Lary Holland: Official Blog, Links, and Resources

Home School Legal Defense Association Attorney, Michael Donnelly, joined us Get Your Justice Live on March 4, 2009 to discuss the need for a Parental Rights Amendment at the Federal level. This episode of Get Your Justice Live is an important link in a series of advocacy projects involving the reintroduction and passing of a Federal Parental Rights Amendment, aimed at bringing the issue of Parental Rights into the public eye. The threat is both domestic and foreign government intrusion into our homes. Parental Rights should be respected and protected by all.

You can find more information at the Parental Rights website at http://www.parentalrights.org

Additionally, you can become part of the grassroots initiative by signing up for the newsletter at http://www.getyourjusticelive.com.

I can't vouch for the personal issues in the case associated with this NewsOk.Com article, "Custody Loss Leads Father to Fight DHS.," but what I can do is share a comment that I posted in the discussion section regarding "overhauling DHS."

One way to overhaul DHS is to take away immunity in certain regards. Check out Connecticut Bill Number 636. http://www.laryholland.com/serendipity/archives/578-Connecticut-Proposed-Bill-No.-636-Presumed-Innocence-and-Preservation-of-Constitutional-Rights.html. Essentially you have to insure that government is accountabile for an intrusion of this magnitude, and there certainly should be penalties in the event government officials infringed unnecessarily on a protected liberty. Parental Rights must be respected and protected by all. Simple as that.

Get Your Justice Live - Mar 2, 2009 at 9:24 AM

It is important to bring up public policy discussions between states because the issues are uniform nationwide. Lack of judicial accountability, lack of bureaucrat accountability, and unnecessary intrusions into protected relationships and liberties. It doesn't take long to engage in the public debate. At the time of this writing, the site they mention in the report was unavailable. A cached version of the website for their change request is State Question 745 in Oklahoma. They need around 117,013 signatures for their State Question which we will be discussing in a future update. Our point in this entry is nothing more than to demonstrate that you all need to become part of the national voice for change.

I really appreciate seeing a copy of this in my email box this morning. Proposed Bill No. 636 out of Conneticut. It is a proposed Act (January 2009) Concerning the Presumption of Innocence and Preservation of Constitutional Rights in Proceedings Alleging Child Abuse or Neglect By a Parent or Guardian.

In general, in any criminal proceeding you would expect to enjoy a presumption of innocence, beyond a reasonable doubt, but sometimes our government officials need to be reminded of such simple things.

You should contact Connecticut Senator Harp (10th District), Connecticut Representative Walker (93rd District), and Connecticut Representative Dillon (92nd District) and let them know you appreciate their reminding big government of the obvious. This bill also looks to dismiss employees of the state that are found to have violated a parents'/guardians' constitutional rights as well, while also stripping away their immunity.

House of Representatives List in Conneticut: http://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/hlist.asp and Senator List in Conneticut: http://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/slist.asp

Here is the pertinent text of the bill:

That chapter 319a of the general statutes be amended to: (1) institute a presumption of a parent's or guardian's innocence in any proceeding alleging child abuse or neglect by the parent or guardian; (2) require the petitioner to prove a parent's or guardian's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in any proceeding alleging child abuse or neglect by the parent or guardian; (3) require the protection of a parent's or guardian's constitutional rights, as afforded to persons charged with criminal offenses, in any proceeding alleging child abuse or neglect by the parent or guardian; (4) require the dismissal from employment of any municipal or state employee found to have violated the constitutional rights of a parent or guardian in any proceeding alleging child abuse or neglect by the parent or guardian; and (5) ensure that any such municipal or state employee not receive immunity.

Some of the issues that this bill actually will address are not immediately apparent, except for the fact that government officials will apply a much greater diligence in their job before removing a child for insufficient cause and/or unnecessarily infringing upon a parent or guardian's rights to parent their own children. This bill will not affect those that the various state agencies dupe parents into signing voluntary waivers and case management plans, so the rule of thumb... don't ever waive your rights with protective services unless you really did something wrong.

I have claimed repeatedly that the super majority of Parental Alienation is caused by system dysfunction. Some people disagree, but so far all who have joined us on Get Your Justice Live on seem to have come to a similar conclusion. Those that disagree slowly are coming around and understanding that their ex-spouses are merely participating in a system that allows parental alienation to exist and encourages two parents to continue fighting against each other for money, children, and property as the final prize. Invites were sent out to numerous leaders and we were joined with a very lively chat board discussing the topic of Parental Alienation.

In addition, we had a surprise guest from Wisconsin. Pamela Wright of the Alliance for Single Parents joined us to discuss Parental Alienation and is quoted as saying... "I think if the system wasn't setup the way that it is that parental alienation would not even by an issue." She comes in around 40 minutes into the show with a thorough discussion on the topic and several other commentators joined us until the end of the show. Her experience and understanding of parental alienation is an invaluable addition to the show.

We also covered differentiating parental alienation from child abuse/neglect as covered by Richard Gardner in 1999. Many people have tried to mesh Parental Alienation as Child Abuse, while Gardner clearly demonstrates that they are separate. We also explored yahoo group behavior and and conformity versus non-conformity in getting to the truth and facts. Sometimes people are following and being encouraged to fight the wrong enemy. See a spiritual lesson for those that share in a similar faith about fighting the wrong enemy below.

You don't want to miss this episode this episode of Get Your Justice Live.

We need to respect and protect the parent-child relationship to eliminate parental alienation. The solution is parental rights protection and recognizing that parents are co-equal. Let's work together to make this possible.

Spiritual Lesson Regarding Fighting the Right Enemy.

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. (2 Corinthians 10:3)

Do you know why so many believers are losing the battles in their lives?

They're fighting the wrong enemy!

They've been deceived into believing that just because a person said or did something to hurt them, that person is the one they need to fight.

But they're wrong.

You see, the Bible says we don't wrestle with flesh and blood. And since people are definitely flesh and blood, they're never the source of our problem.

It doesn't matter. If you waste your time fighting So-and-so, your real enemy will get away scot-free.

Who is that real enemy? Look at Ephesians 6:12, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

An interesting resource that might be worth circulating to the mental health community, including those associated with court services, is the Differential Diagnosis of the Three Levels of Parental Alienation Syndrome. Although the work refers to the syndrome, and there is an occasional dispute associated with the use of the term syndrome, there is little denying the reality that high conflict divorce and custody disputes are hard on children.

Whether you agree with the term syndrome or not, it has little bearing on the reality that children are often caught in the middle of parents' problems, especially when those problems boil into the courtrooms. One of the solutions identified is to remove many of the disputes from the courtroom and raising evidentiary standards while penalizing parents that are fighting through their children. It is essential to stop parents from dragging frivolous arguments into the court about the other parent. Let's face it, children thrive when they have access to both fit, willing, and caring parents and that means raising the bar and adjusting the system to "respect and protect parental rights" at both the parental level and the governmental level. Some interesting statistics regarding access to both parents can be found at http://www.childrenneedbothparents.net.

By implementing protections between parent's that want to abuse the court system and penalizing parents for bad behaviors we could make some strides in reducing the opportunity for parents to engage in high-conflict. Another such stride is mandating equal custody and equal parenting time for all fit, willing, and caring parents while penalizing those parents that refuse to cooperate with each other post-separation. "You don't have to like your co-workers and you are still able to do your job, especially when procedures ensure that cooperation" states Lary Holland of Family Court Reports.

"Dr. Brody is a licensed marriage and family therapist with over 35 years of experience in providing counseling services to individuals, couples, families, children and groups. Dr. Brody is a clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. He has comprehensive training and experience in conducting child custody evaluations and has testified frequently as an expert witness in court on such issues as child custody, visitation, Parental Alienation Syndrome, domestic violence and abuse. Dr. Brody has been qualified as an expert in both state and federal court. He has also written two chapters for the recently published International Handbook of Parental Alienation Syndrome, and is recognized as an expert on Parental Alienation Syndrome."

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!