Lawrence County Executive Proclaims Family Court Awareness Month

PROCLAMATION

Family Court Awareness Month 2022

WHEREAS, the mission of the Family Court Awareness Month Committee (FCAMC) is to increase awareness on the importance of a family court system that prioritizes child safety and acts in the best interest of children, and;

WHEREAS, the mission at the FCAMC is fueled by the desire to create awareness and change in the family court system for the conservatively estimated, 58,000 children a year ordered into unsupervised contact with physically or sexually abusive parents, while honoring the hundreds of children who have been reported as murdered during visitation with a dangerous parent, and;

WHEREAS, the mission of the FCAMC is to increase awareness on the importance of empirically-based education and training on domestic violence, childhood trauma, child sexual abuse, coercive control, post separation abuse for all professionals working on cases within the family court system, and;

WHEREAS, the mission of the FCAMC is to increase awareness on the importance of using scientifically valid, evidence-based, treatment programs and services that are proven in terms of safety, effectiveness, and therapeutic value, and;

WHEREAS, the mission at the FCAMC is to educate judges and other family court professionals on evidence-based, peer-reviewed research. Such research is a critical component to making decisions that are truly in the best interest of children. This research includes The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Study (co-principal investigator: Vincent Felitti, Kaiser Permanente-CDC); Child Custody Evaluators’ Beliefs About Domestic Abuse Allegations (principal investigator: Daniel Saunders, University of Michigan, sponsored by the National Institute of Justice); and Child Custody Outcomes in Cases Involving Parental Alienation and Abuse Allegations (principal investigator: Joan S. Meier, GW Law School, sponsored by the National Institute of Justice), 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, David Morgan, do hereby declare the Month of NOVEMBER, to be FAMILY COURT AWARENESS MONTH.

I encourage all residents to support their local communities’ efforts to prevent the harm of children in the hands of family members and to honor and value the lives of children.

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