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Newsletter

A Child Advocacy Company
Bringing Support to Parents
Building Strength to Children

Disclaimer: BS Kids LLC legal research and information has been prepared for educational and informational purposes only. This material is not legal
advice or legal opinions on any specific matters. Transmission of the information is not intended to create and receipt does not constitute a
lawyer-client relationship between BS Kids LLC , the author of the information and any other legal publisher. Customers of BS Kids should not act upon
this information without seeking professional counsel. The opinions expressed in the material presented to BS Kids clientele is based on information
found in legal publications. BS Kids LLC, 78 Canterberry Court, Hudson, NH 03051 781-756-1214.

BS KIDS BEAT

VOLUME 2 SPRING 2008

BS KIDS

Welcome Spring! It’s been a very long winter and thankfully it’s over! A lot has gone on in the past
couple of months, so we’ve updated what’s been happening, along with some future events.

BS KIDS is in the process of developing a mentoring program in New Hampshire. While the project is
still in the *development* stage, we are looking for some help. If you have or can devote some time
towards the organizational structure or would like to participate in the program, drop us a line at
bskidsco@yahoo.com. We are hoping to have the program up and running in the fall.

WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH FAMILY LAW

A couple of interesting studies have recently been released. One is on Shared Parenting: Facts and
Fiction. The other is The Taxpayers Costs of Divorce and Unwed Childbearing.

The Shared Parenting: Facts and Fiction was written by Dr. Linda Nielsen. It states some pretty
interesting statistics. Her research states that “Almost half the children in the U.S. are deprived of
the lifelong benefits of two parents who shared the parenting throughout the first eighteen years of
their children’s lives.”

The study goes on to further state that “only 15-20% of parents share parenting after divorce.
Existing legal procedures and attitudes of people who influence the decision about children’s living
arrangements often make shared parenting harder to achieve.”

Additionally, some pretty interesting Facts are presented. “Kids who live part time with each parent
after divorce prefer this to living with only one parent.” “The overwhelming majority of divorced
fathers want more time with their children and more shared parenting. And lastly, “very young children
should not be away from either parent for more than a few days and should be able to spend nights in
each parent’s home”.

For more information on this research, go to Nielsen@wfu.ed or www.bskids.net.

The other interesting piece was a study that was done that looked at the Taxpayer Costs of Divorce
and Unwed Childbearing. It was published by the Institute for American Values and the principal
investigator was Benjamin Scafidi, an economist in the J. Whitney Bunting School of Business at
Georgia College & State University.

The research suggests that “family fragmentation costs U.S. taxpayers at least $112 billion each and
every year or more than $1 trillion each decade. The study points out that marriage has become less
common and more fragile and the proportion of children raised outside intact marriages has increased
dramatically. About three quarters of children living with a single parent live with a single mother.”

The study further states that the percent of U.S. Children in a single parent household is broken down
as follows: Living with one male parent – 21.5%, with one female parent – 78.5% (2005 American
Community Survey).

The study breaks down by State the actual costs of divorce and unwed child bearing. In
Massachusetts, $ 274 million is spent on the Justice System. In New Hampshire, $ 19 million is spent
on the Justice System. Pretty astounding numbers for taxpayers, no?

For more information on this study and to see each state’s breakdown, go to www.americanvalues.org or
www.bskids.net.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATES

This Legislative season hasn’t been too kind for Child Advocates. Although a number of bills had been
introduced, most did not make it out of the Child & Family Law Committee. One such bill was the need
for a Committee to Study the Child Support Guidelines. As we all know, these guidelines are antiquated
and in desperate need of revision.

BS KIDS has been in contact with DHHS and has learned the following: Bids went out to hire an
economist. DCSS is obligated, under RSA 458 C: 6 to review the guidelines every four years and the
completed review is due in December of 2008. Presently there are currently no bids on the request
for proposals on the hiring of an economist. It will be interesting to see what happens as we get closer
to the December deadline. As more information becomes available, we will post it on the website, www.
bskids.net.

Of the three bills that did manage to squeak by this session, HB 1188: Relative to grounds for
modification of parental rights and responsibilities would appear to be most critical. This bill will allow
parents to go back into court and file for a modification of their parental rights and responsibilities if
they were not allowed to originally file a parenting plan (there are more details on the website). If you
fall into this category and are interested in providing testimony, please contact us at bskidsco@yahoo.
com.

Another bill is HB 1490: Adopting the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. The
status of both of these bills are *Interim Study*. This means that a sub committee will further
explore the requirements of the bill the feasibility of passing them and then make further
recommendations to the full Committee. BS KIDS will keep you posted on the next public hearings for
these two bills.

Lastly, the one bill that did pass both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees is HB 1488:
Establishing a Committee to study the feasibility of pro se libraries. When the Citizen’s Commission
Report was issued, it noted that 70% of all litigants appear pro se. It’s great to see the Legislature
responding to the need for pro se litigants to have a place to learn about current laws. While this bill
establishes only a committee to study the feasibility of these libraries, it’s a good start to educating
individuals who wish to represent themselves on the legal process.

Also of interest is HA: 1: The bill of address to remove Judge Coffey from office. Although Judge
Coffey, shortly after the Supreme Court rendered their decision to suspend her for three years, did
resign her position, it was still encouraging that the Legislature was moving forward to have her
impeached from office.

While many individuals have spent their time, energy and effort in attending public hearings and sending
testimony to the Committee, it is IMPERATIVE to remember that this coming November is an election
year. During the last election, we lost many good representatives and many bad representatives keep
getting re-elected. I urge you all to learn who represents your towns, in both the House and the
Senate, check out how they’ve voted on bills of importance to you and remember that this fall. There
will be more information on the elections in the next newsletter.

NEWS

Some interesting articles you may wish to read are below. To read the entire article, go to www.bskids.
net and click on News:

Single Men Are Filing The Parenting Void
ST. LOUIS — Kory Alexander says he got tired 11 years ago of meeting teenagers from his St. Louis
neighborhood with no parents to care for them and no place to go. So Alexander, then a 24-year-old
single guy, became a foster parent to a teenager he knew while working at St. Vincent's Children's
Home in Normandy. It's a role he has since undertaken 11 times…………

Investigations Of The Child Support System in America Must Begin At Once.
(Las Vegas) In an unprecedented move to speak out for non custodial parents and their children in
America, Los Angeles/Las Vegas talk show host Richard Farr an outspoken critic of the Child Support
System has called for a "Complete Amnesty of All Punitive Measures Against All Non Custodial Parents"
………….

GET INVOLVED

There are many ways to get involved, below is a small sample of opportunities. For more information,
please go to; www.bskids.net and click on *Get Involved*.

Child Advocacy Center Needs Public's Help
DOVER — For the last few years the county's Child Advocacy Center has helped children who have been
victims of sexual or physical abuse come to terms with their issues and prepare for trial. Now the
center is reaching out to the community through a fundraising effort, hoping to raise additional funds
to keep the center's efforts going………

Building Blocks For Better Families
Monday nights April 7th- June 3 2008
from 6-730pm. Childcare and Meal Provided
Classes are Free……..

E-MAIL ALERTS

If you are interested in getting alerts from BS KIDS regarding news, legislative activity or getting
involved opportunities, please sign up on our website at www.bskids.net

COMMENTS/SUGGESTIONS

BS KIDS is looking to include areas of interest to our readers. If there is a topic or area of concern
that you would like to learn more about, please let us know. You can e-mail us at info@bskids.net or call
781-756-1214.

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Disclaimer: BS Kids LLC legal research and information has been prepared for educational and informational purposes only. This material is not
legal advice or legal opinions on any specific matters. Transmission of the information is not intended to create and receipt does not constitute a
lawyer-client relationship between BS Kids LLC, the author of the information and any other legal publisher. Customers of BS Kids should not act
upon this information without seeking professional counsel. The opinions expressed in the material presented to BS Kids clientele is based on
information found in legal publications. BS Kids LLC, 78 Canterberry Court, Hudson, NH 03051 781-756-1214.

Past Newsletters

Winter 2008