Parenting Plans? Where's The Federal Grant Money?

By Lisa Blackwell

A bill making its way through the legislature is lighting up lawmakers phone lines.

It’s called the Alabama Children’s Family Act and it promotes shared or equal parenting time in child custody cases.

Right now, when a judicial child custody decision is made between two fit parents, a judge limits time with only one of the parents to 80 days per year.

Proponents say the new bill would lead to better child development.

Opponents say it’s a bad bill.

And the state government has been accepting federal grant money to implement something like this for years.

Back in April 2009, Lana’s Whitaker’s world fell apart: a mother in a divorce battle that left her on the short end of the stick.

Lana Whitaker, A divorced Mother, says,”Initially before court proceedings he had asked for split custody and that is something that I would not agree to because I couldn’t imagine being without my children a week at a time so we ended up going to court and he won physical custody therefore now I only get to see them one night a week and every other weekend.”

It’s a judicial decision that Whitaker and many other parents are living with in Alabama. But members of the Alabama Family Rights Association and some lawmakers are taking their fight to the statehouse, saying current child custody laws are broken.

State Representative Kurt Wallace is sponsoring the house version of the bill.

Kurt Wallace, (R) District 42, says, “The old process the way we’ve done things for many, many years in Alabama is what they call a standard parenting plan which basically gives parents the rights to their children two weekends a month well if you have young children you know you can’t maintain a relationship with a two year old on two weekends a month you just can’t, you know when parents divorce, they divorce each other not their children.”

The Alabama Children’s Family Act would require fit parents in a child custody case to develop a parenting plan. If they cannot agree, then a judge would order an equal parenting arrangement.

Senator Paul Bussman, (R) District 4, is sponsoring the Senate version of the bill.

Sen. Paul Bussman,(R) District 4, says, “It’s very clear data wise children need both parents to grow and thrive and be good citizens to take one part out of a relationship is unfair and damages the child.”

Since 1996 the Administrative Office of the Courts has received over two million dollars in federal grant money to implement alternative child custody arrangements yet very little has been done.

Mark Davis has been tracking the money.

Mark Davis, Alabama Family Rights Association, says, “One of the provisions of accepting that money is to implement parenting plans which is one of the key provisions of SB 196 and fiscal year 2008 the state of Alabama only implemented 26 parenting plans out of 182,000 parents.”

So what is happening with all that federal grant money? Our calls to the Administrative Office of the Courts were not returned. Meanwhile Whitaker and members of the Alabama Family Rights Association keep working to get their bill to the Senate floor.


“This new bill would benefit me as a parent because it would give me more time to be with my children and show them how much I love them not just by a phone call or by participating in school events but a pattern where it’s equal,” said Whitaker.