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May 10, 2012, 07:16:00 AM
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Keeping track of parenting time can be difficult. Practically every divorced person with children has seen the problems associated with keeping track of parenting time and documenting missed time, refused time, holiday schedules, etc. Disputes associated with parenting time often escalate into courtroom scenarios, costing everybody time and money. In addition, providing clear, understandable records of how parenting time was allocated, missed or denied can be a difficult thing to do.
It's a serious enough issue that SPARC wanted to come up with some sort of solution. There are software packages available that track parenting time, but they cost between $30 and $300 or so. Although it's probably very good, at that price it's simply out of reach of many single parents.
To answer the need for something more affordable, the SPARC staff decided to provide a software solution ourselves- the Parenting Time Tracker (PTT). The PTT software is intended to assist Custodial and Non-Custodial parents in keeping track of parenting time on a daily basis and providing accurate totals of how parenting time was exercised or denied. Parenting time can be tracked and documented in the Tracker logs, and detailed monthly and yearly summary totals of time allocation are provided in the Summary section.
The PTT printouts can be a powerful and convincing tool in court when used correctly. Printouts are formatted such that they will fit neatly in a 3-ring binder, and the printed sheets have a margin area that you can punch holes in without hitting any of the columns or data fields.
The PTT is built from a Microsoft Excel97 spreadsheet, so you'll need Excel97 or (greater to) run it. This application may run on earlier versions of Excel but we can't guarantee it. The PTT uses mostly basic functions to track parenting time and produce statistics, so it should be able to be run successfully in other spreadsheet programs that can import Excel spreadsheets (such as Lotus, for example).
The PTT is provided in a self-extracting .ZIP file for your convenience. Click on the link below, then select "Save Program...". Once you've downloaded the PTT file, double-click on it to extract the files. The default installation directory is C:\TRACKER but this can be changed to another directory if you prefer. Please take a moment to look through the enclosed README.HTM file for additional information and the latest PTT release notes.
The Parenting Time Tracker is free software provided by the SPARC web site. It may not be sold or rented, and no fees may be charged for its use. The PTT software was created and developed by TGB and Waylon, and is the sole property of the SPARC web site.
As with any software, this application is expected to grow and evolve in response to your feedback. We're always interested in what people think should be added or expanded, and we're looking forward to getting comments from users on how it could be improved. If you have a suggestion, bug report or question on the Parenting Time Tracker, please contact us and let us know.