The Family Mental Health and Child Custody Act

by

V. Jones

1. Before marriage or the birth of a child and again during separation or divorce, the state of Oregon shall provide and require parents to take mental health and communication classes. The classes shall include:

• Nonviolent Communication
• Listening skills
• Mindfulness or similar religious or secular practices, such as centering prayer, yoga, or Native American sacred practices, such as Sweat Lodge and traditional dances. The reason is that these practices all heal, but parents may be more likely to comply if healing skills are part of their cultural traditions. A group of professors of psychology, psychiatry, or social work may be convened to examine the literature and decide which practices and groups offer the same healing for trauma as mindfulness.
• Journaling is both a form of healing for trauma and a source of documentation of trauma.
• Professors of psychology, social work, or psychiatry.

2.  After separation or if unmarried parents live separately, parents shall communicate by parenting app or email. This is to document which parent is trying harder to use healthy relationship and communication skills. Child custody will not be split 50/50 in all cases. If the parents are struggling to co-parent, a social worker will examine their communications, meet with both children and parents privately and together, and directly recommend to the judge appropriate child custody arrangements. Child support will be adjusted accordingly.

3.  If problems arise in a relationship between co-parents in the future, this process can be repeated. Parental use of mental health and communication skills will remain a central concern in all situations.

4. This is not meant to be an end-all and be-all to this issue of child custody in unmarried or divorced co-parenting situations. This is meant to be the beginning of a new way of handling custody battles between parents that focuses on therapy rather than on lawyers and courtroom battles. Courtroom battles fought by lawyers may still take place in the most contested and abusive situations.

5. This law should be re-evaluated and potentially altered to be more therapeutically effective at 5-year intervals.