Extended Stay Child Care Helps Parents Get Back on Feet

In a desperate but loving attempt to get their lives on track, Samer and Yvette Assaf handed their children to strangers nine days ago.

The overwhelmed young couple—both 19—plan to spend two months saving money from their retail jobs, moving into an apartment and buying a car. Then they will return for their children.

In the meantime Baylee, 2, and Julian, 2 months, will live with different families in Des Plaines who volunteer with Safe Families for Children, a rapidly growing non-profit. The network places children with host families while their parents try to mend their broken lives.

"We both cried," said Samer Assaf, 19, who lives with his in-laws in Westchester. "It was like we lost everything ... but we know it's not forever. In a good way, it motivated us to get out and get a job and concentrate."

Read more here.

NYC Proud of Millions More in Child Support

Economic indicators are pointing upward in at least one place in the city: The Office of Child Support Enforcement increased the amount of collections for child support payments in 2008 by more than $50 million over the previous year.

New York City collected $670.6 million in child support monies in 2008, increasing its total by more than 8 percent from the previous year’s tally of $620 million, according to the Human Resources Administration (HRA), which oversees collection efforts.

“The increased collections in New York City are nothing short of extraordinary, and are a major factor in the record-setting collections achieved in New York State in 2008,” said David Hansell, commissioner of the state’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, in a statement last month.

Read more here.

Bench Warrant Sweeps Widened to Owed Child Support

The search for deadbeat Lapeer County fathers and mothers will fan out to neighboring counties for the first time.

Bench warrant sweeps of parents failing to pay their child support will continue in 2009 in Lapeer County and be expanded into Oakland, Macomb and Genesee counties. Circuit Court Judge Michael Higgins and Circuit Court Judge Justus Scott, family court judges, will conduct hearings on those arrested, said Friend of the Court Emil H. Joseph, Jr.

"We've never gone beyond the county borders, and we're entering into an agreement with other jurisdictions to get positive results," Joseph said. "Our primary resource before was when an out of county person was pulled over and we'd run them through LEIN (law enforcement information network.) They'd take them into custody, and we'd pick them up and bring them to Lapeer."

Read more here.

Simmons to Pay $40,000 a Month in Child Support

Court records show Russell Simmons has agreed to pay $40,000 a month in child support. Los Angeles Superior Court judge Marjorie Steinberg signed off on an agreement Thursday giving Kimora Lee Simmons sole custody of the couple's two daughters, nine-year-old Ming and six-year-old Aoki. The couple's divorce was finalized in January. Kimora Lee Simmons filed for divorce in March 2008, citing irreconcilable differences.

Russell Simmons, the 51-year-old hip-hop mogul, was granted visitation rights and must pay child support until each daughter reaches 19 and a half years of age.

Read more here.

Mom Loses Custody for Alienating Dad

In a stunning and unusual family law decision, a Toronto judge has stripped a mother of custody of her three children after the woman spent more than a decade trying to alienate them from their father.

The mother's "consistent and overwhelming" campaign to brainwash the children into thinking their father was a bad person was nothing short of emotional abuse, Justice Faye McWatt of the Superior Court of Justice wrote in her decision.

The three girls, ages 9 to 14, were brought to a downtown courthouse last Friday and turned over to their father, a vascular surgeon identified only as A.L.

Read more at the Toronto Star.

FLDS Case Drops From 426 to 13 Children

Only 13 children remain under court jurisdiction in the ongoing custody case involving children from the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch in Texas.

Texas Child Protective Services has officially "nonsuited" 426 children, leaving only 13 left in what was once the nation's largest child custody case. Agency spokesman Patrick Crimmins confirmed to the Deseret News on Tuesday the four remaining legal cases involve children from three mothers.

Read the rest of the story at Deseret News.

Same-Sex Custody Battle Frustrating to Non-Biological Mother

Lisa Lewis wants to see the child she considers her daughter.

It’s been more than a year since she saw or spoke to the girl, who is now 7, and a custody battle between Ms. Lewis and the girl’s biological mother has been going on for almost two years.

Ms. Lewis, 41, and Jeannette Rowan, both of Sharon, lived together as a couple for 11 years before splitting up when the child they’d raised together was 5 years old, Ms. Lewis said.

The couple wasn’t married, but courts have found Ms. Lewis has standing to seek custody of the child.

Read more info at The Herald.

"Gossip Girl" Star Involved in Messy Custody Battle

"Gossip Girl" star Kelly Rutherford, who filed divorce papers last month, fears her estranged husband will vanish with their son.

The star is seeking to bar David Giersch from leaving America with their 2-year-old son, Hermes.

Meanwhile, Giersch has filed papers in Los Angeles alleging the actress, who is pregnant with the couple's second child, once threw a laptop computer at him in a rage.

Both parties are seeking sole physical custody of their son with monitored visitation.

Filing emergency papers at the end of last week, the actress asked court officials to bar Giersch from traveling outside the United States with their son.

In a declaration, she said, "I feel there is some risk that he will leave the country with Hermes and I will not know where they are."

Read more at SFGate.com

Custody Dispute Turns Violent, Deadly

Dublin police say a 91-year-old homicide victim, whose body was dumped into her own trash can, was choked, hit over the head and Tasered before she died.

But which injury caused the death of Selma "Sally" Hill has not yet been determined by the coroner, said Dublin police Lt. Glenn Moon.

Hill may have been the bystander in a bizarre custody dispute over her 2-year-old great granddaughter, police say.

Read the rest of the story at The Mercury News.

Minnesota Considering Change to Custody Laws

Fathers in Minnesota may soon see changes to the method used to determine child custody in cases of divorce.

Currently, when parents split up, a judge who is making custody decisions begins with a clean slate about living arrangements and takes a number of factors including parenting skills and parents' wishes into account, Minnesota Public Radio reports.

A new legislative proposal seeks to change that so that the judge would presume joint physical custody from the outset.

Read more about the proposed changes at GreatDad.com.

Deployed Soldiers Fighting Child Custody Battles

Army Sgt. Stephanie Greer was serving with a vehicle-maintenance unit in the volatile Iraqi city of Ramadi, part of President Bush’s “surge” strategy to stabilize the country, when she learned of a far-off and most unexpected battle: Her estranged husband was going to fight her for custody of their daughter.

Greer had temporary custody of Mackenzie when she began her second deployment to Iraq in early 2007. Her husband was to care for the 7-year-old while Greer was overseas, but soon he challenged that arrangement in divorce proceedings. “He said I was unstable because I was deployed or training too much,” she said.

As a result, throughout her 15-month combat tour, Greer had to mount from 4,000 miles away a legal campaign to keep her daughter.

Read the rest of this story at The Fayetteville Observer.

Missing Balitmore Son and Mother Found in Mexico

A Hagerstown boy whose mother took him to Mexico 10 years ago amid a custody dispute has been returned to the United States and is refusing to see his father.

Houston Child Protective Services spokeswoman Estella Olguin said Friday the boy's father, Donald Wiswell, went to Houston in hopes of being reunited with his son but that 14-year-old Joseph Kennedy refused to go with him.

Custody Fight Over Boy Gets Heated

The battle over a 5 year old boy, who deputies say was the victim of a mop handle attack, got ugly Tuesday.

It was the day after Thanksgiving, when 7 year old Jeremy Dickerson was found dead inside his parents Anderson County home.

Britney Marriage Broke Over Kids, Federline Says

Kevin Federline said his two year marriage to Britney Spears broke down because he focused on his children but he was "completely blindsided" when the pop star went behind his back and filed for divorce.

Federline, 30, the dancer and wannabe rapper who married Spears in 2004, told People magazine in a rare interview he fought hard for custody of their two young sons.

Cleveland Custody Case Getting National Attention

A press conference was held at the Bradley County Courthouse Wednesday involving a movie producer, a member of the Institute for the American Family, a Constitutional attorney and a Cleveland man who are questioning the child custody practices in the Bradley County Court system.

Jeremy Hopkins has been litigating for two years to get a divorce from his wife and to arrange a custody plan for their daughter Kate, 3.

Madonna and Guy Ritchie Settle Custody

Now that Madonna and Guy Ritchie have acted their age and agreed on joint custody, will the former power couple be able to swallow their bitterness for the sake of their kids?

"The good news is that they spared the children the pain and suffering of a protracted custody battle," says Amy J.L. Baker, a developmental psychologist with an expertise in children and divorce. "The real challenge now is if these two people, who have a lot of hostility between them, can figure out how to co-parent these kids. It's enormously difficult, and very easy to get it wrong."

Ark. Seizes 21 More Kids from Evangelist's Group

State officials on Tuesday took into protective custody 21 children associated with an evangelical group whose founder faces federal child sex charges.

The children, all younger than 18 and part of the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, were taken while custody hearings were being held for six girls seized during a September raid of Alamo's compound in Fouke, in southwest Arkansas. The court must decide whether the girls should be returned to their parents or remain in state care.

Learn About New Custody Provisions in Florida

Q: I am getting divorced. A friend told me Florida has a new law about child custody. Will that affect my case?

A: Earlier this year, Florida’s Legislative modified the child custody provisions of Florida Statute Chapter 61. That chapter deals with divorce, child support and related issues.

Hospital Run Could Cost Britney Custody

Talk about a bad reaction.

On her first trip with her sons back to Louisiana since she lost custody, Britney Spears' youngest son, Jayden James Federline, was rushed to the hospital for having what Spears' reps deemed a "reaction to something he ingested."

Although the 2-year-old tyke has since been released and declared "fine," it's possible an even worse reaction could transpire, should Kevin Federline seek to restrict Spears' remaining custody rights for the duo's two sons.

Teens Abandoned Under Nebraska Safe Haven Law

A 16-year-old girl dropped off Sunday under Nebraska's flawed safe-haven law was a ward of the state of Arizona from August to October of 2008, Nebraska health officials state in a news release.

The girl's mother brought her to the Midlands Hospital in Papillion, Nebraska (pictured) on Sunday afternoon and legally abandoned her, according to the release.

From the release:

Based on information available so far, DHHS’ understanding is that in October, the Arizona court agreed to dismiss the case at the request of the mother, who desired to return to Nebraska to have more support from family and friends located here. The mother and daughter appear to have returned to Nebraska just last week.