HUNTSVILLE, Alabama (Examiner.com) - Numerous studies have shown the importance of having both parents available for a child's proper development. Those studies note significantly improved happiness, school grades, and likelihood of success in their adult life when both the mother and father have active roles in their child's life.
According to Fatherhood.org, 'Children who live absent their biological fathers are, on average, at least two to three times more likely to be poor, to use drugs, to experience educational, health, emotional and behavioral problems, to be victims of child abuse, and to engage in criminal behavior than their peers who live with their married, biological (or adoptive) parents.'
Taking that into consideration, one would have to wonder why Alabama's so-called 'Standard Visitation,' which is commonly ordered in Alabama family courts, is as little as 66 days per year.
An Alabama non-custodial parent's court-ordered visitation could be as little as every other weekend and two weeks in the summer. Sometimes, visitation is limited to a few hours a month. Often, there is no schedule ordered, the Court stating simply, 'subject to reasonable visitation with the Defendant.'
Often, parents find court-ordered visitation difficult to enforce when the custodial parent becomes non-cooperative. If the custodial parent refuses visitation, it can take months or even years and thousands of dollars in legal fees to enforce court-ordered visitation.
There have been allegations that court-ordered visitation is designed in this manner to maximize the federal incentive payment received by the State, by allowing for enforcement of maximum child support.
Right now, efforts to solve this perceived flaw in the Alabama family court system are ongoing. Supporters of the 'Equal Parenting' bill introduced last year in the Alabama Legislature, will attempt to breathe new life into their cause during the 2012 legislative session.
Hopefully, the Alabama Legislature will put the well-being of Alabama's children over State profits by guaranteeing Alabama parents' Constitutional right to have equal parenting time with their children. You can contact your legislator here to urge them to sponsor 'equal parenting' legislation like SB196 from 2011.
If you are going through a divorce or child custody and support legal matter and need help, visit the following websites for more information:
Alabama Family Rights Association
National Fatherhood Initiative
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