From a scientific and
biological background, shared parenting sounds like an oxymoron, the sort of
tongue-in- cheek lame humor to be expected from underchallenged graduate
students after a notably dull staff meeting. How can you NOT share parenting
unless you happen to be unicellular, a protist, or asexual?
Needless to say the
topic is far more -- dare I say pregnant?--than such a cursory skim, and so we
plunge into the very muddy waters of current social (mis)behavior in search of
enlightenment. It turns out that Shared Parenting is a subject which has long
since been snatched away from science and placed in the capable hands of....politicians,
elected judges and those paragons of human endeavor, lawyers. It arrived there
by the usual contrivances and distortions of rule and law over order and common
sense. So we ask: why? What could conceivably (sorry!) refute junior high
school biology to the extent that jurisprudence must step in?
It turns out, hardly
surprisingly, that our legal system thrives -- nay, exults, --in the spinoffs
of marital conflict. A typical push for a legal divorce generates near-nuclear
meltdown, creating a beaten zone of human suffering recognizable by our
deployed EOD specialists. And where there's fire, nuclear or otherwise, there's
opportunity, at least if you are part of our legal system. So why not tweak it,
make it last a bit longer, wring it dry?
Enter Shared
Parenting. Go back to biology. How many parents does it take, again? (Not
counting the utterly bizarre recent evolutions of IVF and gender manipulations
that would make a tyrannosaur blush). It takes two; one of each by the old
standard. The "parenting" part of it is solid scientific ground: it
indicates offspring. That's how we all got here. But the "shared"...
Many a courtroom has batted that concept around through dozens of fee payments,
and also weeks, on the premise that they, and they only, hold the wisdom to
resolve "shared". The actual "parenting" is commanded to be
silent in court.
...anybody wondering
where the offspring get help in all of this...?
Back to biology, a
discipline somewhat more seasoned at 540 million years and counting, than state
law still somewhat malleable after 243 years or less. Evolution dictates
parents; successful mammalian evolution has made it clear that shared parenting
is also requisite. Common human decency -- if any-- also demands both parents.
Ask their offspring.
Eric Schwennesen is a
commercial beef rancher in the Mogollon Rim country. He grew up in Belgium,
cowboyed in Nevada, and helped Navajos and many African peoples with rangeland
conflicts for over 35 years. He recently published "The Field Journals: Adventures in Pastoralism" about
his experiences.
Child Welfare Policy Manual: Table of Contents
Click on a link below to view or print the questions in each section or subsection.Printer-Friendly Version
1.2A.1 Adoptive parents
1.2A.2 Birth parents
1.2A.3 Child's demographics
1.2A.4 Court actions
1.2A.5 Financial information
1.2A.6 Placement
1.2B.1 Case plan goal
1.2B.2 Child's demographics
1.2B.4 Financial elements
1.2B.5 Foster family home
1.2B.6 Outcome information
1.2B.7 Placements
1.2B.8 Principal caretaker
2.1A.1 Confidentiality
2.1A.2 Expungment
2.1A.3 Open Courts
2.1A.4 Public Disclosure
2.1B Appeals
2.1D Guardian Ad Litems
2.1E Reunification
2.3 Definitions
3.1A Youth Participation
3.1B Age
3.1C Coordination
3.1D Fraud and Abuse
3.1G Room or Board
3.1H Training
3.1I Tribal
3.2 Data Collection
3.2A Data Elements
3.2B Outcome Measures
3.2D Systems Requirements
3.3 Fiscal
3.3A Administrative Costs
3.3B Allocations
3.3C Match
3.3D Non-supplantation
3.3E Use of Funds
3.5A Youth Eligibility
3.5D Administrative Costs
3.5F Use of Funds
6.3 CCWIS data
6.3A Federal data
6.3B State data
6.3C ICWA
6.3D NCANDS
6.4 Reporting
6.4A Federal reports
6.5 Data quality
6.5C Data quality reviews
6.5E Data quality plans
6.6 Data exchanges
6.6A Financial systems
6.6F Title IV-A systems
6.6I Title IV-D systems
6.6J Court systems
6.6K Education systems
6.10 Submission
6.10A Initial submission
6.10B On-going submission
6.12 Design requirements
6.12A.1 Modularity
6.12A.2 Plain language
6.12A.3 Development standard
6.12A.4 Reuse
6.12B Design waivers
6.13 CCWIS options
6.14 CCWIS reviews
6.15 Transition Period
6.16 Cost allocation
6.16C CCWIS cost allocation
6.16C.1 Development
6.16C.2 Operations
6.17 Failure to comply
6.17A Suspension
6.17B Ending suspension
6.17C Recoupment
7.2 Confidentiality
7.4 Use of Funds
8.1C Calculating Claims
8.1E Contracting
8.1F Match Requirements
8.1H Training
8.2A Agreements
8.2A.1 Interstate placements
8.2A.2 Means test
8.2B Eligibility
8.2B.1 Biological parents
8.2B.2 Children in foster care
8.2B.3 Child of a minor parent
8.2B.5 Independent Adoptions
8.2B.6 International Adoptions
8.2B.7 Judicial determinations
8.2B.8 Medicaid
8.2B.9 Redeterminations
8.2B.11 Special needs
8.2B.12 SSI
8.2B.13 Voluntary relinquishments
8.2C Interstate Compact
8.2D Payments
8.2D.1 Allowable costs
8.2D.2 Duration
8.2D.3 Non-recurring expenses
8.2D.4 Rates
8.2D.5 Termination
8.3A Eligibility
8.3A.1 Adjudicated delinquents
8.3A.2 Age
8.3A.3 Biological parents
8.3A.5 Child of a minor parent
8.3A.6 Contrary to the welfare
8.3A.8 Facilities requirements
8.3A.8a child-care institution
8.3A.8b foster family home
8.3A.8c licensing
8.3A.8d supervised independent living
8.3A.9 Reasonable efforts
8.3A.9a to finalize a permanency plan
8.3A.9b to prevent a removal
8.3A.10 Redeterminations
8.3A.13 Voluntary placement agreements
8.3A.14 Voluntary relinquishments
8.3A.15 When payments may begin
8.3B Payments
8.3B.1 Allowable costs
8.3B.2 Rates
8.3C.1 Case plans
8.3C.2 Case review system
8.3C.2c permanency hearings
8.3C.2d six month periodic reviews
8.3C.2e termination of parental rights
8.3C.3 Foster care goals
8.3C.4 Reasonable efforts
8.3C.5 Trial home visit
8.4A AFDC Eligibility
8.4B Aliens/Immigrants
8.4C Child support
8.4E Confidentiality
8.4G Fair Hearings
8.4H Safety Requirements
8.5A Agreements
8.5B Eligibility
8.5B.1 Siblings
8.5B.2 Guardian requirements
8.5C Payments
8.5C.1 Termination
8.5D Interstate
8.6A Program Requirements
8.6A.3 Reporting
8.6B Eligibility
8.6B.3 Time-limited services
8.6B.4 Age
8.6C.2 Fiscal requirements and MOE
1 comment:
Frank, you're a prime example of what Eric is talking about. Hell, there's ample evidence all around you of the failure the policies found under that table of contents. I liken it to the good intentions of the Interior Dept that decades later have resulted in the worst brush fires we ever experienced. Wasn't that way before the Dept of Interior when ranchers kept brush at a minimum. Wasn't that way for children of two parents before our system removed all repercussions for the bad behavior of mothers.
Thanks Eric.
Mike
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