An open Letter to all members of the Ohio General Assembly

Those of you that know me well are aware that I have legislation before the General assembly concerning equal rights for parents and children that have been affected by Ohio’s current custody law which is used by our family court system.

SB144 has been sitting in the Senate Judiciary Committee with no reason for not moving forward other than an excuse that Senator Mark Wagoner is using that he wants all “interested parties” on the same page. This caveat placed on this legislation has me concerned about his real intentions here.

Facts that he has not even looked at:

• Fathers and Families has asked the General Assembly to create legislation for a “presumption of shared parenting”. Frankly Ohio already has this contained within ORC 3109.401. Common sense dictates that you do not change flawed policy by continuing the problem.
• Fathers and Families desire to add what they refer to as the Missouri Parenting Time Enforcement was a major sticking point with HB232 and will be again. See the Judicial Impact Report from that bill. See here  
• While Summit Dads buries their heads in the sand as to what the procedures are for determining custody with in Ohio, SB144 covers never married parents and does treat them as an equal in all manners once they have established paternity. Approaching this in any other manner would end the State’s Federal Reimbursement incentives for the collection of TANF costs.
• Summit Dads proposal to automatically grant custody to never married fathers would give grant custody to those that have no interest in being a part of a child’s life in a meaningful manner.
• In reviewing the cost to the State of Ohio of unwed births, this is a problem that costs the State $460 Million per year. Summit Dads proposal calls for the child to not be released until the results of DNA are returned. This would in fact nearly double this yearly expense.
• The Senator has over looked the truth here by not reading the Family Impact Statement on this legislation, See more here

It is time to move this legislation forward. Ohio has suffered for 20+ years under a failed policy in this area of law. We have placed the fate of families in the hands of judges that fail to protect the equal rights of all in a manner that I can best describe as walking into a neighbor’s home that you know nothing about and telling them how to raise their family. I certainly don’t find that to be in the best interest of any child or family and I am sure that you will agree.

Last year Governor Kasich challenged everyone to step-up and tell the General Assembly how to make Ohio better for families. I have done that by writing the Ohio Children’s Parental Involvement Act. The bill as it came out of the Legislative Select Committee was less than 50 words different that what I submitted.

I have and continue to make myself available to discuss this legislation with any legislator in the State. I am willing to debate this subject with anyone that opposes it in a public forum at any time.

No one in this state has every looked at this in the ways that I have looked at it. I have looked at the costs to the State, the costs to our children, costs to business and the excessive costs of running a judiciary on trail court and appellant levels.

Even the Ohio Fatherhood Commission has recognized this expense. Taking figures they reported from Seneca County which placed the cost to that county at $50 Million per year and then transferring it to a state level; we have a $10 Billion problem statewide that even Tracey Robinson has admitted is caused by the law not by fathers. We can’t afford this any longer nor can our children.

I am asking you all to call upon Senator Wagoner to move this legislation thru Committee with no further delays.

Ray Lautenschlager

Ohio Family Rights