Please join the Sudbury-Wayland-Lincoln Domestic Violence Roundtable for an important program about why the pending “Shared Custody” bill is bad for children and survivors of domestic violence. The program will be held on Tuesday, April 12, 2016, at 3 PM in the Community Room of the Wayland Public Safety Building located at 38 Cochituate Road in Wayland.
Featured speakers will be Isabelle Thacker, Staff Attorney at The Second Step and Jenna Birkett, Community Advocate at REACH Beyond Domestic Violence.
SB 834/HB 1207: An Act Relative to Child-Centered Custody is currently in the Joint Committee on the Judiciary. Advocates for survivors of domestic violence are among those who have voiced their opposition to this bill. Additionally, the Boston Bar Association and the Women’s Bar Association have redlined the bill, and the Massachusetts Bar Association has voiced its opposition to the bill in its entirety.
This legislation would significantly change child custody laws, placing higher value on the rights of parents than on the well-being of children. Despite its name, this bill rewrites a child-centered law in order to make it more parent-centered. [REACH’s position statement is online here.]
Join legal experts and domestic violence advocates for a discussion of the proposed legislation and the potential impact on families struggling with domestic violence. This program is free and open to the public. For more information about domestic violence, please go to www.
