Individuals and groups of concerned parents are absolutely the “key to unlocking the custody battle” and getting shared parenting legislation passed in every state. Parents across the country need assistance and publicity in order to make headway on these initiatives.
In Washington State, five members of state’s House have submitted a shared parenting bill for families of Washington State. House Bill HB1982 is the fruit of many years’ labor that have gone into revising a shared parenting bill that should have wide acceptance amongst members of Washington’s House and Senate.
However, even the best of bills requires strong backing for passage. As is the case with many states’ offerings, there are several strong opponents in Washington’s legislature.
You can write to your elected officials in Olympia with an email addressed to lastname.firstname@leg.wa.gov. You can express your positive sentiments and thanks to Representative Wallace Address it to wallace.deb@leg.wa.gov. Other supporters include: Representatives Wallace, Roach, Rodne, Hurst, Blake and Kessler. You can carbon-copy (CC) your own district’s elected officials and ask for their full support of this important bill. Send it to friends, relatives, even mere acquaintances and ask that they support it, too. Families that they love are very likely depending upon the passage of this bill. Tell them to let their elected officials know they want it supported fully.
An excerpt:
Sec. 2. RCW 26.09.002 and 2007 c 496 s 101 are each amended to read as follows:
Parents have the responsibility to make decisions and perform other parental functions necessary for the care and growth of their minor children. In any proceeding between parents under this chapter, the best interests of the child shall be the standard by which the court determines and allocates the parties’ parental responsibilities. The state recognizes the fundamental importance of the parent-child relationship to the welfare of the child, and that the relationship between the child and each parent should be fostered unless inconsistent with the child’s best interests. Residential time and financial support are equally important components of parenting p. 1 HB 1982 arrangements. The best interests of the child are served by a parenting arrangement that best maintains a child’s emotional growth, health and stability, and physical care. Therefore, there is a presumption in favor of shared parental responsibility unless it is not in the child’s best interest. Further, the best interest of the child is ordinarily served when the existing pattern of interaction between a parent and child is altered only to the extent necessitated by the changed relationship of the parents or as required to protect the child from physical, mental, or emotional harm.
For the full original bill: Washington HB 1982 for Shared Parenting
