Action Alert

A joint custody resolution is now being considered by the U.S. Senate -- S. Con. Res. 59.  The Resolution asks the States to pass more joint custody legislation for the benefit of keeping children in better contact with both parents.

S. Con. Res. 59 was introduced by Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI), after initial introduction in the House of Representatives last autumn (H. Con. Res. 241) by Representatives Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) and Neil Abercrombie (D-HI).  The Resolutions may be viewed on the Library of Congress "Thomas" website.

WE MUST NOW WORK TO GET THESE RESOLUTIONS PASSED.

Please write to your Congressmember to express your support of this Resolution.  An example letter is provided as follows:

SAMPLE LETTER TO MEMBER OF
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Dear Congressmember (name),

Please co-sponsor H. Con. Res. 241, a resolution that asks the states to pass more joint custody laws. Children do better in school, experience less poverty and less involvement in crime and drugs, when they have two parents in their lives, even in divorce or never-married situations.  Joint custody (shared parenting) for fit parents would help assure that more moms and dads, as well as grandparents, are more involved in children's lives. 

Please let me know if you can co-sponsor H. Con. Res. 241.

Sincerely,

Sign your name
Legibly print your name
Street address, phone number, and email address.

AND

SAMPLE LETTER TO MEMBER OF SENATE

Dear Senator --  (for each of your two Senators)

Please co-sponsor S. Con. Res. 59, a resolution that asks the states to pass more joint custody laws. I believe that children do much better in school, and are less likely to become involved in drugs and crime when they have two parents in their lives, even if divorced or never-married.  Joint custody (shared parenting) for “fit” parents would help assure that more mothers and fathers are, and remain, active in their children's lives, and may better assure more contact with their grandparents.

Please let me know if you can co-sponsor S. Con. Res. 59.

 Sincerely,

Sign your name
Legibly print your name
Street address, phone number, and email address.

Tips:

1. Find out how to contact your Congressmembers at the Children's Rights Council's (CRC) website, www.CRCkids.org.  Under "Government," look up House and Senate.  Phone, e-mail or fax to Congress (snail mail takes forever after 9/11).  Fax is best, but not all Congressmembers list their fax numbers.
2. Obtain fax number by phoning your Congressmember at (202) 225-3121 during normal business hours.  Ask for the name of the staff member working for the Congressmember who would handle the joint custody resolution and write to his/her attention.  FOLLOW UP EVERY 10 DAYS TO TWO WEEKS; ONE PHONE CALL, FAX OR E-MAIL WILL NOT DO IT.  Always be polite; remember, you are asking your Congressmember to lay down the one thousand other things on his/her plate and to focus on the joint custody resolution.  Keep CRC informed of results, at info@crckids.org
3. These resolutions do not "require" the states to pass stronger joint custody laws; there are merely "requests."  But requests in other areas over the years have produced positive results in the states.  So please do not underestimate the power of a resolution.
4. After 9/11 the preferred way of contacting Congress is by fax.  Letters take too long for security screening, and emails tend to be discounted. 

Joint custody is now a presumption or preference in 37 states and Washington, D.C.  But it is applied unevenly in many of those states, let alone the 13 states that have no preference or presumption.  Shared parenting has grown enormously over the past 20 years, but much more remains to be done.

Thank you, on behalf of children and families everywhere.

David L. Levy, Esq.
Chief Executive Officer
The Children's Rights Council
8181 Professional Place, Suite 240
Landover, MD 20785
1-800-787-KIDS
dlevy@crckids.org