The California Alliance for Families and Children (CAFC) is the nation’s only organization employing a full-time lobbyist that promotes substantial parenting time for both parents. Despite operating on a shoestring budget ($30k), the CAFC has accomplished in just three years what no other like-minded organization has ever done (read more), passing legislation beneficial to the relationship between fathers and children while blocking much damaging legislation.
But the fact that its fundraising has not improved beyond the $30k level means that those few who have been donating have shouldered the load alone. A good chunk of that $30k has been supplied by a single donor, who has donated $2000 per month. Last week, that donor pulled out, citing as his reason the unwillingness of stakeholders to participate in making significant donations beyond the current $30k. “Stakeholders,†in this context, refers to individuals and organizations who need and/or are promoting political reform of ill-conceived family law policies; that includes many of us in the men’s and fathers movements. But it also includes organizations with substantial budgets, such as the ACFC and Fathers and Families, which have six-figure budgets ($300k in Fathers and Families’ case). Neither of these organizations, nor any other like-minded individual or group, have even come close to recently introducing even one bill (or killing any damaging bills) in any legislature. To date, their sole focus has been issue advocacy, with zero effect on national or state laws. Shouldn’t the primary purpose of such groups be to change policy? Why, then, have none of them provided even a single dime to the CAFC, which has carried the load for both them and individual fathers?
The CAFC hasn’t just limited its successes to California. Laws have been enacted – and legislation introduced – in several other states, as lawmakers specifically sought out the input of the CAFC on how to craft and shepherd legislation for the highest likelihood of passage. Even national policy has been affected by the CAFC, not to mention the media attention the CAFC has drawn to the issue of military parents losing custody due to their wartime deployments. All of us have benefited from this struggling organization. Yet, the CAFC will soon close its doors without sufficient and sustained funding to fill the wide vacuum left by the donor who pulled his $2000 monthly donation.
Just imagine what is about to be lost:
- Trust of elected lawmakers.
This takes years to cultivate, and is based on personal relationships that only develop over time. Also, these state lawmakers often graduate to higher office, including Congress. There are long-term implications and benefits of maintaining these relationships between elected leaders and a lobbyist in whom they have both trust and confidence. This is the only organization in our movement that has such trust and confidence in spades, and its all about to be lost unless we intervene.
- The ear of key contacts in national press (the AP in particular)
- A resource for common people who need direction and assistance in their personal family law cases. The CAFC has helped many individuals pursue a positive outcome in their family law (and sometimes other areas of law) cases. I turned to them and received extremely valuable help in my case. I was facing an ex-wife with several advantages. She had requested a bogus restraining order, had free legal representation, and a sympathetic ear in the minds of several people in the family court system. I turned to the CAFC, and received both sympathy and extremely useful advice, along with referrals and other kinds of support. I have had several hours worth of phone conversations with Michael Robinson, their chief lobbyist and Executive Director. They were all very needed and I am grateful for his support. All the help I received was also very fruitful. As a result of the knowledge and experience imparted to me, and the attorney referral to someone who effectively represented me, I gained primary joint custody of my son, an outstanding parenting plan, saved an enormous amount of time and money, learned about the court process (so that I can now help others), and had a friend to confide in during a time of great stress and crisis. Sure, I spent my own money on the attorney, but because I was referred to an attorney that didn’t bleed me dry, my case was completely resolved in only a couple months with no further expense. The CAFC is about winning, not just advocacy. They helped me win my case, all bogus restraining orders have been dismissed, and I spent only what was necessary.
- A training forum for professionals in family court system.The CAFC has already put on one workshop, held in Sacramento, CA, which provided credible expert research and evidence to court personnel, social workers, child custody evaluators, and other professionals in the family law system.Michael Robinson, in a recent fundraising letter, wrote, “This conference was attended by well over 100 people, including probation officers from eleven counties, the representative for Police Officers Standards & Training, mediators (including the supervising mediator for two California courts), treatment providers, court practitioners, and legislative staff. The conference was a resounding success. Ninety-eight percent of attendees rated the conference positively.”Most of the training these personnel receive attempts to frame domestic violence as a problem perpetuated by men upon women. Without sufficient credible, expert-led training to counter that mistaken view, domestic violence laws and restraining orders will continue to be used as weapons and tools in custody and divorce dramas.In addition, the CAFC was planning on doing another such conference in February 2008, entitled, “From Ideology to Inclusion: Evidence-Based Policy and Intervention in Domestic Violence” (PDF flier here). This conference is now also in jeopardy, due to the funding shortfall.
The CAFC has won in the legislature. Military service members are now protected from losing custody because of their long deployments, due to the CAFC. In California, custodial parents are prevented from moving the children away from non-custodial parents, due to the CAFC. Here’s their full list of accomplishments.
I have even seen the political connections of the CAFC firsthand. I attended a meeting with Michael Robinson, and other community leaders and a key figure in the California legislature. They were discussing ways to reinvigorate the town center and provide a coaching environment for at-risk youth as a way to improve their lives. This is building political capital. Robinson and the CAFC have the contacts, the trust, and the confidence of the people who make decisions that affect millions of people.
We need to support the CAFC, otherwise all of this will be lost. It will take far more time and money to rebuild such political inroads again from scratch. Such a scenario is unthinkable to me, considering the totality of such a loss – and its long term consequences – to the movement for family law reform. We’ve got a winner here, and we cannot afford to let this winner slip away. I ask all concerned individuals to do the following:
- Make a monthly recurring donation to the CAFC (whatever the amount), here: http://www.cafcusa.org/contribution.aspx
- Contact the following organizations and urge them to share their comparatively large resources with the CAFC, a proven winner who has gotten results:
American Coalition for Fathers and Children
Email: info@acfc.org
Phn: (800) 978-3237
Fax: (703) 442-5313
1718 M. St. NW #187, Washington, DC 20036
Fathers and Families
E-mail: info@fathersandfamilies.org
Phn: (617) 542-9300
Fax: (617) 357-4911
20 Park Plaza, Suite 628, Boston, MA 02116
