27.10.09

Most Cases Going To Court As High Conflict Contested Custody Cases Have History Of Domestic Violence By JOAN S. MEIER,

Note: Cross posted from [wp angelfury] Battered Mothers Rights - A Human Rights Issue.

Permalink

Most Cases Going To Court As High Conflict Contested Custody Cases Have History Of Domestic Violence  

   

By JOAN S. MEIER, George Washington University Law School

Janet Johnston’s publications

Janet Johnston is best known as a researcher of high conflict divorce and parental alienation. Not a particular friend of domestic violence advocates or perspectives, she has been one of the first to note that domestic violence issues should be seen as the norm, not the exception, in custody litigation.

Johnston has noted that approximately 80% of divorce cases are settled, either up front, or as the case moves through the process. Studies have found that only approximately 20% of divorcing or separating families take the case to court. Only approximately 4-5% ultimately go to trial, with most cases settling at some point earlier in the process.

- Janet R. Johnston et al, “Allegations and Substantiations of Abuse in Custody-Disputing Families,” Family Court Review, Vol. 43, No. 2, April 2005, 284-294, p. 284;
- Janet R. Johnston, “High-Conflict Divorce,” The Future of Children, Vol. 4, No. 1, Spring 1994, 165-182, p. 167
both citing large study by Maccoby and Mnookin, DIVIDING THE CHILD: SOCIAL AND LEGAL DILEMMAS OF CUSTODY. Cambridge, MA: Harvard U. Press (1992).

Johnston cites another study done in California by Depner and colleagues, which found that, among custody litigants referred to mediation, “[p]hysical aggression had occurred between 75% and 70% of the parents . . . even though the couples had been separated... [for an average of 30-42 months]”. Furthermore, [i]n 35% of the first sample and 48% of the second, [the violence] was denoted as severe and involved battering and threatening to use or using a weapon.”

Johnston (1994), supra, citing Depner et al., “Building a uniform statistical reporting system: A snapshot of California Family Court Services,“ Family and Conciliation Courts Review (1992) 30: 185-206

After surveying the research, Johnston concludes:

“Taken all together these studies suggest that, in divorces marked by ongoing disputes over the custody and care of children, both inside and outside the court, there is often a history of domestic violence in the family and a likelihood that the violence will continue after the separation.”
-Id. (1994) at p. 169.

It has previously been observed, based on research which predates the domestic violence/parental alienation battles that are now a feature of the field, that “multiple allegations of abuse are a feature of those higher conflict families” whose cases become contested custody litigation.

- Johnston (2005), supra (citing Maccoby and Mnookin (1992))

Peter Jaffe’s compilation of studies

Peter Jaffe is one of the world's leading experts on children, domestic violence, and custody. His latest publication on this subject states the following:

Myth: Domestic violence is rarely a problem for divorcing couples involved in a child custody dispute.”
Fact: The majority of parents in “high-conflict divorces” involving child custody disputes report a history of domestic violence.”
Peter Jaffe, Michelle Zerwer, and Samantha Poisson, "ACCESS DENIED: The Barriers of Violence and Poverty for Abused Women and their Children After Separation" (2004), p. 1

Jaffe et al also list the following studies (with the following descriptions) as supporting the position that most custody litigants have had a history of domestic violence:

· In a review of parents referred for child custody evaluations by the court, domestic violence was raised in 75% of the cases.

· Jaffe, P.G. & Austin, G. (1995). The Impact of Witnessing Violence on Children in Custody and Visitation Disputes. Paper presented at the Fourth International Family Violence Research Conference, Durham NH (Rep. No. July 1995)

· Of 2,500 families entering mediation in CA, approximately three quarters of parents indicated that domestic violence had occurred during the relationship.

· Hirst, 2002

· Between 70-75% of parents referred by the family court for counseling because of failed mediation or continuing disputes over the care of their children, physical aggression had taken place.
- Johnston & Campbell, (1988), Impasses of Divorce: The dynamics and resolution of family conflict. New York, NY, US: The Free Press.

· Attempts to leave a violent partner with children, is one of the most significant factors associated with severe domestic violence and death.
- Websdale, N. (1999). Understanding Domestic Homicide. Boston, MA: University Press.

· A majority of separating parents are able to develop a post-separation parenting plan for their children with minimal intervention of the family court system. However, in 20% of the cases greater intervention was required by lawyers, court-related personnel (such as mediators and evaluators) and judges. In the majority of these cases, which are commonly referred to as "high-conflict," domestic violence is a significant issue.
- Johnston, J.R. (1994). “High-conflict divorce.” Future of Children, 4, 165-182.
- all cited in Jaffe et al, ACCESS DENIED, supra, at p. 1.

National Center for State Courts

Finally, studies conducted by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), looking solely at court records, have found documented evidence of domestic violence in 20-55% of contested custody cases.

· The NCSC’s study, looking only at documented domestic violence in custody court records, found that 24% of court records contained some evidence of domestic violence in Louisville; 27% in Baltimore; and 55% of Las Vegas cases indicated domestic violence.
- Susan Keilitz et al, Ðomestic Violence and Child Custody Disputes: A Resource Handbook for Judges and Court Managers, prepared for the National Center for State Courts; State Justice Institute,” NCSC Publication Number R-202, p. 5

· The same study found that a screening process (utilized by the mediation program) “revealed a much higher incidence of domestic violence than a review of court records alone would have indicated.”
- Id. at 7.

Custody Courts Regularly Fail to Note or Lack Information about history of Domestic Violence

Peter Jaffe and Robert Geffner have stated that “’nonidentification of domestic violence in divorce cases’ is a prevalent and problematic issue.”

- Kernic et al, “Children in the Crossfire: Child Custody Determinations Among Couples With a History of Intimate Partner Violence,” VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, Vol. 11, No. 8, August 2005, 991-1021, 1013, citing Jaffe & Geffner, ”Child custody disputes and domestic violence: Critical issues for mental health, social service, and legal professionals,” in Holden et al (Eds.), CHILDREN EXPOSED TO MARITAL VIOLENCE: THEORY, RESEARCH, AND APPLIED ISSUES, pp. 371-396, Washington, DC: American Psychological Association

· Kernic et al, from the Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center in Seattle, go on to state that “[o]ur study provides strong support for this assertion.” This study looked at divorce cases, including both those with a documented, substantiated, and/or alleged history of domestic violence, and those without. The study found that in 47.6% of cases with a documented, substantiated history, no mention of the abuse was found in the divorce case files.
- Id. at 1005.

· The same study found that “the court was made aware of less than one fourth of those cases with a substantiated history of intimate partner violence.”
- Id. at 1016.

· In the same study, fathers with a history of committing abuse were denied child visitation in only 17% of cases. Mothers in these cases were no more likely to obtain custody than mothers in non-abuse cases. This study found that mothers were “more likely” than fathers to be awarded sole custody, but does not identify what proportion of cases resulted in equal sharing of physical custody (which is available in Washington even when one parent is designated “primary”).
- Id. at 1014-1015.

· The Virginia Commission on Domestic Violence Prevention commissioned a study of these issues at University of Virginia in 1997-98. The study found that in custody cases where there was also a domestic abuse case in court, only 25% of the custody files referenced the existence of the domestic abuse case.
www.courts.state.va.us/fvp/history.html

Technorati Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Note: Cross posted from [wp angelfury] Battered Mothers Rights - A Human Rights Issue.

Permalink

Posted by at

Mother held in stabbing death tells of life with a violent man

Note: Cross posted from [wp angelfury] A Human Rights Issue-Custodial Justice.

Permalink

http://www.projo.com/news/content/providence_stabbing_arraignment_10-27-09_EKG7_v15.3a64323.html

 

Mother held in stabbing death tells of life with a violent man

01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, October 27, 2009

By Amanda Milkovits
Journal Staff Writer

Shanna Rufo breaks down during her appearance in District Court on a murder charge for the stabbing death of George Holland. With her is public defender Robert Marro.

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy

PROVIDENCE –– Thirteen years ago, Shanna A. Rufo told a judge that she was afraid her teenage boyfriend, George Holland, was going to kill her and hurt their infant son.

Instead, early Saturday afternoon, the police say that Rufo took Holland’s life, stabbing him to death with a kitchen knife during a violent argument at an apartment where he lived with a girlfriend.

Rufo cried Monday morning as District Court Judge J. Terrence Houlihan Jr. read aloud the charge that accused her of killing 29-year-old Holland. The judge ordered Rufo, 39, held without bail until a hearing on Nov. 9.

Their relationship had been violent from the beginning.

Holland was just 15 years old when Rufo took out a restraining order against him in July 1996, just two weeks after the birth of their son. “He threatened my life and assaulted me …” Rufo wrote in her complaint. “He stated that he was gonna shoot me after an argument [sic] we had. … I fear his temper is beyond control and he could hurt my son.”

Holland and Rufo broke up, although Rufo’s relatives said the couple later became friends. Rufo later had three daughters from a new relationship.

Holland went on to have seven other children with several different women –– whom he was also accused of abusing. “George used to beat my sister. He beat all of his kids’ mothers,” said Gina Bly, Rufo’s sister, said after the court arraignment.

On several occasions, Holland was charged with domestic assault, although each of the charges was eventually dismissed. He was also the subject of no-contact orders involving other women, including Vanessa Tapia, his latest girlfriend, whom he was living with at 15 Ridgeway St., in the city’s Manton neighborhood. The police had been called about domestic violence there several times over the last few years, but each time the cases were dismissed, said Providence police Capt. James Desmarais.

Rufo stayed involved in the lives of Holland’s children from other women, even having them over to her home at 576 Broad St., Bly said. “She took care of his kids,” Bly said.

Late Saturday morning, Tapia called Rufo and asked for her help, said Angel Leary, one of Rufo’s cousins. Leary and Rufo had been spending time together Friday and Saturday morning –– Rufo was getting tattoos of the names of her four children –– when Tapia called. Tapia told Rufo that Holland hadn’t come home all night, but three of his children with another woman were left behind at the house. Leary said she told Rufo not to get involved, but Rufo went over to the house on Ridgeway Street anyway.

Bly said Rufo told her later that Holland returned and became enraged. Holland attacked his girlfriend, and then went after Rufo, Bly said.

“My sister stood up in between them, and he threw my sister into the computer and kicked her in the back,” Bly said. “She has scoliosis and a bad knee. He’s 6 foot 2 and 275 pounds. George is not a little man.”

The prosecutor said in court that Rufo grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed Holland twice. Bly said her sister told her that she doesn’t remember what happened. “She was going to call 911. She just wanted to go home,” Bly said.

Holland was dying when rescuers arrived at the house just before 1 p.m. Neither Rufo nor Tapia needed medical treatment. Until Tapia was told that Holland had died, and she collapsed, Desmarais said.

With Holland dead and Rufo being held for his murder at the Adult Correctional Institutions, their 13-year-old son was taken into custody by the state Department of Children Youth and Families, said Bly.

Rufo tried to talk to her son before she was taken away, Bly said. She told him she’d never do anything to hurt his father.

amilkovi@projo.com

Technorati Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Note: Cross posted from [wp angelfury] A Human Rights Issue-Custodial Justice.

Permalink

Posted by at

Maternal Deprivation Research, Battered Mothers, Domestic Violence

Note: Cross posted from [wp angelfury] A Human Rights Issue-Custodial Justice.

Permalink

Maternal Deprivation Research

— batteredmomslosecustody

There have been numerous studies regarding Maternal Deprivation, with a large source of information coming from Bowlby, based on Spitz and Goldfarb, and also from unethical animal experimentation. Overwhelmingly, research shows that severing this natural bond between a mother and child causes severe emotional and behavioral problems, such as depression and psychosis. The phrase maternal deprivation is the terminology used in the early work of psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, John Bowlby on the effects of separating infants and young children from their mother. Some of the research was previously used to discourage mothers from working or using childcare, but it seems important to revive these studies as children are being deprived of their mothers intentionally by abusive men who claim to be “parentally alienated” in an ongoing scandal that rivals that of the Catholic Priest sexual abuse cover up.  

Maternal Deprivation Abuse (MDA), has been identified as occurring with great frequency in legal proceedings, with specific unethical lawyers, psychologists, and judges perpetrating the the same scam on mother after mother with similar horrific results for the children. There has been death by suicide, suicide attempts, depression, academic distress, retaliation by a child against a PAS claiming father, and untold misery for the victimized children and mothers.

Based on Bolwby’s theories, Maternally Deprivation affects children as follows:

  • Complete or almost complete deprivation could “entirely cripple the capacity to make relationships.”
  • Partial deprivation could result in acute anxiety, depression, neediness and powerful emotions which the child could not regulate.
  • The end product of such psychic disturbance could be neurosis and instability of character.(Bowlby J. (1951) pps. 11–12)

“Mother love in infancy and childhood is as important for mental health as are vitamins and proteins for physical health.” (Bowlby, 1953.)  Child psychoanalyst John Bowlby (1907–1990).

Maternal Deprivation Abuse

Maternal Deprivation, or Motherlessness, is occurring with alarming frequency due to the unethical treatment of women and children in family court. Maternal Deprivation is inflicting abuse by severing the mother-child bond. It is a form of abuse that men inflict on both the mother and children, especially men who claim they are “parentally alienated” from their children when there are complaints of abusive treatment by the father.

Maternal Deprivation occurs when men seek to keep their children from being raised by their mothers who are the children’s natural caretakers. Some men murder the mothers of their own children. Others seek to sever the maternal bonds by making false allegations of fictitious psychological syndromes in a deliberate effort to change custody and/or keep the child from having contact with their mother when there are legal proceedings. A twisted form of Maternal Deprivation is to kill the children, so that the mother will be left to suffer. Sometimes there are family annihilation murders where the father kills the children and himself (or dies by cop), but the mother is not killed because she has received protective orders and her children have not as in the case of Jessica Gonzales.  

In seeking to define this form of abuse certain common elements are found in the Maternal Deprivation scenario as follows:

  • History of domestic abuse that could be physical, psychological, sexual, and/or social abuse occurring on or off again, occasionally, or chronically which could be mild, moderate, or severe, including homicidal and/or suicidal threats.
  • Legal proceedings relating to abuse
  • Hiring of “Fathers Rights” attorney
  • Use of “Hired Gun” mental health professionals to make accusations of psychological disorder against the mother and children in deliberate effort to excuse abuse and change custody or grant visitation that is contrary to safety concerns. Another name for these unethical professionals are “Whores of the Courts“
  • Raising claims of “psychological disorders” against the mother such as “Parental Alienation Syndrome” (PAS), Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome, Malicious Mother Syndrome, Lying Litigant Syndrome, Hostile Aggressive Parenting or any other mother-blaming psychological disorder that can be used by the unethical professional to re-victimize the victims.
  • Infliction of “Legal Abuse” by continually and excessively filing motions so that the mother continually has to defend herself and her child(ren) causing financial and emotional devastation.
  • Can occur in response to child support legal proceedings as retaliation.

The intent of “Maternal Deprivation” is to punish the mother and the child for revealing the abuse and to falsely claim that they are not abusive. This very commonly occurs as there are more and more “abuse-excuse” parental alienation accusing professionals who use this scientifically invalid theory over and over to achieve specific goals of the person paying them. Maternal Deprivation can also occur in response to child support legal proceedings. When occurring in this manner, Maternal Deprivation is a response to the financial demands as retaliation. Suddenly the father who had little prior involvement wants to take the kids half the time to avoid child support obligations, etc. When the men are really abusive, they ask for sole custody and demand the mother of the child pay them.

Although some people call this “Maternal Alienation”, a distinction needs to be made as the pro-pedophilia “Parental Alienation Syndrome” and the use of the word “Alienation” are most often used AGAINST battered women and abused children. There needs to be a distinction between the phony psychological syndrome and the intentional infliction of abuse on a mother and child by intentionally severing their natural bond. This distinction can best be made by NOT using the label of “Alienation” which will always be associated with the pro-pedophilia monster Doctor Richard Gardner.

Some of the characteristics of the especially heinous abusers who inflict Maternal Deprivation include but are not limited to the following:

  • Angry

  • Abusive

  • Violent

  • Coercive

  • Controlling

  • Threatening

  • Intimidating

  • Demanding

  • Domineering

  • Harassing

  • Stalking

  • Tyrannical

  • Oppressive

  • Forceful

  • Manipulative

  • Deceptive

  • Unethical

  • Un-empathetic (Lacks Empathy)

  • Entitled

  • Immature

  • Self-centered

  • Neglectful

  • Guilt inducing

  • Pushy

  • Intentionally tries to humiliate mother and/or child
  • Harsh, rigid and punitive parenting style
  • Outrage at child’s challenge of authority
  • May use force to reassert parental position
  • Dismissive of child’s feelings and negative attitudes
  • Vents rage, blames mother for “brainwashing” child and takes no responsibility
  • Challenges child’s beliefs and/or attitudes and tries to convince them otherwise
  • Inept and unempathic pursuit of child, pushes calls and letters, unannounced or embarrassing visits 

There is a distinct overlap of the intimate terrorist type domestic violence abuser with the Maternal Deprivation abusers as follows:

  • Coercion and threats
  • Intimidation
  • Emotional abuse
  • Isolation
  • Minimizing, denying and blaming (Hallmarks of PAS)
  • Using children
  • Economic abuse
  • Male privilege

The people who most often engage in Maternal Deprivation Abuse are most often: 

  • Abusive men

  • Vindictive second wives who don’t want to deal with the real mother of the children

  • Paternal grandparents who raised dysfunctional children (abusers)

The effects of Maternal Deprivation often cause the children to become psychotic, depressed, and sometimes suicidal or to have suicidal ideations. Another terrible reaction is when the child retaliates against the parent who accuses Parental Alienation Syndrome as in a Texas case where the child killed his father. Other times when the Maternal Deprivation abuser completely takes over the will of the child by using brainwashing techniques similar to those used in prison camps where deprivation and isolation are used to force ideological changes in captives, these children often have a sort of trauma-bonding with the abuser and model their behavior. Sometimes these children will also abuse the mother in the same manner as the father. Another generation is created to carry on the abuse, and will likely do the same to their own spouse and children.

For more articles involving Maternal Deprivation:

Failure of Family Court System Leads To Death and Devastation

Doctor Who Intentionally Severs Bonds With Mothers Is a Monster

Child in imminent fear shoots father – vindicated in appeal – PAS fraud nightmare

Cincinatti PAS

VAWnet Joan Meier on PAS-Parental Alienation Syndrome & Parental Alienation: Research Reviews

And many more articles throughout Battered Mothers Lose Children to Abusers and all the links on the sidebar.

Maternal Deprivation Abuse will be featured on BMLCTA Blog in an effort to wipe out this heinous crime against mothers and children.

Posted in Aaron Krzewinski, Abraham Worenklein, Alabama, Alaska, Amy J. L. Baker, Anne Alper, Anne-France Goldwater, Anthony Pisa, Arizona, Arla Witte, Australia, Barbara Fidler, Barry Bricklin, Bernard Joseph Goldberg, Bob Finlay, Bob Hoch, Brian Ludmer, C. David Missar, C. Gwendolyn Landolt, California, Canada, Christine Stroemer, Christopher Tilman, Cole Eason, Colorado, Connecticut, Dalia Saffa Biller, David L. Levy, David Sweet, David Tassoni, Deborah Day, Deloros Sarandos, Demosthenes Lorandos, Diane Rotnem, Doneldon Dennis, Donna Wowk, Douglas Darnell, Elizabeth McCarty, Florida, Frank M. Calvert, Frank Marocco, Fred Norris, Gail Brick, Gary Karpin, Gene Colman, Georgia, Glenn Caddy, Gregory Sisk, Harold Niman, Harry Harlow, Illinois, Indiana, J. Michael Bone, Jack Ferrell, Jake Cooley, James Gioia, Jan Faust, Jayne Major, Jeffrey Leving, Jeffry Price, Jessica Ko, Jill Swope, Jim Campbell, Jim Lea, Joe Kenan, John Zervopoulos, Joseph Goldberg, Judge Alan H. Friedenthal, Judge Alicia Gooden, Judge Bob Wattles, Judge Charles A. Porter, Judge Christopher B. Haile, Judge Damian Amodeo, Judge Daniel C. Banina, Judge David Barker, Judge David Miron, Judge Elizabeth Tavitas, Judge Francine Van Melle, Judge Frank M. Calvert, Judge Gary Miller, Judge Gorham, Judge Henry Walsh, Judge Howard Lipsey, Judge Jay Corpening, Judge Jennifer Elliott, Judge Jeremiah Jeremiah, Judge John Gomery, Judge Joseph A. Dugen, Judge Karen G. Shields, Judge Lawrence J. Stengel, Judge Mark A. Ciavarella, Judge Michael T. Conahan, Judge Neil Buckley, Judge Peter J. McBrien, Judge Richard Delforge, Judge Susan Greenhawt, Judge W. Stephen Nixon, Judges, Justice Donna Martinson, Justice Faye McWatt, Kansas, Karen Allen, Kay Kraus, Kenneth Sherman, Kenneth Swartz, Kim Bacon, Lawyers, GALs, Mediators, Et Al, Leslie Riggs, Lisa Hacker, Lisette Laurent Boyer, Locations, Lorah Sebastian, Ludwig F. Lowenstein, Marguerite Rebesco, Mark Hirschfeld, Mark Hoffman, Martha Jacobson, Marty McKay, Marvin Kurz, Mary Laughead, Maryland, Maureen Patton, Meg Sussman, Mental Health Professionals, Michael Baer, Michael Gough, Michael Mervilde, Michael Perzin, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pamela Richardson, Pamela Stuart-Mills Hoch, Patricia Scaglia, Pennsylvania, Phil Heller, Ralph Underwager, Raymond David, Reena Sommer, Rhode Island, Richard Gardner, Richard Sauber, Richard Warshak, Robert Basham, Robert Powell, Roger Hatcher, S. Richard Sauber, Sam Ryan, Sean Lazzari, Sherrie Bourg Carter, Sonia Dujan, South Africa, Stephanie Holland, Stuart Greenberg, Susan Cook, Susan DeVries, Terence Campbell, Texas, UK, US, Vicki Plant, Virginia, Washington, Washington D.C., William Wrigley. Tags: abuse, child abuse, custody, divorce, domestic abuse, domestic violence, failure to protect, false allegations, family annihilation, Family Court, father's rights, fictitious syndromes, Human Rights, Maternal Deprivation, parental alienation, psychologist, unethical, visitation, visitation refusal. 32 Comments »

Technorati Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Note: Cross posted from [wp angelfury] A Human Rights Issue-Custodial Justice.

Permalink

Posted by at

How states fund child abuse By Anne Grant

Note: Cross posted from [wp angelfury] A Human Rights Issue-Custodial Justice.

Permalink

968 words

How states fund child abuse

By Anne Grant

In the 1980s, I was the first woman pastor in a rural corner of Connecticut. Male clergy sometimes sent girls and women to my office when they needed to talk about things they could not tell a man. Until then I had no idea how many children are sexually abused in their own homes. That national nightmare has been reported in three recent films: Searching for Angela Shelton; Small Justice; and Family Court Crisis: Our Children at Risk.

In the 1990s, as executive director of the Women’s Center of Rhode Island, I learned how Family Court exacerbates problems of domestic violence and sexual abuse in the family. When I retired in 2003, I continued researching documents in custody cases that reveal the often-troubling role of guardians ad litem, clinicians, and lawyers at Rhode Island’s Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) and child protection agencies in other states.

Countless frontline DCYF staff do excellent, difficult work, but agency attorneys cause grave damage when they hold private (ex parte) meetings with lawyers defending litigants accused of molesting their own children. The other parent, usually the mother, is lulled into thinking DCYF will protect their children, while lawyers delay and derail critical evidence from reaching the judge.

I tried to show my findings to the Chief Judge of Family Court, the Director of DCYF, the Child Advocate, the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, and members of the General Assembly. I provided documentation from open court files, clinical reports, bills, and other records showing official abuse.

Most officials deflected the matter. Some blamed the children. A legislator told me, “Children lie all the time.”

DCYF usually seizes children who have been marginalized by poverty and racism, who have few adults with power to protect them. But two years ago, the agency removed two sisters from a town where dozens of people knew the girls and their mother. Even their state representative had noted the delightful way the children and their mother played together and interacted with neighbors at a local recreation spot.

When she was three, the younger girl protested her father’s behavior at home while her mother was at work and her sister at school. She drew graphic pictures and reenacted male masturbation that seldom harmed her body but obsessed her mind. A physician’s assistant phoned the state hotline. DCYF investigated and brought a finding of sexual molestation against the father, who left home.

The girls remained with their mother more than two years and then disappeared into DCYF’s archipelago of foster homes, shelters, and “therapeutic” remedies. People who knew the family sent a barrage of letters and met with state officials to no avail. They contacted me and sought an out-of-state attorney to pursue the case.

My search of court documents showed how a biased DCYF hearing officer had flipped the case in 2004 from a finding of molestation against the father to a charge of “parental alienation” against the mother, whom the hearing officer had never met. Rumors had been spread that the mother, a respected university scientist, had “mental problems.”

Meanwhile the hearing officer, an attorney in pursuit of her own divorce clients, published internet articles urging fathers to fight back against the “pedestal of holy motherhood.”

Under a public records request, I learned that DCYF has no requirement that its hearing officers be either professionally qualified or neutral. Nor does DCYF have procedures to track allegations and findings of sexual molestation.

The guardian ad litem, who is supposed to be unbiased, failed to interview neighbors. Her itemized bill shows that the father paid her thousands of dollars and that she conducted an intensive search for a psychologist willing to accuse the mother of “alienating” the children against him. This is a common legal strategy based on a bogus psychological theory, “parental alienation syndrome,” that was decisively denounced by the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges in 2006.

At a cost to tax payers of $30,000 per year per child in the shelter, the girls learned profanity, venting their rage in new ways. Having rarely seen television before, they complained of being forced to watch TV instead of doing the crafts they enjoyed. They could not share a room or eat together.

The younger girl was delivered for lengthy unsupervised visits with their father. After 509 days in state custody, DCYF gave her, at age 7, to his sole care in another state, claiming she had “recanted” her original accusation against him.

The older girl, 11, called it “torture” and was sent into foster care. Before she left the shelter, she drew a large floor plan of their lifelong home, like a prisoner trying to recall cherished details. She gave it to her mother on one of their two-hour weekly visits, closely supervised at a DCYF office, where they are forbidden to speak about anything that matters.

On August 6, 2007, their 487th day in state custody, three weeks before DCYF separated the sisters entirely, the older one made this list:

THINGS TO DO ON OUR 1st DAY HOME

wash clothes so they smell good

run around in back yard

play piano together

play a game

do arts + crafts

flop on our bed

clean car

go for a walk @ the beach

clean house

bake

go to Home Depot to get stuff to build clubhouse

plant in garden

After decades of resistance, our country began to litigate against pedophile priests who targeted children and took sanctuary in the Church. Now State legislators in Rhode Island and elsewhere must take a hard look at their own agencies established to protect children.

In an era when government deals aggressively with pedophiles who prey on other people’s children, we need more rigorous standards and effective responses to the age-old problem of sexual abuse within families.

Anne Grant, a retired minister, coordinates the Parenting Project at Mathewson Street United Methodist Church and writes http://custodyscam.blogspot.com

(Parentingproject@cox.net)

Technorati Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Note: Cross posted from [wp angelfury] A Human Rights Issue-Custodial Justice.

Permalink

Posted by at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)