NATIONAL PARENTS ORGANIZATION | PRESS RELEASE
December 18, 2018
National Parents Organization (NPO) is pleased to introduce Jerry Papin, a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, as the chairperson of a new affiliate in the state of Idaho. With its recent additions, the nonprofit organization has grown to include affiliates in 16 states.
Papin, 52, has lived in eastern Idaho for more than 30 years and is also a retired small-business owner. He has three children and two stepchildren and is interested in using his experiences to help promote legislation in the state to encourage better outcomes in family courts.
“My encounter with the family law system left me surprised and disappointed,” Papin said. “I hadn’t realized that there was such a systemwide, entrenched bias against both parents continuing to parent their children after a divorce. The system is intent on promoting the idea that one of the parents is going to effectively stop being a parent simply because a marriage ended. This just doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Papin envisions Idaho as a leading state in directing, through clear and binding statute, its family court system to presume that shared parenting has been and remains what’s best for children. He describes the current growing membership in the state as dedicated and passionate and welcomes help from anyone in promoting NPO’s mission.
Based on overwhelming evidence from scientific studies, the current outcomes in family courts throughout the country don’t generally support the best interests of children.
“The system too often guarantees that the children suffer,” Papin said. “They become forever stuck in an impossible situation between a parent who becomes lawfully and solely dominant and a parent who has now been lawfully handicapped from consistently, regularly parenting. What used to be a balanced and healthy relationship becomes so overwhelmingly lopsided that one parent actually becomes a ‘visitor’ in those children’s lives.
“For a society to have its laws misused to tell a parent that they are limited to ‘visitation’ of their own children is frightening. Yet, individually, we’re not really aware that this is occurring until children we care for are pulled into this well-intentioned but warped process.”
NPO is a charitable and educational nonprofit organization with a goal to make shared parenting the norm by reforming the family courts and laws in every state. Members seek to educate constituents and motivate legislators to change family law at the state level based on the overwhelming and mounting evidence that children benefit from maintaining the important familial bonds with a mother and a father regardless of marital status.
Those interested in joining or contributing to the Idaho chapter of NPO can call 208-274-3273 or email Papin at jerrypapin@nationalparentsorganization.org.
“Jerry’s passion for the cause shines through in the way he communicates about shared parenting and legislative reform,” NPO Executive Director Petra Maxwell said. “NPO is excited to add him to our growing list of dedicated volunteers who tirelessly work to communicate with elected officials who can prompt change. Momentum continues to build for shared parenting, and we look forward to Jerry helping to continue that with his work in Idaho.”
NPO relies on the generous contributions of its members. If interested in contributing to NPO, volunteering your time or starting a state affiliate, visit www.nationalparentsorganization.org or email parenting@nationalparentsorganization.org.
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 bonds with both parents, which is critically important to their emotional, mental, and physical health. National Parents Organization released the Shared Parenting Report Card, the first study to rank the states on child custody laws, and in 2017, National Parents Organization hosted the International Conference on Shared Parenting, bringing in research scholars from 18 countries to share their results on shared parenting. Visit the National Parents Organization website at www.nationalparentsorganization.org