When parents neglect or fail to provide even basic food, shelter, or medical care for their children, we would all agree that Children’s Services needs to step in and remove a child from their parent’s control. If a child’s immediate safety and well being are at risk, we would argue that such a situation must not be allowed to continue.
But what about parents who allow their children to become extremely obese over time…obese to the point that a child’s health, or even life, is in danger? If a child is experiencing medical problems because his or her parent allows them to eat to excess and maintain an inactive lifestyle, should Children’s Services remove a child from that environment? Doesn’t the situation amount to a form of child abuse that authorities should act upon? A recent commentary in one of the nation’s most distinguished medical journals, the Journal of the American Medical Association, argues “Yes!”, and it’s causing quite a debate across the country.
The commentary that has generated numerous news stories and blog articles was written by Dr. David Ludwig, an obesity specialist at Harvard-affiliated Children’s … Read More... “Extremely Obese Children…Should Their Parents Lose Custody?”
Alternative dispute resolution can be a wonderful tool in divorce cases. Montgomery County’s Domestic Relations Court, along with many other divorce Courts, have adopted mediation conferences as a voluntary or, in some cases, mandatory prerequisite to trial. I am focusing this article on how that process works in Montgomery County.
A divorce often leads to many changes within a family. Recognizing this fact is extremely important, especially when children are involved. Divorcing parents should ask themselves each step of the way what they can do to minimize the negative impact on their children. Parental funding of a child’s college education often becomes a casualty in the process.
Even young children are aware that they are part of both parents. We tell them the story of our courtship, our wedding and of their birth. We show them baby pictures. “You have Daddy’s smile and you have Mommy’s eyes,” we tell them. This is one way children feel they are part of a family. It helps our children develop a sense of identity and belonging. As children grow older, we begin to identify more traits in them that remind us of ourselves. “You are artistic like your dad” or “you have your mom’s wit” are further ways we continue to build connection with our kids.
In September of 2008, Ohio became one of the first states to make a Next of Kin registration program available to its residents. The Ohio state legislature established the program in response to situations where police and emergency personnel had been unable to locate or contact family members of people who had been fatally injured. Several accidents occurred where people had been severely injured but not killed instantly. Tragically, their relatives were unable to spend time with their injured relatives during their last hours due to the difficulty police had in identifying exactly who to notify.
After years of intense pressure from the United States government and governments of the European Union, the government of Japan recently announced its intention to join the Hague Convention relative to child custody. At the present time, Japan is the only major industrialized country that has not signed the treaty. And, Japan is the only member of the Group of Seven (G-7) leading nations which is not a party to the treaty. The G-7 countries which have adopted the Hague Convention are France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.
I posted a blog article titled