LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN

LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN We have a unique window of opportunity right now, in light of the Jerry Sandusky and Josh Powell horrors. There have been two Congressional briefings and one Senate hearing on the subject of child abuse last fall. Plus, the election is looming and politicians are listening. The reason Batterers' Rights groups have gotten so far is that they contact their representatives incessantly. We need to engage in the same way. Our cause is far better than theirs: the modern enslavement women and children. The suffragists fought for half a century for women for the right to vote. We need to contact the representatives we voted for, to tell them that safe mothers are losing custody to batterers and molesters in family courts throughout the nation. Legislative aides told us that letters and letter writing campaigns make a big difference. Emails and calls are great, but hard copy letters shows a much bigger commitment on the part of the writer. We've heard that each letter represents 1,000 constituents, which translates into precious votes. So here's the plan: Step 1. Find 7 envelopes, 7 stamps and about 30 minutes of time. Step 2. Write a letter asking for oversight hearings. You can use the following letter if you wish. If you wish, send a one page summary of your case, and say you will provide other information as needed. Step 3. Send one letter to Senator Barbara Mikulski (Maryland) who is the chair of the Sub-committee on Children and Families. She chaired the December 2011 Senate hearing on child abuse resulting from the Sandusky case. Step 4. Find your two U.S. Senators and one US Congress Member athttp://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml Step 5. Address and send the same letter to each of them. (They pay close attention to letters from their own constituents.) Step 6. Send letters addressed to President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, D.C. 20006. If you want to help make the maximum impact and can find another hour of time and 17 more envelopes/ stamps, join me in sending a letter to each Children and Families sub-committee member listed below.  Senator Patty Murray (Washington), 448 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510 Senator Bernie Sanders (Vermont), 332 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510 Senator Bob Casey (Pennsylvania), 393 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510 Senator Kay Hagan (North Carolina), 521 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510 Senator Jeff Merkley (Oregon), 313 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510 Senator Al Franken (Minnesota), 309 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510 Senator Michael Bennet (Colorado), 458 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510 Senator Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut), 702 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510 Senator Tom Harkin (Iowa), 731 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 Senator Richard Burr (North Carolina), 217 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 Senator Lamar Alexander (Tennessee), 455 Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 Senator Johnny Isakson (Georgia), 131 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 Senator Rand Paul (Kentucky), 208 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 Senator John McCain (Arizona), 241 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 Senator Pat Roberts (Kansas), 109 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510 Senator Mark Kirk (Illinois), 524 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington DC, 20510 Senator Mike Enzi (Wyoming), 379A Senate Russell Office Building, Washington DC, 20510 Yes we can! Imagine the impact if 500 of us sent letters! YOUR ADDRESS TODAY'S DATE The Honorable Barbara Mikulski Chair, H.E.L.P. Sub-Committee on Children and Families 503 Senate Hart Building Washington, DC 20510 RE: Request for Oversight Hearings on the Failure of Family Courts and Child Protective Services to Protect Children Dear Senator Mikulski: I am writing to request oversight hearings on the failure of family courts and Child Protective Services to protect children, particularly child victims of incest and domestic violence. The sexual assault, torture and murder of children across the United States is an ongoing barbarism that undermines our society and creates a new generation of pedophiles, torturers and murderers. In Family Courts across the country, judges are making ill-informed custody and visitation decisions that violate the constitutional rights of women and children because of the lack of recognition and understanding of the dynamics in domestic violence and child physical and sexual abuse. Consequently, children are being placed back into harm's way at the hands of their abusers. This phenomenon is so common it has come to be called "court-imposed child abuse." I cannot overstate my concern regarding the issue of child physical and sexual safety. Jerry Sandusky's pedophilic rape in Pennsylvania and Josh Powell's perversion and double filicide in Washington are just the most public and recent sickening events. These crimes happen every day. Yet our political candidates are silent on children's issues. Is it because children can't vote? Or do perpetrators have money and influence? The silence is unraveling our moral fiber. The lack of interest in child physical and sexual safety is fueled by Federal programs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. While impoverished citizens are forced to live in their cars and educational programs are slashed because of the Great Recession, the Federal government continues to pour billions of taxpayer dollars into counterproductive, corruption-inducing HHS programs that do not protect, and in some cases endanger, children. 20% of the HHS budget ($80 billion) goes to the Administration for Children and Families ($16 billion). We see our nation's priorities clearly in the budget: Child Support programs receive nearly $4 billion, while Violent Crime Reduction and Child Abuse prevention programs combined receive only $226 million. 22 times more taxpayer dollars flow to child support enforcement than to violence prevention.http://transition.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/fy2012apt.pdf This hugely disparate allocation paradoxically provides an incentive program for irresponsible fathers to avoid paying child support. HHS Responsible Fatherhood program works to reunite ex prisoners, including felons, batterers, and addicts, with children. Although the program purports to encourage these men to get jobs and pay child support, the likely well-intentioned funding is backfiring badly on children due to a variety or reasons, including corrupt local practices. Because child support is based on parenting time, abusive fathers realize they can avoid paying child support if they get custody. They receive an added bonus of child support paid by mothers, and access to incest victims. Therefore, they have a strong incentive to request custody in Family Court. Studies show that 70% of batterers who ask for custody receive it. Batterers generally have more resources than their victims. A cottage industry of private mental health professionals and attorneys who receive lucrative court appointments and payment by the wealthier parent has sprung up to help them. Child Protective Services does not act to protect children in custody matters, assuming incorrectly that family court has done that. Because reports of child crimes are directed to social services, evidence may be tampered with by the time law enforcement investigators become involved. These types of crimes are inappropriately reported to and investigated by social services workers instead of law enforcement. Mandated reporters are sued by the abusers, despite laws against this, which has a chilling effect. The result is that children are being placed at risk. Additionally, boutique programs such as Healthy Marriage Promotion and Responsible Fatherhood Grants ($150 million), Family Connection Grants ($15 million), Personal Responsibility Education ($75 million) and Abstinence Education ($50 million) have not been shown to ensure child safety. $300 million is being diverted from proven violence prevention programs. This is unconscionable. Fatherhood programs are often corrupted on the local level from helping ex-prisoners and other irresponsible fathers get jobs and pay child support to advising irresponsible, often violent fathers to obtain custody and child support from the mothers. 70% of batterers who ask for custody receive it, according to the American Judges Association. This harms children, rather than helping them. We are branded by the Inter American Commission on Human Rights as a nation that commits human right violations against battered mothers and children. This is more than embarrassing; it is scandalous. http://www.law.miami.edu/hrc/hrc_gonzalez_usa.php. We must follow their recommendations to create better laws, and assure compliance. Mandated reporters are often picketed and sued by accused perpetrators, which results in lack of compliance. Furthermore, stronger mandated reporting laws will not fix the problems occurring after the report is made. We need to: Ensure through public policy and funding allocations that child physical and sexual safety is the highest priority in our country. Eliminate expensive programs that do not ensure child physical and sexual safety. Reverse the money flow so that domestic violence prevention receives 22 times more of our taxpayer dollars than child support enforcement. Assure that the incentive for misappropriation of federal funds is reduced through strict oversight and accounting procedures. Create effective citizen review board oversight. Disconnect parenting time from child support to remove perverse financial incentives. Federal funds are facilitating incestuous child sexual predators to have open access to their victims. Require that child physical and sexual crimes are reported to law enforcement, not social services. Treat victims of violent crime with the same professional standards of investigation, regardless of the relationship to their perpetrator. Withhold funding from states that do not implement specialized domestic violence courts to hear cases in which crimes are alleged. I urge you to schedule oversight hearings on the failure of family courts and Child Protective Services to protect children. Sincerely, YOUR SIGNATURE

Thank your customer, tell them how valuable they are to you, but don't go overboard. Insincerity is easy to spot.   Sincerely,   Connie Valentine CA Protective Parents Association