Rep. Thomas West promotes change in state law to foster equal parenting

State Rep. Thomas West wants to change state law so more divorced fathers can be as involved in the lives of their children as mothers.

The Ohio Legislative Service Commission is drafting legislation to require that family court judges presume that equal parenting is in the best interests of the child, said West, who represents Canton and Massillon. The default arrangement would be two divorced or separated parents who equally share custody and decision-making power over their children.

The state legislator said if his bill becomes law, judges could only further limit how much time a parent could spend with their child or limit their role in their child's life, if someone can prove that it would not be in the child's best interest for both parents to have equal custody.

"And we know, when both parents are in the lives of their child, you have a better chance with that child succeeding in life," West said. “Unless there’s other factors on why that person shouldn’t get 50/50, it should start with 50/50 custody."

West stressed his bill would not affect child support payment obligations.

Fathers often cast as the villain

The Canton legislator, who's served on the Ohio Commission on Fatherhood the past four years, said Ohio's current system usually gives primary custody of children to the mother. And the system often casts the father as the villain and the mother and children as victims.

West added that for now, the bill would address only situations where a married couple, including married same-sex couples, are divorcing or separating. It would not apply to situations where the parents were never married.

“That’s something we’re going to address at a later date," he said.

According to current Ohio law, if the parents are divorcing or separating, family court judges are required to designate for their children a residential and custodial parent and non-custodial parent if neither parent seeks a shared parenting arrangement or the judge finds shared parenting is not in the best interest of the child.

West said he has heard from fathers who claim courts had unfairly denied them access to their children, prompting him to introduce a bill.

West, a Democrat, said he will be a joint sponsor of the bill with state Rep. Rodney Creech, a Republican from West Alexandria west of Dayton.

Creech told the Dayton Daily News last month that he spent years battling in court for equal custody of his children.

With the proposed legislation, "instead of you having to prove you’re a good parent, the courts have to prove you’re a bad parent," Creech told the newspaper.

West said he and Creech had hoped to introduce the bill by Father's Day on June 20. The Legislative Service Commission, busy with work on the state budget, needed more time to complete its work on the legal language. And West said Wednesday that the bill won't be ready until this week at the earliest.

How is it fair?

The two legislators held a press conference on their legislation in Columbus last month with representatives of the National Parents Organization.

West suggested to reporters that deterioration of urban neighborhoods is in part due to the lack of equal parenting.

“In neighborhoods where you see a number of fathers for some strange reason you see the yards are manicured. The houses are taken care of. And what you find a lot of times is that father is looking out not only for his home but he’s also looking out for that neighborhood," West said. "We believe that fathers have been unjustly targeted in Ohio, and now it’s time to bring fathers back to the table."

The National Parents Organization based in Newton, Massachusetts, and founded in 1998, advocates for changes to state law to promote equal parenting. It says several studies back its argument that joint custody arrangements lead to children less likely to abuse drugs, commit suicide or be affected by social ills. The group was formerly known as Fathers and Families.

The organization's Ohio co-chair Elizabeth McNeese said that the legislation would protect children's emotional well-being from many of the stresses of divorce.

“This unequal arrangement benefits no one," she told reporters. "Our children need both parents. And they need both parents equally. When children lack a meaningful relationship with both of their parents, … they’re more at risk for drug abuse, homelessness, incarceration, behavioral disorders, suicide. They’re more likely to drop out of school. They’re more likely to experience abuse and neglect. And they’re more likely to become teen parents."

Don Hubin, the national board chairman of the National Parents Organization, said each county family court in Ohio applies child custody polices differently.

"How could it possibly make sense to say that it’s in the best interests of children in Tuscarawas County to have a presumptive equal parenting time rule with both of their parents and an identical family a few miles up the road in Stark County, it’s in their best interests to be presumed to see one of their parents only every other weekend and one evening a week if the parents separate?" he asked.

'When you have 20% of the kids' time, ... it's hard to parent'

Alexander Haas, the president of the local Muggswigz coffee shops, is the other Ohio co-chair for National Parents Organization.

In an interview, he said that he became an activist for equal custody about a decade ago after his relationship with a woman he never married ended. She is the mother of two of his children. A visiting judge gave primary custody to the mother.

Haas has since married another woman and has three other children with his wife. He said under the current court arrangement, he's supposed to be able to see his children from the prior relationship for a few hours on Wednesday and much of Saturdays.

"When you have 20% of the kids' time ... it's hard to parent. It's hard to provide really what a kid needs," Haas said.

What do other states do?

States such as Kentucky and Arkansas have passed equal parenting laws. A similar bill is pending in West Virginia.

But equal parenting bills have failed to become law in Illinois, North Dakota, Minnesota and Florida. Equal parenting bills in the Ohio House and Senate in 2011 also did not advance past committee.

Opponents of equal parenting laws say such mandates could hurt victims of domestic violence and that judges should make custody decisions.

Paul Pfeifer, the executive director of the Ohio Judicial Conference, the organization that represents Ohio judges, said after the bill is introduced, a committee with domestic relations judges would review the legislation and "we will eventually comment on it."

Pfeifer is a retired Ohio Supreme Court justice and former Ohio Senate Judiciary Committee chair.

Stark County Family Court Administrative Judge Jim James, a former chairman of the Ohio Judicial Conference, said he could not comment on the specific bill because it hasn't been finalized.

"The law currently suggests or tells us that when parents are seeking orders for parenting time that there’s a presumption they're going to have equal time," he said. ”When the law suggests the parents should have equal time, it’s incumbent on the court, the judge who’s writing an opinion to explain why they didn’t go along with that. There's certainly cases where (equal parenting) time is not appropriate for the child."

Stark Family Court Administrator Diane Wilson said the court does not track how many divorce, separation and child custody cases involve judges approving equal parenting plans.

Reach Repository writer Robert Wang at (330) 580-8327 or robert.wang@cantonrep.com. Twitter: @rwangREP.