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Have You Experienced Partner Aggression?
By Emily M. Douglas, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, Bridgewater State University
A national research project is recruiting men to participate in a study on men’s experience with partner aggression. Researchers at Clark University and Bridgewater State University are conducting this study on men who have experienced aggression from their girlfriends, wives, or female partners.
If you are a man between the ages of 18-59 and have experienced aggression from a female partner at some point during your life, you may be eligible to participate in this study. Researchers, Denise A. Hines, Ph.D. and Emily M. Douglas, Ph.D., invite you to follow this link to the study webpage where you can complete the online survey about your experience.
Your participation is very important and, in the future, will help men with similar experiences get the help they need. Participation is completely anonymous. They do not ask for your name or any other identifying information in the survey.
The survey takes about 20-30 minutes to complete and is being funded by the National Institutes of Health. Participation is completely voluntary. You may withdraw your participation at any time.
Attend One of the Child Support Guidelines Hearings in Massachusetts
By Rita Fuerst Adams, National Executive Director,
Fathers and Families
Please let me know if you will be attending one of the five open hearings the Massachusetts Trial Court is holding on the Child Support Guidelines.
This year, the Massachusetts Trial Court is inviting public comments and recommendations for the formal review of the Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines. As part of this review, the Child Support Guidelines Task Force is holding five public forums. During the forums, written statements may be delivered and brief oral statements may be made. Oral statements must be no longer than three minutes.
Tuesday, September 11th, 4:00 to 6:00 pm
Fenton Judicial Center
2 Appleton Street, Lawrence
Wednesday, September 12th, 4:00 to 6:00 pm
Edward Brooke Court House
24 New Chardon Street (Near Haymarket T), Boston
Thursday, September 13th, 4:00 to 6:00 pm
Worcester Court House
225 Main Street, Worcester
Tuesday, September 18th, 4:00 to 6:00 pm
Springfield Hall of Justice
50 State Street, Springfield
Wednesday, September 19th, 4:00 to 6:00 pm
Plymouth Court House
52 Obery Street, Plymouth
If your case is in Massachusetts, you have the option to email or mail your written statement to the Massachusetts Trial Court. The deadline is September 30, 2012.
Administrative Office of the Trial Court
Child Support Guidelines Task Force
Two Center Plaza Boston, MA 02108
childsupport@jud.state.ma.us
As you prepare your oral and written statements for the Child Support Hearings, there are some key points you may wish to include. Consider including a few of these key points in your oral and written statements.
Child support amounts should be:
- Decreased for poor, middle class, and near wealthy families, yet still providing for the needs of the child.
- Based on net income, not gross income.
- De minimus after high school, unless special needs exist. Only Massachusetts and Hawaii continues child support to age 23. Married parents do not have a legal responsibility for their child at this age.
- De minimus for a child for whom an order exists to pay for higher education unless the child resides in the home during the academic year.
The Child Support Guidelines should:
- Encourage shared parenting. The child support order should be prorated according to parenting time, as is done in New Jersey and California.
- Encourage equal treatment of all children. This may mean decreases in child support orders to first families where there are second families.
- Incorporate a true self support reserve for poor payors. It does not benefit children to create unpayable child support orders leading to uncollectible arrearages and fugitive parents.
- Exempt earnings from overtime or second jobs. This often locks the payor into working overtime or second jobs indefinitely.
- Restrain from attributing income to a payor who is unable to earn the attributed amount. This may cause financial distress or incarceration.
- Indicate the amount of the child support the recipient is expected to spend on the child and the expenses the recipient is to cover.
- Limit the amount a parent must pay for higher education. Especially since married parents do not have a legal duty to provide for postsecondary education for their children.
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Printer for Sale
A member recently donated a used, excellent condition Kyocera Taskalfa 550c color multifunction system with scanner, fax board, and saddle-stitch finisher. It prints, scans, copies, and faxes.
Specs:
- Print Speed: 55 pages per minute (black and color)
- Resolution: 600 x 600 dpi (copy and print) / 8 Bit Color Depth
- Max Monthly Duty Cycle: 225,000 pages
More information, specs, and photos are available at Kyocera’s website.
Price is negotiable. The money we receive will go towards our work reforming family law. Pickup only from Manchester, NH. Please spread the word to anyone you know who may be interested. Contact Rita Fuerst Adams.
Mission
Fathers and Families improves the lives of children and strengthens society by protecting the child’s right to the love and care of both parents after separation or divorce. We seek better lives for children through family court reform that establishes equal rights and responsibilities for fathers and mothers.
Core Principles
Our core principles are:
- Shared Parenting: Shared parenting protects children’s best interests and the loving bonds children share with both parents after separation or divorce.
- Parental Equality: Equality between genders has been extended to every corner of American society, with one huge exception: family courts and the related agencies.
- Respect for Human and Property Rights: The Supreme Court of the United States has found that “the interest of parents in the care, custody, and control of their children... is perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized by this Court.”
Fathers and Families
PO Box 270760
Boston, Massachusetts 02127-0760
(617) 542-9300
www.fathersandfamilies.org
info@fathersandfamilies.org
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