Talking Points

Fathers with joint custody pay 90.2% of all child support ordered.

Those with visitation rights pay 79.1%.

Those with no access/visitation pay only 44.5%

Source: Census Bureau report. Series P-23, No. 173

Almost half of all mothers see no value in the father's continued contact with his children following separation or divorce. Approximately 40% of divorced mothers report interfering with the father's relationship with the children.

Source: Sanford Braver, Arizona State University

66% of all support not paid by non-custodial fathers is due to an inability to pay.

Source: U.S. General Accounting Office Report, GAO/HRD-92-39FS, January 1992

Custodial mothers who receive a support award: 79.6%

Custodial fathers who receive a support award: 29.9%

Non-custodial mothers who default on support: 46.9%

Non-custodial fathers who default on support: 26.9%

(Data obtained by asking custodial parents)

Non-custodial mothers who pay support at any level: 20.0%

Non-custodial fathers who pay support at any level: 61.0%

(Data obtained by asking custodial parents)

40% of all births nationwide are to single mothers.

All the following are for custodial parents:

Single mothers who work less than full-time: 66.2%

Single fathers who work less than full-time: 10.2%

Single mothers who work more than 44 hours per week: 7.0%

Single fathers who work more than 44 hours per week: 24.5%

Single mothers who receive public assistance: 46.2%

Single fathers who receive public assistance: 20.8%

Source: Technical Analysis Paper No. 42, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Income Security Policy, Oct., 1991 Authors: Meyer and Garansky

"Economically fathers and mothers on average fare almost exactly equal about one year after divorce."

Source: Sanford Braver, Divorced Dads: Shattering the Myths, (Tarcher/Putnam: 1998), p. 79

Ohio Family Involvement Act:

1.       Will increase the involvement of both parents in their children’s lives – society has long complained about the lack of father involvement but it is not the fathers at fault… it is the law that has allowed this to happen. US Census Bureau’s Statistics had this custody aligned as 85-15% in favor of the mothers.

2.       Will place the decisions on how to raise the family in the hands of the family.

3.       Will decrease the litigation involved in divorce – This legislation will take the State of Ohio from litigation in child custody to mediation or negotiation. In looking at the latest new court filings for the State of Ohio that would move 422,941 from an already overburdened court docket into a negotiated settlement. This will save the court a tremendous amount of money as well as the parents involved and allow the courts to focus on cases where there is harm to a child.

4.       Will decrease the impact and use of children as pawns between two divorcing parents to gain the upper hand in the action. The parent gaining control of the child has control of the home, the money, and the other parent and the assistance of the state in their financial destruction.

5.       Will reduce the societal costs of providing counseling for children –if we don’t screw them up in the first place; we won’t place the burden of rehabilitation on society later.

6.       Will benefit businesses by reducing their operating costs and lost time expenses. If the State is to be business-friendly, it must first be family-friendly. One of the examples that comes to mind on this was when I worked in a 50-man machine shop. Every machine ran every day to produce parts. When someone had to take off for a court date because of some petty issue within DRC, their machine sat idle. No parts were produced (profits for the company), the worker burned a vacation day (paid), and the Company lost profits from production and the wages of workers. State lost income from taxes on both and anything extra the worker would have spent on a real vacation which would produce income down the road to others.

7.       Will reduce the cost of operating the Domestic/Juvenile/Family courts by lessening the burdens on the court’s heavy caseload – Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court was the subject of a Supreme Court report in which they were admonished for slowness in dealing with cases. Decreased post-decree litigation will speed up the process and lower costs. Referred to the figures in #3.

8.       Will reduce the divorce rate in the State of Ohio - Studies have shown that the states with the strongest presumption of shared parenting laws have seen reduced rates of divorce. This legislation will take us one step further and we expect to see those rates drop significantly in the future with some estimates going as high are 20%.

9.       Will improve the education of our children. Mothers and Fathers have different approaches and skill sets to raise and teach children. Well-rounded and well-educated children need both parents!

10.   Does not require that every case have equal custody, this is a starting point and the final decision is placed in the hands of the parents of those children. – This is the one issue the judges will address. They will try to create a misconception about this legislation that equal will not work for everybody. That is correct! But it establishes a truly equal starting point for everyone. Realistically this will encourage the parents to meditate to a settlement in regards to custody matters.

11.   Does not remove judicial discretion but gives the court a better definition of how to handle custody decisions. This will give the courts directions on how to proceed so that they follow Ohio’s stated policy of ensuring that both parents stay actively involved with their children. As it is now under Ohio law, the domestic relations judges have such broad discretion that if they order your children to play in the middle of the freeway during rush hour… you are required to follow that order. This broad discretion has caused harm to numerous children throughout the State. See More Here

12.   Does handle a conflict in law between how the Juvenile courts and the Domestic Relations courts handle parents. Juvenile courts place unsuitable parents on a case plan so they can be reunited with their children. Domestic Relations Court limited the time of the “offending “parent and offered no method with which to rehabilitate that parent to make them a stronger influence in their children’s lives.

13.   Does not affect the domestic violence laws of this state. Domestic violence is a criminal act, despite what the various DV networks claim.

14.   Does not eliminate child support although it will reform the application of deviations by the courts in a more parent-friendly manner.

Myth - Every father who wants equal custody of his children is only trying to get out of paying child support. - This one has been around for years and is false. In reality, a father with equal custody and a properly set child support order pays more in direct support of his child than a father with a standard order of visitation.

Myth – Every parent who wants the law changed is doing so only because they are disgruntled by the outcome of their court case. False – The courts have lacked proper direction through the years and have removed parents who are fit for no reason other than their own discretion and bias. These changes do give the courts that direction and are in keeping with Ohio’s stated policies.

Myth – Unfit parents will have custody of their children. False – These changes are for fit parents only and should a parent be found to have a defect of some sort there is now a procedure for them to correct that defect so that they can be involved in their children’s lives.

Myth – This will increase domestic violence. False – We believe that it will decrease domestic violence that comes from the frustration of not being able to be a part of the child’s life.