By James Ray Edwards -
David Levy, cofounder of the Children’s Rights Counsel and author of The Best Parent is Both Parents, once stated: “President Obama talks a lot about absentee fathers who need to take responsibility. (But) he may not realize that there are millions of parents who want to be involved (in their children’s lives). But the road is blocked.” Programs such as the “National Fatherhood Initiative” bring to light the problem of “absentee fathers” in this country in an attempt to get these fathers more involved in the lives of their children. Each year, the Department of Health and Human Services distributes millions of dollars in federal grant money to community-based organizations from the “Promoting Responsible Fatherhood” program to ‘teach fathers how to be fathers.’
However, the aforementioned programs do not address the problems surrounding a family court system that is easily manipulated by false allegations, or the thousands of fathers each year who spend their life’s savings in litigation defending against false allegations made by angry and vindictive mothers using the child to avenge the failure of their marriage. They cannot, because any program receiving government grants cannot have a political agenda. So are these programs overshadowing the millions of fathers in this country who have tried, or are trying to be part of their child’s or children’s lives only to find themselves bankrupted by a family court system manipulated by false allegations?
False allegations to family court or child protective services have proliferated over the past twenty years because they are an effective tactic to quickly sever the parent-child relationship. Once accused, the father will be run through a financial gauntlet, forcing him to spend thousands to tens of thousands of dollars to defend against the allegations. He will be court ordered to supervised visitations; complete a psychological evaluation; meet with parent coordinators or parent facilitators and mediators, all requested by opposing counsel to financially overburden the father to the point of surrender. False allegations are effective simply because they are costly to defend against – and, when proven false, the court will not prosecute the accuser. Since family courts do not prosecute parents for providing misinformation to the court or making false allegations, there are no deterrents to such action.
Forensic consultant Dean Tong states that “there are an estimated 270,000 false allegations of child sex abuse cases in this country each year.” However, attorneys may advise their clients to keep the allegations vague, i.e., “The father is a danger to the child,” so as not to involve child protective services. (This allegation is enough for family court, but too vague for child protective services). In order to prove the allegation false, the father can pay out-of-pocket to have a forensic investigation conducted, (also known as a social study evaluation) which will cost anywhere from fifteen hundred to fifteen thousand dollars.
Unlike criminal court, where one is innocent until proven guilty and evidence is required for a conviction, family court is a guilt-by-accusation system. There is no need to provide evidence to support the allegation. The court will always err on the side of “the safety of the child.” Once accused, it will be the responsibility of the accused to prove the allegations false. In the end, the father may find himself financially drained and psychologically exhausted, and lose a relationship with his child or children simply because he ran out of money to continue to fight.
Unless you’ve actually been dragged through the family court system by false allegations, it’s difficult to comprehend. The fact that someone in this country can be accused without evidence in a courtroom is a very hard concept for any American to grasp. Or that family court will immediately deny parental rights based on allegations that child protective services considered too vague to investigate. You don’t understand why you are being “court ordered” to complete a psychological evaluation when there is no documented history that warrants such action. You sit in amazement as you watch the opposing counsel continue to make false accusations in the courtroom just to get continuances in an effort to place additional financial burdens on the father. You don’t know what is more absurd – that opposing counsel demanded in “discovery” that you provide “all cancelled checks and pay stubs for the past six years” or that the judge actually granted a continuance because you didn’t provide six years of documentation (but only required you provide documents for the past two years). In family court, the father has been set up for failure.
Each year, millions of taxpayer dollars are distributed to community-based organizations in the effort to try to get “absentee fathers” involved in the lives of their children. Yet, we continue to work with a broken family court system that throws fathers away. Family court judges with years of experience continue to remain na�ve to the fact that some parents use their child or children to avenge failed marriages and allow themselves to be manipulated by false allegations. Attorneys knowingly continue to represent false allegations without being required to provide evidence to support the allegations. And every day, thousands of children lose contact with their fathers simply because the father ran out of money to continue the fight and had to accept the “no court-ordered visitations” or face jail for contempt for failing to comply with the court orders. It is the responsibility of the family court to determine what is in the “best interest of the child.” Perhaps one day, the courts will determine that the “best interest of the child” is “the child’s right to both parents” and quit throwing away fathers.
James Edwards
http://www.achildforgotten.org
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