Michigan Representative Brian Calley (R-Portland) announced today on Get Your Justice Live that he is to introduce a new bill to protect parent-child relationships. The bill, if passed after its upcoming introduction, will establish a presumption that a child would be able to maintain a substantially equal relationship with both their parents after separation, divorce, etc. This presumption would make exceptions for parents convicted of domestic violence or if the court determines by clear and convincing evidence that a parent is unfit, unwilling, or unable to care for the child. This presumption would not apply where a parent moves away and that move-away would interfere with the school schedule for the child.

 

 EPISODE205 - Michigan State Rep. Brian Calley & Equal Parenting [38:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Michigan Representative Brian Calley suggests “that so many of the problems that we face, be it in criminal justice system, economy, the education system, and so forth can be traced back, those are all symptoms to problems that really start much earlier in life with the breakdown of the family.” I asked the Representative if bringing children under rule of two parents will improve the economy, he certainly agreed and discussed how he thought it would help in the long-term.

In a report titled Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2005 (Issued August 2007) by Timothy S. Grall, an estimated 13.6 million parents had custody of 21.2 million children under 21 years of age while the other parent “lived somewhere else.” It is important to note that 5 out of 6 of the parents in the report are mothers, leaving approximately 1/5 the remaining single-parent households as headed by the father.

The data supports Michigan Representative Calley’s position on the social ills that are affecting Michigan and other states, as the super majority of the single-parent households are disproportionately single-mother households. According to conservative statistics, claims have been made that fatherless children are 20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders, 9 times more likely to drop out of high school, 10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances, 9 times more likely to end up in state operated institutions, 20 times more likely to end up in prison, as well as some other staggering social ills.

There certainly is room for more research on both motherless and fatherless situations, as both parents certainly provide balance components to the well-being of their children. These statistics on youth suicide certainly make the case that children should have access to both parents:

• “In a study of 146 adolescent friends of 26 adolescent suicide victims, teens living in single-parent families are not only more likely to commit suicide but also more likely to suffer from psychological disorders, when compared to teens living in intact families.” Source: David A. Brent, (et. al.) “Post-traumatic Stress Disorders in Peers of Adolescent Suicide Victims: Predisposing Factors and Phenomenology.” Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 34 (1995): 209-215.
• “Fatherless children are at dramatically greater risk of suicide.” Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics, Survey on Child Health, Washington, D.C., 1993.
• “Three out of four teenage suicides occur in households where a parent has been absent.” Source: Jean Beth Eshtain, “Family Matters: The Plight of America’s Children.” The Christian Century (July 1993): 14-21.
• “A family structure index — a composite index based on the annual rate of children involved in divorce and the percentage of families with children present that are female-headed – is a strong predictor of suicide among young adult and adolescent white males.” Source: Patricia L. McCall and Kenneth C. Land, “Trends in White Male Adolescent, Young-Adult, and Elderly Suicide: Are There Common Underlying Structural Factors?” Social Science Research 23 (1994): 57-81

We will be keeping a close eye on the progress of this legislation, and believe firmly that the parent-child relationship should always be the focus of our laws. As part of this process we will be analyzing the likely savings in reduced caseload and disputes between parents as a result of heightened evidentiary standards, a reduction in false allegations, and other direct savings to the State of Michigan.

Please note that the episode linked herein is a portion of the show, meant to focus on Representative Brian Calley’s position. After circulation the original full episode with listener commentary will be added to the site.

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