2014 CPPA newsletter June
Dear Friends,
The events in Washington DC in May went extremely well. Here is a brief update:
On May 7,
an elegant reception was held in the Capitol Visitors' Center to honor
public officials who have shown outstanding leadership in efforts to
save children from abuse and violence and to address the profound
societal costs of child abuse. It was put on by The Domestic Violence
Legal Empowerment and Appeals Project, Child Justice, Courageous Kids
Network, and Hogan Lovells law firm, sponsored by the Cummings
Foundation, and supported by Boston University's College of
Communications. The honorees included Judge Susan Carbon, former
Director of U.S. Department of Justice Office of Violence Against Women;
Garland Waller and Barry Nolan, producers of the award winning
documentary No Way Out But One; Kelly Rutherford, internationally
renowned actress and activist, plus Congress members honored for their
work on domestic violence and efforts to improve the Hague Convention to
address the issue of battered mothers fleeing because family court
decisions do not protect abused children of divorce. A short montage
from No Way Out But One http://nowayoutbutone.com/ was shown,
along with three Public Service Announcements (PSAs) made by the
Hothouse Production campaign called Ignorance is This focused on family court and created by Garland Waller's students.
These PSAs can be sent to your local television stations.
Ignorance is Institutional #https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC5BecsQnE0
Ignorance is Inconceivable #https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZiJ8n50DYk
Ignorance is Irresponsible #https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89OnAXpnRLE
http://www.yotube.com/user/theignorancecampaign.
On May 8,
there was a coalition business meeting at Hogan Lovells law firm. Three
groups met during lunch to begin a year-long focus on top priorities
decided upon in previous meetings.
On May 9,
the National Coalition to End Domestic Violence (NCADV) held a training
at George Washington University Law School for Domestic Violence
advocates and members of the public, to address the need for experts in
the domestic violence field to understand and testify on domestic
violence and custody issues. NCADV Executive Director Rita Smith,
Domestic Violence author and advocate Barry Goldstein, Kathleen Russell
from Center for Judicial Excellence and Meera Fox from Child Abuse
Solutions, Inc. conducted training for approximately 100 attendees.
Barry Goldstein and the NCADV are working with New York based Stop Abuse Campaign, Battered Mothers Custody Conference and
many others to implement the Quincy Solution, a method to reduce adult
and child domestic violence homicides based on proven practices and
updated with current research and technology. The modern version of the
Quincy Solution must include custody courts through passage of the Safe
Child Act to ensure courts give the highest priority to safety of
children when making custody and visitation decisions.
http://stopabusecampaign.com/feature/quincy-solution.
Barry
Goldstein has written a book about the Quincy Solution and plans to
travel to communities to teach about its benefits. He will be available
to train advocates about using new research to help protective mothers
and their children, and explain how the United States can save
$500,000,000,000.00 annually, mostly from reduced health care costs.
To help support passage of the Safe Child Act and implement the Quincy Solution, go to http://stopabusecampaign.com/issues/safe-homes-for-children.
On May 10,
The Battered Mothers and Kids conference was held at George Washington
University Law School. This was a mini-Battered Mothers Custody
Conference. BMCC organizer Mo Hannah took the year off but made a
special guest speaking appearance. The day-long event called Mothering
Under Duress began with a prayer and moving talk by Rev. Beverly
Schneider from Immanuel's Church in Silver Springs, MD. Toby Kleinman
was unable to attend at the last moment, and Anne Grant from the
Parenting Project stepped in to show a short video on Emotional Freedom
Technique (EFT) consisting of simple tapping on acupuncture meridians.
The video was in Spanish narrated by a first grade male teacher who
found this technique astounding helpful to calm down a classroom of
wriggly first graders. It has been used successfully with returning war
veterans and child trauma victims to reduce PTSD symptoms. It works, but
no one knows exactly why. More information can be found at http://eft.mercola.com/
Joy
Silberg, PhD from the Leadership Council was the keynote speaker and
presented research on turned around cases in which children were first
placed with the abuser, and later returned to their safe mothers. In
some cases, the perpetrator was caught harming other children. In other
cases, an honest evaluation was provided. In some, the appellate court
reversed the lower court decision. The most gripping slides were of
children's responses to what help them survive these ordeals. Most
responded that their mothers love and belief was crucial.
Mo
Hannah, PhD, professor at Siena College, spoke movingly about how she
coped with the loss of her daughter, and strategies she used to survive.
Barry Goldstein spoke on the Quincy Solution and how it will save lives and money. See above.
A
panel of mothers gave their heartfelt experience on how they managed to
mother their children through nearly a decade of supervised visits, in
some cases, while the children lived with abusers. There was an emphasis
on how to prepare for the sudden return of children who are very
different from the children they lost.
Anne
Stevenson spoke about the money trail and the Association of Family and
Conciliation Courts (AFCC) trade association that brings judges,
attorneys and evaluators together to form the triad that removes
resources and children from protective mothers. (The AFCC, which is now international, began
in 1963 in California to provide "continuing, specialized education for
judicial officers, attorneys, and mental health professionals working
with family court issues". http://www.afcc-ca.org/ )
Lobbying
training was held at the end of the day, and talking points for the
Congressional lobby day were provided. The focus for this year is the
misuse of federal funding that harms the very children it was designed
to help.
On May 11,
the fifth Mothers Day demonstration at the White House began at 11:00
am with a silent vigil by Mothers of Lost Children and their advocates.
They stood in a long line facing the White House with big banners
describing the atrocities being committed against children. Hera McLeod
took the megaphone and spoke about her son Prince who was drowned on the
fourth unsupervised visit with his father.http://cappuccinoqueen.com/?page_id=17
She addressed the President and First Lady, asking them to intervene
in this social justice issue. Other mothers and advocates took the
megaphone and spoke out, some in tears, some in anger, some in despair.
Then the mothers and advocates began the long march began around the
White House, with chants, songs, call and response to bring public
attention to this grave situation.
Mothers Day 2014 http://youtu.be/vR5LUNPkUtw
http://stopabusecampaign.com/feature/bring-back-our-kids
On May 12,
Mothers of Lost Children and advocates lobbied Congressional Oversight
and Investigations subcommittee members to convert Temporary Assistance
for Needy Families (TANF) Healthy Marriage Promotion and Responsible
Fatherhood funding into Positive, Non-Violent Parenting funding.
Currently $150,000,000.00 of your taxpayer dollars are going every year
to help people stay married, to media campaigns and counseling for
fathers, and to bring felons back into their families to help prevent
recidivism. Clearly, children should not be responsible for
rehabilitation of hardened criminals.
A Congressional briefing was held on Safety First for Abused Children of Divorce and Separation.
Eileen King moderated the briefing; Courageous Kid Jack spoke on his
ideas for solutions which are to treat children who report crimes by a
parent the same as by any other person, and protect the young victim
witness; Meera Fox from Child Abuse Solutions, Inc. spoke on research
data and training for court personnel; and Barry Goldstein discussed
establishing federal guidelines to states to provide safety first for
abused children of divorce.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Good news!
Did
you know you can apply for services under the Healthy Marriage and
Responsible Fatherhood programs even if you are a mother? Page 19 if
the 2008 GAO audit of the Healthy Marriage Promotion and Responsible
Fatherhood grant program explains that the grants are open to mothers
also.
You can find federally funded fatherhood programs near you at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/oro/healthy-marriage-and-responsible-fatherhood . It would be interesting to apply for services and, if you are turned down. send their written response to us!
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Has any California mother lost custody specifically because of the friendly parent provision? Please let us know.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Great news!
SB
924 Civil Statute of Limitations and SB 926 Criminal Statute of
Limitations both passed out of the California Senate and are on the way
to the Assembly. Action item in California! Please help move these bills
forward to extend the statute of limitation for sexual abuse survivors
to give more time for criminal and civil remedies.
The Catholic Church is objecting to SB 924 for obvious reasons.
Please go to the following link and lend your support for these excellent bills http://stopabusecampaign.com/feature/california-progress
One other action you can take is to write letters of support and send them to Kenton.Stanhope@sen.ca.gov.
Here are templates to tailor and use.
<Organization/Assoc. Letter Head >
(If you are an individual supporter, please put your address below your name)
<Date>
California State Legislature
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: Support SB 924-Civil Statute of Limitations: Childhood Sexual Abuse
Dear Elected Official,
On
behalf of <Org./Assoc>, I am writing to urge your support for SB
924. This bill would amend the civil statute of limitations period for a
victim of childhood sexual abuse to sue their abuser or entity that
aided and abetted the abuse.
SB
924would change the current age cut-off from 26 years of age to 40.
This change would be applied prospectively-moving forward-to both public
and private entities.
Well
documented medical literature, which has developed since the time the
statute of limitations for civil claims was last extended, demonstrates
that psychological injuries stemming from sex abuse emerge later in
life, well past the age of 26. Therefore, there is a real medical need
to have the statute extended. Victims routinely need decades to arrive
at the psychological place where they can come forward. Abbreviated
statutes of limitations mean there will be no justice at all. Moreover,
perpetrators and their enablers remain cloaked in secrecy, which leads
to perpetuated cycles of abuse; as the years pass, perpetrators and
enablers remain unidentified, and more and more children fall prey.
Thank you for supporting SB 924 and allowing a longer time period for survivors of childhood sexual abuse to seek justice.
Sincerely,
<Signature>
<Name>
<Title>
<Organization/Assoc. Letter Head >
(If you are an individual supporter, please put your address below your name)
<Date>
California State Legislature
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: Support SB 926-Criminal Statute of Limitations: Childhood Sexual Abuse
Dear Elected Official,
On
behalf of <Org./Assoc>, I am writing to urge your support for SB
926. This bill would relax the statute of limitations for the most
egregious crimes of childhood sexual abuse. Specifically, it would amend
California Penal Code 801.1 by increasing the time these crimes may be
prosecuted criminally-from age 28 to 40 of the victim.
Well
documented medical literature demonstrates a high percentage of victims
of childhood sexual abuse suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD). The disorder can cause memory loss or impairment, especially in
childhood sexual abuse victims. The memory loss can seriously effect
when the victim is able to report, if ever. Studies show that the
victims that do report their abuse do so later in their life when their
memories have become clearer and they are emotionally ready to do so, a
complex process that may take them well into their 40's and 50's.
This
bill is a modest proposal to adjust the criminal statute of
limitations. Age 40 will give victims more time to overcome the
hardships of coming forward and reporting these crimes to the
authorities. SB 926is a preventative measure. It will get sexual
predators off the streets and stop them from abusing more children, as
well as giving closure to those who have already suffered the abuse.
Thank you for your support of SB 926.
Sincerely,
<Signature>
<Name>
<Title>
_________________________________________________________________________________________
For your viewing pleasure
Florida judge accused of punching attorneyhttp://www.kntu.com/2014/06/03/florida-judge-accused-of-punching-attorney/
"There
is a revolving door at the courthouse, and it is preceded by a red
carpet walkway for people of influence" says former prosecutor Wendy Murphy, who
for decades has worked on criminal cases in the same Massachusetts
courts that repeatedly let Remy off the hook and rewarded him for
committing violent crimes.
Murphy
says that the Remy case is a poignant example of why so many abused
women and children end up dead even after the so-called "protective" arm
of the state steps in, and questions the deadly effect that perverse federal funding incentives are having on the justice system's handling of such cases.
http://www.commdiginews.com/politics-2/former-prosecutor-questions-integrity-of-courts-federal-funding-used-to-punish-crime-victims-reward-violent-offenders-18529
In
Connecticut, a victim of a family violence incident has the right, to
file an affidavit or a warrant for the arrest of the actor in such an
incident regardless of whether the peace officer investigating the
incident determines that cause exists for an arrest. In other words, if a
cop and prosecutor refuse to arrest a perpetrator, the victim can file
his or her own request for the arrest of the perpetrator. It is unclear
exactly how that would work, however. General Statutes § 46b-38b (d)(2),
http://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/pub/chap815e.htm
Songwriter Peter Love sings Let My Children Go!
https://myspace.com/peterlovesoc/music/song/let-my-children-go-36804361-38731681
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Name
Position
Company
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