Dear Everyone, Thank you for reading and signing my petition.

You should know why it exists. Several years ago, I believed my children and I were in jeopardy and sought help from the family court system. I requested a move-away. It was denied. The Court often will assign a Minors Counsel when custody is questioned, they did that.  Our Minors’ Counsel, Ms. Stefanie Bennett, did not believe the safety concerns I raised.  In her August 8, 2023 report to the court, she wrote: “I believe Ms. Wadhwani just wants to move away, but it’s a beautiful oceanfront community so the children should stay.”  I was effectively left with two choices: remain in the area or move and leave my children behind. I stayed.

What followed were 2.5 years of domestic violence, harassment, stalking, legal abuse, financial abuse, and other conduct that caused significant harm to my family.  In 2025, after I obtained evidence of the domestic violence, I removed my sons from the other household entirely.   My friends and I investigated and found....evidence consisting of 9 police reports, ER visits, property damage, a woman sustained a rib fracture, all with the common thread of significant alcohol use.  And that is only one thin layer of what my sons experienced in the other household, after safety concerns were quashed. 

The same Minors’ Counsel involved in the 2023 decision was reassigned to our case in 2025.  Instead of addressing the behavior in a meaningful manner. My son has since refused visitation.

In response, the courts have threatened consequences for noncompliance: sanctions equal fees + potential jail time for me, including full removal of my sons from my custody, against their will.  Minors Counsel further threatened my son, that his mother could “get in trouble” if he did not "comply with" the courts visitation mandate as recommended by Minors Counsel.

In the last 3 years, I have filed hundreds of declarations on behalf of my sons and I.  Hundreds.  
As I was defending myself, at each hearing, I have come to learn and experience the system does this to protective moms/parents, in fact, it's a general operative procedure.  The courts goals are shared custody,  no matter what.  Even when children refuse, even when there is DV, even in the instances of ACES, even in substance abuse. 

I have been supported by friends and also came upon a group called California Family Law Naked Truth, who is working on systemic reform in Family Courts, they began their work in the OC, are now in LAC. They want accountability.   And so do I.  

At the same time our Minors Counsel ordered a new therapist, the therapist provided a report raising concerns like those I had raised, now, under claims of HIPAA and therapeutic privilege, that report has been sealed, not by the therapist, but by Ms Bennett.  

What has troubled me most is, watching decisions being made about a child affected by domestic violence and trauma, while the effects of that trauma appear to be minimized, ignored, and even concealed.  This seems to be a pattern across many cases, I believe the problem is stemmed in their "immunity" from all accountabilities, lack of training and education with minors, and in instances of Domestic Violence and Trauma. 

As I navigated the family court system, I began speaking with other mothers.  Many moms have used the phrase “they punish mothers for reporting abuse” that sounded dramatic to me when I first heard it, from other moms, from organizations.  It does not sound dramatic to me anymore.   Women report. They suffer legal consequences.   I have spoken with women who have lost custody of their children as a result of their reports, while that has not occurred in my case, there have been many other preventable harms.  

As I try to understand how decisions with such profound and harmful consequences can be made, I started examining the qualifications and training requirements for Minors’ Counsel.

What I found surprised me.  Minors’ Counsel can make recommendations involving domestic violence, coercive control, trauma, child abuse, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and substance use disorders, yet they carry no specialized training or competency requirements in many of those subjects.

Many of these areas have evolved significantly over the last decade. Definitions have changed. Research has advanced. Training standards have been updated across numerous professions, including social workers in the legal cascade. Yet, Minors’ Counsel are not required to receive  the same specialized education in the very issues they are expected to evaluate.

In our case, I do not view this as an academic concern.  I believe the lack of competency has contributed to decisions that have led to harmful outcomes for my family and I.

I would love to tell you this petition will change the system; it likely will not even make it into the system. The system is deeply entrenched.

Minors’ Counsel have broad immunity and very limited accountability.  Family Court judges unlike other judges have broad discretion to adjust the law as they see fit, and so parents like me cannot rely on the word of the law. 

As a nurse, I responded the way I know how. I researched the issue.  I documented it.  I screamed it off the rooftops, in my courtroom.  Literally, at protests with California Family Law Naked Truth. And yes, I probably over-documented it. Our judge is likely exhausted by my persistence at this point.  And that's something I'm proud of, disrupting a system that creates chaos and does not safeguard.  I have done a tremendous amount of research on litigation, as I have been defending myself.  

Competency requirements exist in virtually every other discipline that interviews children or evaluates allegations involving abuse, trauma, domestic violence, and child safety.

I believe Minors’ Counsel should be held to similar standards as anyone interviewing children with a history of trauma.

On July 10, 2026, I intend to present this petition to our court and formally request that our Minors’ Counsel obtain education in domestic violence before conducting additional interviews of my children or making further recommendations in our case.

It may be denied.   It is certainly a long shot.   But the last three years have consisted of one long shot after another.

I am still here. My sons are still here, showing up every day. And despite everything, we are healing. I have kept most of our family’s experiences private because discussing it publicly has been difficult.   But if you are going to sign this petition, I believe you deserve to understand why it exists.

I now have an 18-year-old son, Krishan, who is no longer governed by the custodial orders, even he has signed this petition. He signed a petition asking for domestic violence education after his experiences with a Minors Counsel attorney who was appointed to represent him and failed to protect him.  I find that significant.   

In our case, I have asked Ms. Bennett to recuse herself or obtain additional education.

Most parents do not make that request.   Perhaps it is unconventional.   But as a healthcare professional, I cannot ignore what I view as a significant gap in training and competency.

My sons and I will continue healing from our experiences, for the rest of our lives.

What I hope people take from our story is this:

The family court system is not experienced as a place of protection (or justice) by the families who enter it. Vulnerable moms and non-vulnerable moms are confronted with systemic procedures, which in essence feel like punishment.  Because survival in the family court system is not about justice, and often about supporting perpetrators rights.  Had I not experienced that myself, I would have not believed it. 

When professionals, in a system, are given extraordinary influence over children’s lives, competency matters. 

Thank you for reading our story. And thank you for supporting this petition. Rita Wadhwani

That is why I created the .... Competent Counsel For Children Petition.  CCCP

This petition proposes competency standards for attorneys appointed to represent children.  It is a step wise approach to training and education in complex cases, using the PACE program already in place within the Family Court system, but can be applied in absence of PACE as well. 

Court-appointed Minors’ Counsel are routinely assigned to cases involving domestic violence, coercive control, trauma, child abuse, substance use, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).

Yet California does not require specialized competency training in these subjects before attorneys are appointed to represent children or advance to more complex appointments.

Children deserve representation from professionals who have demonstrated competency in the issues they are routinely asked to evaluate and address.

I have learned that most professionals who encounter minors in complex cases of domestic violence and abuse are required to have specific and updated Education and Standardized training on the definitions of these terms, that is most professionals, except for Minors Counsels. 

Every individual who interviews a child is required to take mandated training on the above topics, except for Minors Counsel. We find this unacceptable.  

Court-appointed Minors' Counsel are asked to make recommendations in highly complex cases involving domestic violence, coercive control, trauma, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), child abuse, and substance use disorders without mandatory competency requirements in those subjects.

The petition proposes that attorneys appointed to represent children demonstrate competency in the issues they are routinely asked to evaluate and address, and that advancement within the existing PACE reimbursement structure be tied to verified training and competency.

I have drafted the Competent Counsel for Children Petition (CCCP), a proposal to establish mandatory core competency training requirements for Minors' Counsel participating in California's PACE program on Domestic Violence. 

This petition is about establishing competency standards for attorneys appointed to represent children in California family courts.

Please consider reading the full proposal, and signing the petition.

Thank you for your time and consideration. Rita Wadhwani, MSN, BS, RN, ACNP, CNS

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CUJlCcMzeI41ZvlJ-iAOeBssXJDWisbC/view?usp=drive_link

If you support the proposal, I would appreciate you sharing it with others.