ACFC: Progress in Illinois Family Law
A recent letter from Mike McCormick, Executive Director of the American Coalition for Fathers and Children, concerning progress on family law in Illinois:
The Illinois state legislature has formed a committee to study family law reform related issues. HR 1101 is the establishing resolution and lays out parameters related to scope of investigation and committee member assignment criteria. As the resolution notes this is the first time in 30 years a substantial review of custody laws has been undertaken. Read the resolution here.
ACFC congratulates all the people in Illinois who have helped bring about this development. You may recall the billboards in Illinois three years ago questioning the sense of children spending only 4 days a month with Dad. (see it here.) Those billboards created a stir around the state. There was also a radio spot calling for family law reform. (listen here.) Out of that activity several family law reform groups sprang up in the state.
Subsequently in 2006 and 2007, the bar association came forward with a sixty page rewrite of the child custody code loosely based on Colorado's custody statutes. As a result of many hours of conversation between shared parenting movement leaders in Illinois, ACFC leaders and legislators, the bill was tabled. Legislators suggested the stakeholders get together and discuss contentious issues in an attempt to find common ground.
Readers may recall an ACFC newsletter in January indicating Michael McCormick and Stephen Walker would be working in Illinois for several days. During that trip we had the opportunity to meet with several centers of influence in both the legislature and the bar association. You should know your active involvement and support of ACFC makes it possible for this type of work to be done. We have arrived at this particular moment as a result of a number of good people working together to raise awareness of the problems and dedicating themselves to working for solutions.
There is much work to be done in Illinois. At this juncture we have the opportunity to influence committee recommendations on custody issues which are likely to impact the family courts for the next decade or more.
Earlier this month the APA (American Psychological Association) and ABA (American Bar Association) held a joint meeting in Chicago. The conference theme was: "Reconceptualizing Custody." Sources at the conference reported a significant amount of discussion centered around maximizing the time shares of both parents in the event of divorce and in cases of non-married parentage. This positive step validates our collective efforts over the past number of years.
Although differences with bar associations exist on a number of issues we will continue to dialogue with them. In several cases we have been able to work together to improve statutory language. Over the past 12 months I have had conversations with 3 state bar association family law section leaders. All are open to improving the system in such a way as to assure both parents greater access to their children. We may not see 'eye to eye,' but we must be in the game in order to impact outcomes.
This positive development represents an opportunity to improve family law for the citizens of Illinois. It's time to join together and support the shared parenting and family law reform groups operating in the state.
As an FYI, in several of the states we've visited this year, we note the bar associations and domestic violence coalitions have paid lobbyists in the legislative halls on a regular basis.
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