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Custody Bill Causes Wide Rift,
Speculation Among Advocacy Groups
Gongwer News Service, September 28, 2006
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Legislation that would assume equal parenting time in child
custody decisions provoked appearances from two groups on
Wednesday that held very different views about what the bill
would do to family law practices. One group wants to stop the
bill that they say would give rights to parents who are unfit,
while proponents of the bill said the legislation would simply
even out the playing field for all parents, creating an
incentive for each side to work together in the best interest of
the child.
To head off a rally by proponents of the bill planned for the
afternoon, the State Bar of Michigan Family Law Section,
Michigan Conference of the National Organization of Women and
the Michigan Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment Board
gathered earlier to urge the public and legislators to oppose HB
5267, expected to be taken up in committee soon after lawmakers
return to session after the election.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Leslie Mortimer (R-Horton), who was
a child of divorced parents, would mandate that judges award
50-50 joint custody in divorce proceedings, except in cases
where parents choose a different arrangement or when one parent
is found unfit.
"My parents divorced when I was five and I saw my father every
other Sunday. Do you think that's right?" she said.
Ken Weichman, from the State Bar, said his group doesn't oppose
joint custody in all cases - just the assumption that equal
custody is appropriate in every case.
The current system, he said, focuses on what is in the best
interest of the child, "and this bill prohibits that. If this
bill passed, then even if 50-50 custody were harmful to the
children, the court still would have to order it."
Not true, said Gary Naeyaert, spokesperson for DADS of Michigan,
one of four groups that sponsored a rally in support of the bill
on Wednesday afternoon.
"There is no one size fits all solution, but we are looking at
what fits most," he said.
He said in cases where one parent is abusive or in any other way
unfit to raise children, the court could find them so and choose
not to grant shared custody.
However, the majority of fathers represented by DADS and groups
like it want the option of continuing the same type of
relationship with their children that they had during their
marriage, Mr. Naeyaert said.
Unfortunately the law now often grants the custodial parent 85
percent custody and 15 percent visitation to the non-custodial
parent, usually the father.
That's a misperception, said Renee Beeker, president of Michigan
NOW. "Women are not winning custody battles; they are gaining
custody by mutually agreed upon arrangements. In about 55
percent of the contested custody cases, women lose," she said.
The opposition to the bill said creating a fitness test for
custody would increase litigation costs for divorcing couples
and traumatize children as parents "mudsling" back and forth
trying to prove unfitness.
However, said James Semerad, president of DADS, this legislation
would actually create an incentive to negotiate what is best for
the children by mandating that a judge can't override whatever
agreement parents come to, a problem that occurs now.
For parents who can't agree, they would each start off on an
even playing field, without either assuming he or she won't have
to negotiate because full custody is assumed, he said.
However, in order for joint custody to work or for parents to be
able to agree on an arrangement in the first place, they have to
be willing and able to cooperate, which certainly isn't the case
in the 40 percent to 60 percent of unresolved custody cases that
involve domestic abuse, said Kathy Hagenian, vice president of
public policy for the Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
Her group worries that abusive partners could use the 50-50
custody presumption as leverage to keep an abused spouse from
leaving the relationship out of fear of losing his or her
children.
The arguments surrounding the issue aren't new: both groups have
spoken up about similar legislation when it has been introduced
in previous years when it died in committee.
Most expect the bill to make an appearance this fall in front of
the House Family and Children Services committee, the chair of
which, Rep. John Stahl (R-North Branch) spoke at the rally and
is "warm" to the bill, said Mr. Naeyaert.
State Reports that the Talk Early And Talk
Often Program is Working
MIRS, September 27, 2006
Michigan Surgeon General Kimberlydawn Wisdom
announced that the pilots for the Talk Early And Talk Often
program are helping the state move toward its goal of preventing
unwanted pregnancies.
"We want to make sure every pregnancy in Michigan is planned and
we're proud to announce that our plan is working and it's
working very well," Wisdom said.
The Talk Early And Talk Often program provides a series of free
workshops in 12 areas of the state for parents who want to learn
about how to talk to their kids about abstinence and sexuality.
The pilots have been in effect for a year and Wisdom and others
say the program has helped parents learn how to communicate with
their kids about sex.
"There's evidence that Talk Early And Talk Often has assisted
parents with parenting," said Barb FLIS, program coordinator for
Talk Early And Talk Often.
But is there evidence that the program actually does anything to
prevent teen pregnancy or unwanted pregnancies?
The workshops were put together based on studies that show when
parents openly communicate with their kids, teen pregnancy rates
decrease, Flis said.
"When kids connect to their parents they're less likely to
engage in risky behaviors," Flis said.
The theory behind the program is that if parents are taught how
to communicate with their kids, the kids won't get pregnant when
they’re 15. MIRS asked what kind of demographic the programs
attracted, suggesting that maybe the parents who are already
involved with their kids are the only ones attending the
workshops.
"We try to target and have facilitators in areas with high
pregnancy rates," Flis said.
However, she said it's "hard to say" if the programs are
actually hitting kids who are more likely to get pregnant.
Talk Early And Talk Often is part of Gov. Jennifer GRANHOLM's
three part "blueprint" to prevent unintended pregnancies. The
pilot programs were funded by the Department of Community Health
(DCH) but will now be funded privately. Twenty workshops will be
available throughout the state this fall.
MI State Board Of Ed Candidates Kick Around
Issues
MIRS, September 27, 2006
The four major party candidates running for two seats on the
State Board of Education said today they will vote no on the
controversial ballot plan to ban race-and gender-based
affirmative action, and three reject the so-called K-16 school
spending ballot plan, as well.
Incumbents Eileen Lappin WEISER, a Republican, and Reginald
TURNER, a Democrat, appeared with Republican Tom McMILLIN and
Democrat Casandra ULBRICH at the Macomb Intermediate School
district forum on Tuesday night.
Turner was the only one who was "undecided" on the guaranteed
inflationary annual increase for the state's education system.
"I'm struggling with it," he confessed. When pressed on which
way he was leaning on Proposal 5, he would not go there either.
On Proposal 2, the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI) some
in the audience were surprised that McMillin, known as being a
strict conservative, sided with the other three in voting no. He
explained afterwards that he was in good company as Republican
gubernatorial nominee Dick DeVOS and Republican U.S. Senate
candidate Mike BOUCHARD, who opposes it, too.
The governor has called for boosting the drop-out age from 16
years old to 18 and Democrats Turners and Ulbrich endorsed that
along with Wieser. McMillin said with a smile that he was
"waffling" on that.
McMillin, who runs a charter school in Mt. Clemens, said the
legislative cap on charter schools should be lifted. The two
Democrats said no and Wieser wanted to see more accountability
in the charter system as the cap was raised.
The panel took questions from an audience of about 100 citizens,
one of whom asked if local school board members should have
mandatory training before they take office.
None of the candidates liked that idea. Turner suggested that
might lead to higher costs and another layer of bureaucracy.
Wieser thought it was a good idea, but to give some voluntary
accounting training to board members since finances were a major
part of their job.
Finally, on the controversial issue of teaching intelligent
design within the science curriculum, everyone opposed that
except McMillin, who did not directly answer the question. He
said that he favored a dialogue on the issue to stimulate
"critical thinking" by the students.
Weiser said she believed intelligent design is a "religious
theory" and Turner said, "I agree with her." Ulbrich, the former
press secretary to U.S. Rep. David BONIOR, said she "absolutely
agreed it is not science."
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