LD 1229 would strengthen divorce decrees

Do you know someone who’s been denied access to their own child? We do, it happens every day in Maine, and across the nation. In our personal and professional lives, we have known many people who have been denied access to their children, even though their court order directs and legally defines the guidelines of their visitation.

We have worked in the field of child welfare for a combined total of more than 16 years.

In our professional capacities as child welfare workers, including both case work and administrative duties, we have had many experiences in working with families where there have been allegations of abuse and or neglect made by one parent against the other. Many of these families had true issues to be explored and assessed.

However, there have also been the situations where, out of frustration with the court system, the parent sought intervention from child protective services. This was usually done as a last resort step to help them in mandating the other parent to comply with a court order.

Maine has a significant problem with the uniform enforcement of their divorce decrees. Most court orders contain very specific language outlining the parameters of visitation, including holiday and school vacation arrangements.

Unfortunately, courts typically do not enforce these portions of their own orders. This is in stark contrast to violations of child support orders.

In Maine, noncustodial parents are threatened with the loss of licenses; including driver’s licenses, professional licenses, as well as hunting and fishing licenses, if their child support obligations are violated. This illustrates a certain degree of inequitable judicial enforcement when it comes to violations of visitation versus violation of financial obligations. In other states such as Texas, enforcement of violations for both visitation and child support are enforced with more equity in their courts.

We know people who have spent thousands of dollars to try to enforce their court-ordered visitation agreement. This has been accomplished through filing motions in the court.

After waiting for their appointed hearing date for several months, putting on testimony and receiving a new order, many of the final outcomes were of no substantive difference. In the end, the parent had spent a significant amount of money with no meaningful change in their visitation.

Another issue with enforcement of court orders involves a parent moving to another state for reasons other than employment, without the consent of the other parent or court. In some family situations, this move is done to be vindictive to the other parent and to deny access to the child.

Why is it that the state of Maine will pursue a parent across state lines to collect child support violations, yet violations of visitation orders are not pursued with the same manner?

We believe the complexity of the legal process is unnecessary. It appears to expand the legal business, rather than provide for the best possible outcome for children. It doesn’t make sense to continue with the current process of filing motions back and forth, only to receive a judicial finding that may

or may not be enforced.

We need to simplify the process, so that people are treated fairly, responsibly and objectively, to ensure that the children’s needs are put first.

A bill before the Legislature, LD 1229, An Act to Strengthen Divorce Decrees, is a beginning to resolve some of the issues outlined above. This bill, if made a law, will give the judge more tools to enforce a court order regarding custody and or visitation by starting with mediation and ending with possible imprisonment, including every option in between. The bill also creates a parenting time enforcement program modeled after a program in Colorado, which would educate and assist parents in complying instead of ending up in court.

The child welfare system, which often receives reports regarding custody conflict issues, is not designed to mediate between parents in custody conflict cases. Those cases should be handled in family court, rather than through an agency that is designed to assess allegations of abuse and neglect.

Currently, Maine utilizes a structured program, Kid’s First, in an effort to guide parents in communicating effectively when the parents have sought a parental rights and responsibilities order. While this program is effective in some families, there are many families who have participated in this program and are still faced with difficult circumstances, due to the noncompliance of the other parent.

Section 2 of LD 1229, which directs the governor to designate an appropriate state agency to develop parenting enforcement programs, would increase options for parents. Specifically, the program would facilitate visitation between the child and non-custodial parent. This could be accomplished through a variety of options including mediation, parenting education, and development of parenting plans.

We are in support of LD 1229, as it empowers parents who have struggled with the current system. LD 1229 offers an opportunity to try to remedy their noncompliance issues with a set of progressive sanctions, if needed to resolve the issues.

Christa Gerrish and Christina Fish are graduate social work students at the University of Maine as well as licensed social workers.