My personal journey through the convoluted maze of the family court system here in Montana has been nothing short of heartbreaking. My children were unlawfully taken from my custody with the guidance of FAMILY COURT SERVICES aka FCS, thrusting me into a battle against a system fraught with inconsistencies and inefficiencies.

Our immediate focus is on reforming the Family Court Evaluator’s Office in Flathead County. Numerous reports and personal accounts reveal an alarming lack of oversight and regulation in how cases are handled, leading to decisions that are neither in the best interest of the children nor the families involved.

We’re sharing this as a working reform framework for Family Court Services, CPS-related processes and family court. It is still being refined, but these are the core changes we believe are necessary right now.

This effort is not about attacking families or professionals. It is about creating a system where decisions that impact children are based on facts, qualified expertise, transparency, and due process.

What We’re Pushing For
   

1) Accountability for system actors

• Create enforceable accountability processes for Family Court Services evaluators and CPS employees.
• Require consistent compliance with mandated reporting duties.
• Establish consequences for negligence, false statements, and procedural violations. 
• Mandatory disclosures of relationships and prior involvement.
• Limits on repeat referrals.
• Rotation systems to reduce referral bias and favoritism.

2) Independent oversight

• An independent ombudsman/oversight office to:
• - Receive and investigate complaints,
• - Conduct audits,
• - Publish annual public reports.

3) Right to correct before harm occurs

• allow parents to object to, correct, or add context to evaluations before those evaluations are used for enforceable orders.
• Add pre-implementation safeguards so major decisions can be reviewed before children are disrupted.
  
  

4) Uniform report and evidence standards

• Clear legal standards for what reports must include, what cannot be omitted, and how evidence must be cited.
• Require recommendations to be based on verifiable facts, not hearsay.
• Require tangible evidence before opinions are presented as factual conclusions.

4) Clear emergency vs. non-emergency rules

• Define emergency thresholds in law.
• Require prompt review before major child-impacting changes (school removal, major schedule disruption), unless immediate danger is documented and can be sustained. Perjury laws in effect!

5) Scope-of-practice limits

• No medical or psychological recommendations by unlicensed/unqualified personnel.
• Medical and psych recommendations must come from properly licensed specialists.
• Require active certification/licensure and ongoing training for evaluators.

6) Transparency and access to the record

• Require full disclosure to both parties of all materials used in evaluations/recommendations.
• Require full disclosure of what information was and was not used in the evaluation. 

7) Conflict-of-interest protections

• Mandatory disclosures of relationships and prior involvement.
• Limits on repeat referrals.
• Rotation systems to reduce referral bias and favoritism.
• Option to use a 3 third party if providing multiple options. 

9) Fairness when legal representation is unequal

• Add safeguards in cases where one party has counsel and the other cannot afford one or cannot find one due to local shortages.

10) Structural reforms under review

• Jury trial access allowed in family court matters.
• Required enforcement for false accusations when proved to be inaccurate.
• Required enforcement for contempt of court of parenting plans when a documented behavior exists.
• Removal of government funding incentives that may reward family separation over family stability as in Title IV-D

Why This Matters

Children should not be forced to live with the consequences of opaque procedures, hearsay-driven recommendations, or delayed correction mechanisms. Families deserve a process that is fair, evidence-based, reviewable, and accountable.

 
Call to Action ***********

If you believe family court outcomes should be driven by facts and child well-being—not opacity and imbalance—please continue supporting this petition.

• Sign the petition
• Share it on your social media
• Comment or private message with your experience & ideas to help us refine and advance these reforms

Every signature helps move this from a personal fight to a public reform effort.

The state of affairs in Montana's family courts, the family court services, and Child Protective Services (CPS) is dire. The processes are not only outdated but, at times, seem oblivious to the very purpose they serve the welfare of our children. After FCS is corrected,
CPS must also adhere to stricter criteria and standardized regulations. At present, there's a disturbing inconsistency in how CPS cases are evaluated, with a glaring lack of transparency and accountability. We need legislation that enforces clear guidelines, ensuring that all evaluations are thorough, fair, and just.

The broader family court system itself requires an overhaul. From the processes that determine custody to the manner in which evidence and testimonies are weighed, each facet needs meticulous scrutiny and reform. By mandating transparency and training in ethical and legal standards, we can hope to see a system that genuinely cares for the families it impacts.



It's time to start by holding the Family Court Evaluator's Office accountable and demand change. Next steps will be with CPS, and then lastly with the court system currently in place. We will push for legislative changes that safeguard our children's future by making the system fair and just.

I urge you to join me in this critical mission to effect change in Montana's family court and CPS systems.

Please sign this petition so we can build a better, more equitable environment for our families and their futures. \

In sharing my story through videos, I've uncovered a vast community of parents who have suffered similar injustices in Flathead County and beyond. This petition is for them as much as it is for my children. You can find some of my content on most social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and NextDoor by searching for #familycourt if you have trouble finding it, please message me and I’ll send you the direct link.