We speak Rael LaPenta co-founder of Interference with Child Custody Coalition on how people can get started changing their State's laws for the betterment of children.

The Coalition can be reached on their Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/enforceICC

Ms. LaPenta can be reached by email at: SolvingProblemsTogether123@gmail.com and by her Facebook page: https://m.facebook.com/solvingproblemstogether123/

Source for training for police: (p.84-90 is Interference with Child Custody specific)https://www.missingkids.org/content/dam/missingkids/pdfs/publications/nc74.pdf

Links mentioned in the Podcast:

https://heroesforchildrensrights.org/

https://www.votervoice.net/mobile/NPO/Campaigns/103657/Respond

Every state in the U.S. criminalized custodial interference decades ago, which means, it is not a civil matter. Yet, each day hundreds of parents request assistance from Law Enforcement because their child has been taken or withheld by the other parent, in violation of a court order. Although it is law, officials refuse to assist the victims of this crime. Respectfully, I urge support for the enforcement of interference with child custody.

Refusing to return a child to the other parent for their court-ordered parenting time is Custodial Interference.

Parental abduction is a severe form of Custodial Interference.
Between 2016 & 2020 only 23% of abductors had state warrants issued against them.
Less than 1% of abductions are by strangers.
10 months is the average time between a child missing date and issuing of a warrant.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's Family Abduction Prevention and Response (2009), instructs parents - “If you encounter law enforcement who are reluctant to intervene in your case, it may help to show them the passages below:

We also now recognize children are deeply and permanently affected by family abduction. The emotional scarring caused by these events requires officers to recognize family abduction not as a harmless offense where two parents are arguing over who ‘loves the child more,’ but instead as an insidious form of child abuse. By responding promptly, professionally, and efficiently to reports of family abduction, officers and the agencies they represent become, in effect, a means of protection for the child.” (P.44)

Annually, this crime impacts thousands of families. We desperately need your help, as the Criminal Justice System, responsible for enforcing laws and protecting the public. Reporting this crime is not a civil matter and our children need protection. Please join us to lend your support, ask the elected officials to implement the necessary training, create appropriate policy and enforce the law of custodial interference.

In the Criminal Justice System’s Response to Parental Abduction the Department of Justice describes Custodial Interference as “a serious maltreatment needing investigation AND prosecution” explaining the need to “develop and implement policies for this crime.” As it is “harmful to the well-being of children and their families,” it is time to stop the alarming rate of victims who are refused their right to justice.

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