NATIONAL PARENTS ORGANIZATION
PRESS RELEASE
January 27, 2016
BOSTON — National Parents Organization welcomes important breakthroughs announced at the 2015 International Conference on Shared Parenting, a conference of about 120 research scientists and other experts from over 20 countries who met in December 2015 in Bonn, Germany.
The Conference participants concluded that “…shared parenting [after parental separation or divorce] is recognized as the most effective means for both reducing high parental conflict and preventing first-time family violence…” [material in brackets added] This is in stark contrast to the practices of most family courts in the Unites States, which have assumed that shared parenting between high conflict parents after separation or divorce is dangerous and should not be tried.
The Conference also concluded that “… there is mounting evidence that shared parenting can both prevent parental alienation [in which the child is taught to hate a previously beloved parent], and is a potential remedy for existing situations of parental alienation in separated families…” [material in brackets added] These findings greatly increase the number of families who qualify for shared parenting, which the ICSP defines as “equivalent, alternating care of children whose parents are living apart.”
The Conference participants drew a distinction between high conflict families and those in which there has been “substantiated family violence and child abuse. In such cases, a rebuttable presumption against shared parenting should apply.”
National Parents Organization’s Founder and Board Chairman, Dr. Ned Holstein, MD, MS was a featured speaker during the Conference. Of the Conference’s conclusions, he said, “Remember when we were told not to eat butter until the experts found that it is actually preferable to margarine? Well, we now have the startling reversal that shared parenting after parental separation or divorce is the most effective means for reducing high parental conflict, and that it decreases the subsequent onset of first-time family violence. It is wonderful to know that we have a way to help the children of high-conflict couples who separate or divorce.”
Because of the large body of evidence now supporting shared parenting as the best arrangement for the large majority of children after parental separation or divorce, the Conference experts concluded, “…there is consensus that both the legal and psycho-social implementation as a presumption [of shared parenting] should proceed without delay.” [material in brackets added] The Conference conclusions referenced Resolution 2079 passed by the Council of Europe on October 2, 2015. This Resolution also called on member governments to pass shared parenting into law.
Contrary to popular belief, in the United States, shared parenting is increasing, but remains unusual. Data from the US Census Bureau shows that this arrangement is in place in less than 20% of cases. In 2015, three states passed legislation supporting shared parenting, and according to The Wall Street Journal, almost 20 other states considered similar laws.
“Millions of American children are suffering from the outmoded practices of the family courts of awarding custody to just one parent, with only a few days per month of parenting time with the other parent. These brief periods of ‘visitation’ have been shown to be ineffective in maintaining a close and loving parent-child bond. This custody model is not in the best interest of most children because it has been shown to cause heartache and failure of children, who ardently desire the love and guidance of both parents,” Dr. Holstein said.
MEDIA SOURCE
Ned Holstein, M.D., M.S.
A regular contributor to local and national media, Dr. Holstein is Founder and Chair of the Board of National Parents Organization. Dr. Holstein was appointed by the Governor of Massachusetts to the Massachusetts Working Group on Child Centered Family Law, and he was previously appointed by a Massachusetts Chief Justice to a task force charged with reviewing and revising the state’s child support guidelines.
A graduate of Harvard College, Holstein also earned a Master’s degree in psychology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His medical degree is from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, where he serves on the faculty.
ABOUT NATIONAL PARENTS ORGANIZATION
National Parents Organization, a charitable and educational 501 (c)(3) organization, seeks better lives for children through family law reform that establishes equal rights and responsibilities for fathers and mothers after divorce or separation. The organization is focused on promoting shared parenting and preserving a child’s strong bond with both parents, which is critically important to their emotional, mental, and physical health. In 2014, National Parents Organization released the Shared Parenting Report Card, the first study to rank the states on child custody laws. Visit the National Parents Organization website at www.nationalparentsorganization.org.