of Wyoming is just trying to catch up and get more of the federal nipple.

Kudos to Senator Stan Cooper, R-Kemmerer, who "questioned whether the bill would create a "debtor prison" system preventing parents from driving to jobs that might allow them to pay child support."

Contact Stan Cooper in Wyoming and give him the rest of the story about Title IV-D and how it is merely a government program that the fedral government has forced upon the state. In fact, the majority of the people receiving benefits under Title IV-D are receiving it for free and do not qualify for any welfare services of any type.

http://legisweb.state.wy.us/LegislatorSummary/LegDetail.aspx?LegID=13

Send your comments to me about this to laryholland@sbcglobal.net

Additional Information About Title IV-D Can Be Found:

• Nationwide Child Support Enforcement Fails Needy Families


• Mounting Accountability Problems With Child Support Programs: Data Stolen


• Child Support Clerk Charged With Embezzlement: program needs oversight


• Lary Holland Explains How Federal Grants Obstruct Equal Parenting


• Nationwide Blueprint for Title IV-D Reform


• Title IV-D Overview - Original

Just a few statistics that I found pertinent for the readership regarding Domestic Violence (Intimate Partner Violence) earlier today. These statistics showed up in an article written by Doug Harlow in the Kennebec Journal in Maine. The entire article has some other interesting things in it, including discussion of the WeTV show "Secret Lives of Women" which had some incredibly disturbing stories listed. However, onward to the statistics. (Kennebec Journal; Domestic Vilence: Men are victims of abuse, too; February 22, 2009; Orig.)

An estimated 1.5 million women and 835,000 men are the victims of domestic violence each year.

"For 30 years, we've giving women more rights than men," Brown said in a recent interview at her rural home. "That's what has developed over the last 30 years; the pendulum has swung way too far."

"For 30 years, we've giving women more rights than men," Brown said in a recent interview at her rural home. "That's what has developed over the last 30 years; the pendulum has swung way too far."

"It's astounding how few services are available for men all over this country. They're almost nonexistent."

"Thirty to 35 percent of all victims are men. That comes from a study in 2000 by the Department of Justice that said that 835,000 men are physically assaulted annually by their intimate partners."

If you have anything to add to this story you can contact Doug Harlow via email at dharlow@centralmaine.com.

You can imagine how pleased I was when I read Parental Influence Can't Be Overlooked in the Tennessean.Com, my only wish is that parents everywhere would contribute like this to their local papers. If you can't write to your local paper for some reason, at least click the above link and add your comments to the story.

The three most notable sections from the article are as follows:

Sherry Jones and others in our legislature want one parent to have all the influence and power over the child, while one parent is demoted to “visitor” and paycheck, without any regard to how so many of these alienated parents are good, fit parents who love their children dearly.

I have seen firsthand that parent alienation syndrome is very real and have known many adult friends and family members who look back and see that they were brainwashed to hate their other parent for no good cause. They realize now that they were merely pawns in their primary parent’s vindictive game to hurt their non-custodial parent.

It is time for Tennessee to pass laws to allow both parents to share the joy and responsibility of parenting children, regardless of their marital status. Our children will be better for it!

Why stop with Tennessee, we need this nationwide. It really is that simple. Parental rights should be respected and protected by all. If nothing else, thank Karen Waters for stepping up for all parents.

Apparently people would rather kill each other than head towards divorce in today's family court arena. Sometimes estranged spouses dual to death before and after divorces and child custody disputes that are congesting our court system. See the frequently updated article that I previously wrote called Family Court is Deadly Business. The link below varies from the normal, so it will not be added, but this is worth examining.

The complete article can be seen at AZCENTRAL.COM and is titled "Gilbert Woman is Charged in Beating Death of Husband" on February 22, 2009. (Orig. Source)

Where is the Violence Against Men Act in this case? Why are there special interest laws at all tied to gender, when we already have uniform assault and homicide laws? But you can see where the defense is going to automatically come out that she was justified because she is now alleging that she was the victim in the article.

Dale E. Harrell, 34, survived nearly four weeks after undergoing surgery to remove part of his brain following a 2:45 a.m. Jan. 14 attack

"By Marissa's own statement, she would have continued to assault with the hammer if not stopped by a third party," an investigating officer wrote.

Records show Devault was booked in January for attempted homicide but released. Harrell, whose right side of his skull was shattered into "multiple puzzle pieces," died Feb. 9. Devault was charged Friday with one count of homicide.

Gilbert police declined to comment on the case, but a heavily redacted 131-page report that states Devault and Harrell were having marital problems and heading toward divorce.

I am sure there is going to be more to the story, but it boils down to people are killing each other rather than going through divorces these days. That says something about our family court system. One thing is for sure, divorces and separations are going to increase in todays horrible economy, so we can gamble that suicide and homicide as a result of these cases will increase as well.

One thing that any good solid revolution needs is "deeper connections." I have been broadcasting a variety of advocacy related shows for around 2 years now. In the beginning, I simply made podcasts and sent them directly to the audience. With talkshoe, it allows any person to bring a group of people together and educate, speak to, or otherwise engage a large audience from a single telephone or voip-line. You might want to do a weekly podcast, like I do here:

http://www.getyourjusticelive.com

I am host and producer of Get Your Justice Live, an interactive internet talk radio show that focuses on reforming the judiciary, with a special focus on the anti-family courts within the United Sates. You can GET YOUR JUSTIE LIVE every Wednesday adn Sunday Night at 8PM EST.

The point here is, that you don't have to be a polished media mogul to get the job done, you only have to have something worthwhile to say, and you can pretty much start organizing your community instantaneously. Although I have recorded nearly 200 episodes to date, it doesn't mean that you can't start right away.

Join me to discuss reforming our government, or start your own. Anybody can do it. Establish deeper connections and get the public involved. To setup your free account, jump over to http://www.talkshoe.com and become a broadcaster or a participant TODAY. Take your social networking adventure to the next level with free and instantaneous voice delivery.

It's part of my role to monitor what's happening in other countries in comparison to our own, and as a result I typically watch the outcome of court cases, court room attitudes, and the like. Governmental policies are now on the watch list, and it will be interesting to see this UK Ministers political longevity for his stance that governmental policies are too "mother-dominated." At first blush, it would look like some changes are coming in UK regarding attitudes toward fathers, which look a bit more . Thanks to Chrissy over at parentalalienationhurts.com for sending me a copy of the article.

For more information you can see the article in its entirety, but here are the bullet point policy pushes that are being attempted:

Policies being developed and promoted include:

• Plans for schools to send children's reports to fathers who live elsewhere.

•A new government-run website for dads to mirror mums.net, the online community for mothers. Its working title is "dads' dialogue".

• The Department of Health is looking at ways hospitals can make it possible for fathers to stay the night after their partner has given birth.

• Activities at children centres will target fathers specifically.

• A dads' version of a baby handbook which has in the past been given to new mothers is being published with the slogan: "Because they don't come with instructions".

• A campaign to get employers to allow more fathers to work flexibly.

• A drive to encourage dads to read to their children.

• Training for all professionals who work with children on how to communicate with dads as well as mums.

• Promoting childcare services to black and minority ethnic fathers.

The complete article is worth a read, as there is more to the story. Who knows, maybe there should be a policy push in the United States as well to start to reshape the outcomes of our courtroom results, only time will tell. Maybe our government will come to the conclusion that the policies toward either parent shouldn't start in the courtroom at all but with the attitudes being equalized on the importance of both parents.