Features Overview
NBC NIGHTLY NEWS with Lester Holt
Parents Say Family Courts Too Often Ignore Allegations Of Violence In Custody Disputes - Kayden Mancuso Paid with her life
Danielle Pollack speaks to NPR Utah on policy objectives and reforms, which in 2024 led to Utah’s enactment of “Om’s Law”
NPR Utah, Kuer - Mother calls for family court reform after tragic murder-suicide in salt lake city, May 18, 2023
Om Moses Ghandi, 16, was murdered by his abusive father while in his court-ordered custody, despite a decade of efforts by his safe mother, Leah Moses, to retain custody and protect him. “Unfortunately, Utah is doing the same things wrong in these cases as family courts are all around the country and actually all around the globe,” said Danielle Pollack, policy manager at the National Family Violence Law Center. If one parent is alleging abuse and seeking custody, Pollack said the other parent often claims that the allegations are false and that they are trying to “brainwash” their child against them.
"Even though it's been rebuked by medical and psychological associations and experts all around the world, it's still used and introduced in these cases,” said Pollack. “When abuse is alleged, the cross-claim is frequently alienation. We see this pattern everywhere."
There has been a nationwide push surrounding legislation called the Keeping Children Safe From Family Violence Act, also known as Kayden’s Law, which was part of the Violence Against Women Act passed by Congress last year.
Colorado was the first state to pass such legislation after federal enactment.
*In 2024, Om’s Law, modeled on federal Kayden’s Law, passed both chambers in Utah and is expected to be signed by the Governor.
The Denver Channel, ABC - improving child safety in family courts: Greyson’s Law in FLorida, Nov 11, 2021
“If the average person understood what happened inside our family courts, they would not stand for it. It’s shocking,” Pollack said. In Florida, Greyson’s Law will be introduced in both chambers.
Federally, a provision in the Violence Against Women Act would provide incentives to states to properly train the courts. One of the few national studies inside family court cases found they disbelieve child abuse claims, especially sexual abuse, at high rates. The study also found when a mother reported any abuse and a father claimed alienation, the mother lost custody nearly half the time. Pollack says there are tens of thousands of children trapped in prolonged abuse.
(c) Scripps National, The Denver Channel
Allen v Farrow: Child Sexual Abuse is the Final Frontier
The Allen v Farrow docuseries currently on HBO brings into focus the unsettling — but all too prevalent — problem of child sex abuse within families. While the film’s narrative about the Allen/Farrow family is powerful and convincing, it is critical that viewers understand that its story is far from unique.
The tactics Allen used in the 1990s to ensure that the public believed he was innocent of child abuse are the same ones widely and successfully used by many non-celebrity alleged abusers in family courts today.
Al Jazeera - Custody battles take on new complications amid coronavirus crisis, May 4, 2020
"What does that say for all healthcare workers right now - should all essential workers lose visitation with their children?" Garcia asked. "For my ex, this isn't about coronavirus, it's about control. My children are devastated. My daughters cried for hours, they need their mother right now," Garcia told Al Jazeera.
"It's terrible out there," said advocate Danielle Pollack of Child USA, a Philadelphia-based think-tank focusing on child protection issues. "COVID-19 has descended and courts have given very little guidance. What was troubling in the system beforehand has been exacerbated, parents don't know what to follow." Few courts have issued guidance about how parents should handle custody arranges especially if there is continuing litigation.
Evan Stark and Danielle Pollack
The Seattle Times - Jennifer Dulos Case highlights common scourge, advocates say, Jan 10, 2020
Danielle Pollack, an Ambassador specializing in family court reform with Child USA, a Philadelphia-based organization, said abuse “gets lost, it gets discredited” when courts look simultaneously at other factors - especially claims of alienation - when granting custody. “We’re helping states build their custody statutes in a way that puts the safety of the children first,” said Pollack, whose group helped to pass legislation in Louisiana and is currently on a similar bill in Pennsylvania. They’re based on a recent resolution passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. “Kids are still getting court ordered into these very dangerous situations.”
Danielle Pollack (video)
CBS New York - Connecticut senator proposes domestic violence, Family court reforms to honor missing mother Jennifer Dulos (Video), Jan 10, 2020
Friends say Jennifer Farber Dulos suffered a huge emotional toll as the divorce case dragged on. There were more than 500 filings in the case since early 2017.
“These cases are often the result of abusers weaponizing the legal system to harass, intimidate and destroy the person who dared to leave,” Bergstein said.
VIDEO of entire Connecticut press conference with speeches by Danielle Pollack, Evan Stark, and Senator Alex Bergstein.
Danielle Pollack (Oct 2019 video)
Courier Times - State Senate hearing pushes kaydens laW, Oct 17, 2019
One of authors of the bill, Danielle Pollack, testified that children’s safety is too often an afterthought in the courts during custody hearings. Many times “safe parents” are forced by courts to allow abusive parents to have custody, or aren’t allowed to testify about known abuse, said Pollack, who serves as an ambassador with Child USA, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit think tank working to end child abuse.
Pollack said The Leadership Council, a group of international experts which studies child abuse, estimates that 58,000 US children annually are court ordered into care of an abusive parent.
One of these cases is ongoing in Bucks County, where a Tinicum mother of two young girls was forced to allow unsupervised visits with her ex-husband despite allegations he sexually abused his daughters, Pollack said.
“I’ve seen children crying and pleading to be let out away from the abuser. I’ve seen children return from such visits so disassociated and traumatized from this ongoing contact they cannot function, cannot perform in school, fail to bond easily and do not trust others,” she said.
In one instance, a Blair County mother recently was ordered to take her son to a week-long reunification camp where she was separated from her son so he could participate in “bonding activities” with his allegedly abusive father, Pollack said.
VIDEO of entire October 2019 Pennsylvania Policy Committee Hearing with testimony from Kathryn Sherlock (Kayden’s mom), Danielle Pollack, representatives of PCADV, PCAR and NOVA.