Menu

Show posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.

Show posts Menu

Topics - ILLINOIS-CRC

#1
The yawning gap between common parenting practices and "visitation schedules" presumed by Illinois family courts have generated anxieties for years.   More than two decades have passed since our laws called for "the maximum involvement and cooperation of both parents" after divorce and yet "Every Other Weekend" parenting schedules for one parent are commonly awarded.  Reforms for these outdated schedules were evaluated by the Illinois Family Law Study Committee because they have been viewed as 'child-unfriendly' for more than a decade.

Children need reassurance within our laws that factors such as bitterness or irrational fears between their divorcing parents are not going to play a role in minimizing their access to their non-resident mom or dad.  Additionally, "standard visitation schedules" instituted in 1980s divorce courts are sending a repressive signal to today's engaged non-resident parents, usually the fathers.

Lack of parental involvement undermines student achievement and ultimately, our economy.  Illinois' outdated family court presumptions result in fit, caring parents being sidelined from their children's academic efforts, extracurricular interests, and critical parent-teacher events.  Worse, costly legal battles are often unavoidable just for parents to be awarded school overnights with their child. 
]
A legislative reform proposed by the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) provides factors for children's best interests that fit caring and accessible parents.  Adoption of the ISBA's proposed parenting time factors would significantly reduce divorce-related conflicts for the 45,000 Illinois children each year who experience the breakup of their parents.

Parent-led organizations like the Children's Rights Council of Illinois feel the ISBA proposal will help Illinois catch up to progressive states like Texas, California, and Washington State in its treatment of children of separated parents.  For our legislators, it will be an opportunity to champion the best parenting practices recommended by our nation's top child development researchers.

Please contact CRC-IL for more information.
http://www.crckidsillinois.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51&Itemid=30
#2
Visitation Issues / Supervised Visitation
Jul 06, 2011, 03:55:48 PM
Please also contact Children's Rights Council national office at www.crckids.org (http://www.crckids.org)  for a list of Supervised Access and Transfer (aka 'supervised visitation') centers in your state.  For Illinois contact www.crckidsillinois.org (http://www.crckidsillinois.org)  We have an updated list for Chicago area and for central Illinois.

#3
We have several NCP-moms (moms w/o custody) in our organization in Illinois.  If you are in that situation, please contact us so we can put you in touch with others.

Just search for our website with the key words below, drop us a line through the website, and we'll get back to you.

Mike D

Children's Rights Council of Illinois
#4
Our organization (CRC of Illinois) attended a hearing in Chicago last month on December 8.  Topic was Child Support reform for Illinois in year 2010.   Several state-level committees and agencies were represented.  If you'd like a copy of the report on the meeting, filed by one of our board members, please go to our website and drop us a line.  I'll be happy to send it to you.

Mike D

Children's Rights Council of Illinois

#5

On behalf of the Children's Rights Council of Illinois, I testified on January 26 of this year to the Illinois Family Law Study Committee.  The sub-title of my testimony was "A Time for Change".  We also provided the Committee with a lengthy recommendations report written by another CRC-IL Director.


We were the sole Illinois advocacy group for non-custodial parents to have been given the opportunity to testify to the Illinois Family Law Study Committee, so we felt we needed to focus on a single item that would be both compelling and yet inclusive of the primary desire of children of non-custodial parents:  The need to change Illinois' long-standing reluctance to award anything more than "every other weekend" overnights with their non-custodial dads and moms.  This judicial reluctance has made "every other weekend" a child-unfriendly de facto standard in Illinois that we believe damages children.   We attacked this protocol head on with social science research, not empty rhetoric, to best defend non-custodial parents who are attempting to do what's best for their children in Illinois courts.

We hope our testimony faithfully represented the views and needs of many of you on this site.  Other advocates were in the audience that day, including from Illinois Fathers, and we were able to share the construct of our CRC-IL Shared Parenting Initiative and the critical need to adopt "Minimum Parenting Guidelines" for Illinois, as in other states that now routinely award reasonable parenting time.



You may be interested in knowing that our not-for-profit corporation is the Illinois Chapter of the national Children's Rights Council in Washington and that we focus specifically on creating greater inclusion of both parents for children of divorce.   We have a statewide network and have facilitated local area support meetings where noncustodial parents can discuss issues and share Best Parenting Practices.


We have built up a substantial collection of technical information, case histories, and research studies that others can use to help themselves do the best they can to improve their role as divorced/separated parents.

Regarding Illinois family law, in addition to our current recommendations directly to the Study Committee, we also served on an Illinois state bar association subcommittee throughout 2007 and 2008.  We continue to share our proposals with judges, attorneys, GALs, and provide them, along with state legislators, up to date information on the parenting impact of various policies.

We already have a Shared Parenting Initiative underway in Illinois and we are seeking more supporters.   If you are an activist with non-custodial parents, please check out our website and drop us a line. If you are facing challenges of non-custodial parenting, consider joining our Parenting Network by clicking on our website's homepage link.



Sincerely,
The Children's Rights Council of Illinois
#6
[COLOR=#NaNNaNNaN]On behalf of the Children's Rights Council of Illinois, I testified on January 26 of this year to the Illinois Family Law Study Committee.  The sub-title of my testimony was "A Time for Change".  We also provided the Committee with a lengthy recommendations report written by another CRC-IL Director.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#NaNNaNNaN]We were the sole Illinois advocacy group for non-custodial parents to have been given the opportunity to testify to the Illinois Family Law Study Committee, so we felt we needed to focus on a single item that would be both compelling and yet inclusive of the primary desire of children of non-custodial parents:  The need to change Illinois' long-standing reluctance to award anything more than "every other weekend" overnights with their non-custodial dads and moms.  This judicial reluctance has made "every other weekend" a child-unfriendly de facto standard in Illinois that we believe damages children.   We attacked this protocol head on with social science research, not empty rhetoric, to best defend non-custodial parents who are attempting to do what's best for their children in Illinois courts.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#NaNNaNNaN]We hope our testimony faithfully represented the views and needs of many of you on this site.  Other advocates were in the audience that day, including from Illinois Fathers, and we were able to share the construct of our CRC-IL Shared Parenting Initiative and the critical need to adopt "Minimum Parenting Guidelines" for Illinois, as in other states that now routinely award reasonable parenting time.  [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#NaNNaNNaN]You may be interested in knowing that our not-for-profit corporation is the Illinois Chapter of the national Children's Rights Council in Washington and that we focus specifically on creating greater inclusion of both parents for children of divorce.   We have a statewide network and have facilitated local area support meetings where noncustodial parents can discuss issues and share Best Parenting Practices.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#NaNNaNNaN]We have built up a substantial collection of technical information, case histories, and research studies that others can use to help themselves do the best they can to improve their role as divorced/separated parents.   [/COLOR]
[COLOR=#NaNNaNNaN][/COLOR][COLOR=#NaNNaNNaN]Regarding Illinois family law, in addition to our current recommendations directly to the Study Committee, we also served on an Illinois state bar association subcommittee throughout 2007 and 2008.  We continue to share our proposals with judges, attorneys, GALs, and provide them, along with state legislators, up to date information on the parenting impact of various policies.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=#NaNNaNNaN]We already have a Shared Parenting Initiative underway in Illinois and we are seeking more supporters.   If you are an activist with non-custodial parents, please check out our website and drop us a line. If you are facing challenges of non-custodial parenting, consider joining our Parenting Network by clicking on our website's homepage link.

Sincerely,

Mike Doherty, Chairman,
The Children's Rights Council of Illinois
[/COLOR]