Messages

[h1 align=center]DADS of Michigan Legislative Forum[/h1]
[p align=center]Thursday, February 19
11:30 - 1:30 PM
Mackinac Room of the Anderson House Office Building
124 North Capitol
Lansing, Michigan[h2]CALL FOR ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION[/h2][p]DADS of Michigan will be sponsoring a Legislative Forum in Lansing, Michigan on Thursday, February 19 from 11:30 - 1:30 PM at the Mackinac Room of the House Office Building. At the Legislative Forum we will review the family legislative agenda for 2004, family education programs, global joint custody programs, trends on families and children, and US Department of Health and Human Services strategies for family preservation. Complimentary luncheon will be provided.[h2]LEGISLATIVE FORUM AGENDA[/h2][p]11:30 AM
 Welcome and Introductions (lunch is served)[p]11:35 AM
 DADS of Michigan PAC Introduction[p]11:40 AM
 Current Situation of Family, Children, and Marriage[p]11:55 AM
 Recommended Solutions[p]12:15 PM
 Keynote Speakers[p]12:30 PM
 Family Preservation[p]12:40 PM
 Paternity and Access[p]12:55 PM
 Family Court Reform[p]1:05 PM
 Parent Education[p]1:15 PM
 Conclusion[h2]PETITION DRIVE MEETING[/h2][p]From 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM we will announce our initiative to amend the Child Custody Act to provide for a presumption of joint custody. During the meeting we will be presenting a summary our state-wide petition effort, a schedule of activities and milestones and organizing information for our regional directors and volunteers.[h2]DAY SCHEDULE[/h2][p]9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
 Political Action Committee Call on Legislators[p]10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
 Public Petition Drive Meeting[p]11:30 AM -1:30 PM
 Legislative Forum with Complimentary Lunch[p]1:30 PM
 Visit with Legislators Offices and Ad Hoc Meetings[h2]DRIVING DIRECTIONS AND CONTACT INFORMATION[/h2][p]The following web site provides detailed driving directions to the capital area complex:[p]http://www.michigan.gov/documents/gethere_14067_7.PDF[p]Please direct all inquires regarding this event to DADS of Michigan PAC Chairman Jim Semerad ([email protected], 248-693-0558) or Vice-Chairman Jim Tracey ([email protected], 517-437-9547).[p align=center]DADS of Michigan is an Affiliate of the American Coalition for Fathers and Children
6632 Telegraph Rd, Ste 110
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48301
248-559-DADS
[email protected]

From my inbox:

Date:  Tue, 24 Aug 2004 13:22:01 -0700 (PDT)
From:  Alan Radloff
Reply-To:  [email protected]
Subject:  [azfrmembers] Need pictures of your kids?
To:  [email protected]

After being told the last 3 years that my children did not have photos taken, except for their student ID card and for the school yearbook, I discovered it is possible to obtain copies of those photos. Lifetouch Phots, located at 4925 W Bell Rd, Suete C10A takes about 90% of the school photos in Arizona. Their telephone number is 1-800-450-3866 or 602-938-6254. I met with them yesterday, they checked their records and found photo packages were done the last 3 years on all my children. They gave me the opportunity to purchase those minim package of the const of $23 per packgage, plus a $10 late fee. They only keep the negatives for 1 year after the photos were taken so I was able to obtain last year's photos, plus this years and a picture of my daughter graduating from high school. While it is not much, at least I will have current photos of my kids.

When I told them other NCP's may be facing the same situation, they encouraged me to pass on this information. You will need to provide them with the school name, grade, childs name and if possible the teacher or homeroom advisor.

Hope this helps out those of you searching for information on your kids.

Never Give Up and Never Give In!!! Your are a parent for life!!!!

Alan

Yes, your daughter needs to get sober and prove she can stay sober for a while before spending the money on an attorney. Take advantage of every opportunity to see or contact the child and maintain a positive relationship.

See Tips for Getting Started at http://www.deltabravo.net/news/10-19-2000.htm

I have some friends who were long-time crack addicts (26 years) but got sober for the sake of their kids. Now they spend all of their time helping others to do the same. They are constantly asked to travel all over the country to tell their stories, and have been featured on the front page of a large metropolitan paper (more than once) on the Today Show and other programs, and in hundreds of personal appearances.

People can and do turn their lives around, but they need a lot of support to do so. Many people, especially ex-spouses and jaded social workers, will have a hard time accepting that the reform is genuine. Expect this and don't let it get you down. Learn from others at AA and other venues how they overcame this adversity and proved themselves worthy of trust.

See "Tips for Getting Started" at http://www.deltabravo.net/news/10-19-2000.htm .

I received a message from Dr. Jen yesterday. She has had a family emergency that called her out of town and has taken up all of her free time for the past few weeks. She will be back to support this board soon, but we need to be patient.

Meanwhile, I hope you will continue to support each other.

SPARC admin and leadership team members have been monitoring this board closely, but have been keeping a hands-off attitude because we really want this board to be by and for non-custodial mothers.

As moderators of all the boards, we have always preferred to err on the side of those who post, and not delete messages unless they were clearly unacceptable. Although there have been a few negative posts on this new board, I don't think they have crossed this line yet, especially since some of the responses helped to explain why this board is so necessary. We look at the whole discussion, not just the individual posts, and sometimes a few negative statements can bring a flood of positive responses.

Dr. Jen has promised to return soon. The SPARC leadership team is also considering asking other experienced NCP Moms to assist her as moderators on this board. Please be patient and continue to support one another.

Thanks!
TGB, SPARC Admin, and the SPARC leadership team.

I agree wholeheartedly.

Even though you already agreed to see the child's therapist, I think you should not go. This is your ex's hired gun. Submit a response that says you just learned of this code and feel it would be better to find a neutral evaluator. You can even say that you do not believe, based on previous statements made by this therapist and the willingness of this person to violate code and act as both therapist and evaluator, that an unbiased evaluation is possible from this therapist.

Request a separate, impartial evaluator, preferably one that you know to be familiar with parental alienation tactics. Consider a new attorney, also.

Psychologists and counselors often get "recruited" by alienating parents who want to legitimize their desires to cut off the other parent. Many counselors fall into this trap without realizing it, especially those who have their own bias that favors the parent recruiting them.

These tactics are quite common and practiced by both men and women. See "Tips for Getting Started" at [a href=http://www.deltabravo.net/news/10-19-2000.htm]http://www.deltabravo.net/news/10-19-2000.htm[/a].

Your best bet is to print it and scan it, unless you have a program like Acrobat Distiller that lets you print it directly to a file.

All of our boards have always been very father-oriented. We felt this board was needed to let NCP Mothers know that they are welcome, also. This is only necessary because they are a distinct minority on this site.

The Fathers' Issues board has been here for all of the years I've been with SPARC. No-one ever complained that there was no Mothers' Issues board. This is basically that board, though we wanted to focus our support on NCP mothers because they are the ones who most need our resources.

I was the one who first suggested this board, and there were several reasons for it.
[ol]
[li]I have known several custodial fathers who were alienating parents. I feel this type of behavior is just as harmful to the kids if done by a father as it is if done by a mother.

[li]In most divorce cases, one perfectly good parent is demoted by the court to a second class parent status. In most cases this is the father, but ten to fifteen percent of all divorces or separations end up with the mother as the NCP. Ten to fifteen percent is still a huge number of noncustodial mothers. We have always said that children need BOTH parents. This page helps to ensure that all NCPs have that opportunity.

[li]On a number of occasions, SPARC has helped mothers without custody to deal with all of the issues faced by NCPs. Often these mothers were surprised that we were willing to help. This board helps us to show these noncustodial parents that they are welcome and that we want to provide support for their relationships with their children. It gives them a forum where they can get the real help they need, without having to visit the extremist sites where all they hear is that all men are bad and all women would have custody if the courts weren't so corrupt.

[li]I came across the host of this board and her website, http://www.momswithoutcustody.com . I was very impressed, because unlike many NCP (both father and mother advocates) sites she didn't rant and rave about how unfair the courts were or how evil her ex was. Instead she talked about ways to deal with the situation, to improve relationships with the children, and to focus on their needs. That is what SPARC has always tried to do.

[li]We want to help all parents to remain involved in their children's lives after divorce or separation, because that is what is best for the children. We will not adopt the attitudes of some mother and father advocates, who do their best to make it sound like all members of one sex or the other are bad. Proper parenting is a partnership where both parents are equally vital to the children. Divorce or separation doesn't change that, no matter how much one of the parents wants to deny it.[/ol]

When I suggested this page to our webmaster and others on the SPARC team, they all agreed that it was well past time that we did this or something like it. After all, more than 50% of the SPARC visitors and contributors on the forums are Women. They have always been more than willing to help the men here. Why shouldn't the men be willing or able to accept the women on equal terms?