In August 2020, I faced every parent's worst nightmare. My son’s father was arrested for attempted sexual assault of a minor, and soon after, my son shared devastating claims with me. Despite my exhaustive attempts to ensure justice and to safeguard my son’s mental health, my pleas fell upon deaf ears. My right to voice my son's ordeal was stripped away in court when his father filed for visitation rights upon his release from prison. As a direct consequence, not only my son but also my daughter was subjected to unimaginable harm. 

When the therapists suggested that my children not see my mother, Because it was in her care that my son was hurt and also they could see signs of manipulation and narcissistic abuse, I did hesitate to do as they suggested and I completely cut her off. Enraged, my mother, who is also complicit to my own sexual battery as a teenager, and, who works for the family court system, lied and said that I was on drugs, my house was filthy, and that I was not feeding my children. CPS came and saw that this was inconclusive. In court, I attempted to explain to the judge what had happened to my family but yet again, I was told that I was not allowed to discuss my children’s rape and molestation. It is because of this choice to not consider what happened to my children in the care and custody of my mother, That they could not understand what I went through as a mother trying to navigate through trauma and abuse. I love my children endlessly! I was doing everything and more to care for them. And it is extremely hard to parent from a place of love rather than a place of trauma when you are never allowed to take a breath and feel what is happening to your children AND there are no systems in place that actually PRESERVE families. I BEGGED CPS to stay in our lives and reminded them that I am aware that when listed as an endangered family, we were invited to two years of service with them! They still denied staying because there was no need for immediate removal. The courts did not understand how it would be hard. And without being allowed to speak about my son‘s rape, and my daughter‘s molestation, my children were removed, NOT BY CPS, But by Stark County family courts and given to the person that failed to protect my son in the first place.

After sexual assault, family, which should be a source of solace and support, becomes a battlefield. For families like mine, the prevalent court systems proved inadequate. The absence of understanding trauma and its impact on victims and their families tragically undermines justice and can be detrimental to the healing process. 

This is why I urge for the adoption of trauma-informed family courts throughout Ohio by 2030. We need every judge, every court officer and every guardian ad litem to be educated using state-provided free programs through OMHAS, Ocali, the Department of Developmental Disabilities along with Understanding NEAR and Understanding ACEs. Doing so will not only provide courts with a better understanding of traumatic incidents and what happens to the brain in domestic violence and sexual assault, but it will also teach the importance of keeping families together and offer community based programs that strengthen the family system as opposed to tearing them apart. These classes will facilitate a more compassionate and effective response in courtrooms across Ohio at which we are nurturing endangered families NOT breaking them!

This plea also calls for the immediate reporting from any Center that performs forensic interviews of children to report and forward any and all said interviews to any judge or magistrate presiding over any ever previously opened family court case. In my families case, the judge never saw my children’s forensic interviews. And I was not allowed to submit them as evidence myself.

This act also calls for a more precise definition of parental alienation, highlighting its disastrous effects on our cherished family systems. Families are the backbone of ALL communities. When family systems deteriorate, the repercussions echo in our communities and society at large. And often families in divorce are broken as parents fight over children with alienation tactics.

By 2030, let's nurture a court system that shows understanding, that seeks to heal, and that does justice to victims of trauma. By first and foremost NEVER silencing them! And offering court appointed, trauma informed family therapy to govern and guide, our precious endangered families. No family should have to go through this alone and without justice. Let's ensure that no more children have to suffer due to a court system that doesn't grasp the reality of their experiences in mental health. Which is NONE!

We all need to act now - to ensure that future sufferers of trauma don't receive the same cold shoulder that my children and I received; to ensure that our family system functions as the safe, loving, and nurturing environment it should be. I implore you to sign this petition.