Category: NPO in the media

March 23, 2015

On March 21, 2015, RealClearPolitics published the op-ed “Why Shared Parenting Legislation Makes Sense” by National Parents Organization Founder and Board Chair Ned Holstein, M.D., M.S.

The opinion piece ran on Single Parent Appreciation Day.

Holstein’s op-ed began, “Being a single parent is a tough gig. Hustle the barely conscious kids off to preschool, fret whether your afterschool program is meeting the needs of your children, fidget in rush hour lines at the grocery store — or feel guilty about getting them a Big Mac and fries. That’s why we have National Single Parent Appreciation Day on March 21, courtesy of President Reagan in 1984.

That’s also the reason National Parents Organization wants to make single parenting a thing of the past. To help, we have a killer app: shared parenting by divorced or never-married parents. Instead of one frenetic single parent and one non-parent called a “visitor” (and relegated to every other weekend), both parents divvy up the work. The other reason for shared parenting is the emerging consensus among child development researchers that children want shared parenting and do much, much better in life if they have it.

In this age of gender role convergence, people are often surprised to learn just how often courts currently favor one parent over the other. In fact, sole custody is awarded to one parent in about 83 percent of cases, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, thus creating a single parent and a “visitor.” Thrusting parents into a winner-take-all gladiatorial arena helps create bitter custody battles with attendant and corrosive effects that last for years. National Parents Organization recently published a Shared Parenting Report Card that graded each state’s child custody statutes A through F. The results show no state is heading for acceptance into the Ivy League.”

March 17, 2015

On March 14, 2015, the Omaha World-Herald featured National Parents Organization’s Shared Parent Report Card in the story “Divorced dads plead with lawmakers for more time with their kids.”

The story reported on a Nebraska legislative hearing on a shared parenting bill.

The story said, “A 2014 list by the National Parents Organization, a group that advocates for shared parenting policies, ranked Nebraska in the lowest tier of states when it comes to shared parenting. Iowa and South Dakota were among the highest-ranked states in the same list.”

March 17, 2015

On March 12, 2015, the Nebraska Associated Press story “Shared-parenting bill stirs new debate in Nebraska” reported on a state legislative hearing in which Felicia Keiser of National Parents Organization testified in support of a bill proposing closer to equal parenting time following divorce or separation.

The story said, “Felicia Keiser, a junior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said she was disappointed that lawmakers haven’t acted sooner. The 20-year-old said she appealed to lawmakers for the last seven years in an effort that started because she wanted more time with her father.”

"I’ve been let down every time I come here," she said in the story. "This doesn’t help me or my siblings, but we don’t want to see any other child go through what we had to go through.”

March 17, 2015

On March 10, 2015, national grandparents magazine GRAND published the story “What The National Parents Organization Wants You To Know” on National Parents Organization’s announcement on shared parenting legislation nationwide.

“National Parents Organization is pleased to announce that at least 17 state legislatures are currently considering bills that support shared parenting and parental equality in instances of divorce or separation,” the story said.

The story continued, “National Parents Organization considers the national trend an appropriate response to the tremendous impact our nation’s family courts continue to have on the roughly 35% of American children whose parents have divorced or separated. Family courts routinely operate under a 1950s model that places parents on unequal child custody footing. However, recent comprehensive reviews of child development research show that children thrive with shared parenting following separation or divorce.”

March 5, 2015

On March 3, 2015, the Denver Post published an op-ed by National Parents Organization of Colorado Co-Chair Gilbert Tso titled “Standing up for Parent-Child Relationships.”

In the op-ed, Tso wrote, “Not only do parents deserve to play an active role in their children’s lives, but all children — especially those whose parents are separated or divorced — have a fundamental right to a childhood filled with the love and care of not just one, but both, parents. For this reason, I urge the Colorado legislature to pass Senate Bill 77, known as the Parent’s Bill of Rights, and Senate Bill 129, regarding the preservation of the parent-child relationship.

While I am pleased the Parent’s Bill of Rights passed the Senate, it faces hurdles in the House. The legislation has received significant, controversial attention for provisions related to vaccinations and sex education, but there’s a section of the bill that stands to have a dramatically larger positive impact on our modern families — the piece recognizing children’s rights as a fundamental, natural right.”

March 5, 2015

On February 7, 2015, California’s Paradise Post published the op-ed “California family courts should increase advocacy for shared parenting” by Michelle Glogovac of National Parents Organization.

Her op-ed reads, “California’s family courts routinely deprive children of growing up with the love of not one just one parent, but both parents, and the Legislature must act now to reverse this trend.”

March 5, 2015

On February 7, 2015, the PJ Media story “Advocacy Group Sues Bar Association, Will the Media Care Now?” tapped National Parents Organization as an expert source on cases where individuals have sued state bar associations with allegations that the associations violated first amendment rights when members’ dues funded resistance to shared parenting reform.

The story looked to National Parents Organization for details on the suit against the Nebraska Bar Association.

The story said, “A similar suit last year against the Nebraska Bar Association resulted in a complete and close to catastrophic restructuring of that body from a mandatory association to a voluntary organization. Interestingly, it too involved family law and shared parenting. From the National Parents Organization.

But in Nebraska, shared parenting forces have doggedly forced the legislature to confront the realities of children’s suffering in the wake of their parents’ separation. Year after year, they’ve improved legislation that would establish in law what’s actually in children’s interest — meaningful relationships with both parents.

That disturbed the anti-shared-parenting folks to such an extent that Nebraska State Bar Association President Marsha Fangmeyer was driven to outright public lying about the bill.

Embarrassing as that was, though, it was nothing to what came next. The same NSBA routinely lobbied the state legislature on behalf of or in opposition to whatever bills it chose, including shared parenting ones. As a mandatory state bar, that very plainly violated Supreme Court precedent holding that doing so violated the free speech rights of dissenting members. So blatant were the NSBA’s many violations that it found itself on the losing end of a lawsuit brought by aggrieved lawyers. The state Supreme Court’s ruling in the matter all but destroyed the NSBA altogether, slashing its fee structure and sharply restricting its regulatory functions.”

March 1, 2015

On Feb. 27, 2015, the Florida Times-Union published the op-ed “New laws needed for shared parenting” by Troy Matson, Chair of National Parents Organization of Florida.

“In Florida, the law allows children of divorced parents to fare better than those in some states; however, a new study indicates we have more work to do. The National Parents Organization released its inaugural Shared Parenting Report Card, providing the nation’s first study to analyze and issue each state a grade, A through F, on child custody laws,” Matson wrote. “On a 4.0 scale, the nation scored a dismal 1.63 grade. Florida came out better than the national average by scoring a C. But a C is not good enough for our children.”

March 1, 2015

On February 6, 2015, the Capitol News Service in Michigan featured comments from National Parents Organization Founder and Board Chair Ned Holstein, MD, MS, in the story titled “Protecting deployed veterans in custody battles is only fair, bill sponsors say.”

The story reported on a Michigan legislative bill to prevent Michigan military members from losing custody of their children while deployed overseas.

In the story, Holstein spoke in support of the bill.

“Child development research is now crystal clear: Children do best when their loving bonds with each parent are protected after separation or divorce,” Holstein said in the story. “Unfortunately, some active duty service members have found that the custody of their children has been changed in important ways while they were serving their country overseas.”

March 1, 2015

On February 6, 2015, the op-ed “California family courts should increase advocacy for shared parenting” by Michelle Glogovac, Chair of National Parents Organization of California, was published in the Ukiah Daily Journal in Ukiah, California, as well as The Reporter in Vacaville, California.

“People are often surprised to learn an alarming fact: Our family courts rarely award true shared parenting over sole custody when parents divorce or separate, despite a growing amount of research that shows children desperately need both parents in their daily lives. Shared parenting is equal time for the child with both parents, not two weekends per month with the father, while the mother has custody all other days of the month,” Glogovac wrote. “I urge decision makers to pass legislation this session that supports shared parenting over sole custody in instances of divorce or separation.”