Keep the Kid Campaign

Help us to keep our family together!  My youngest child is at risk!  His abusive father is seeking SOLE CUSTODY and is asking the judge to allow them to move away, without geographic restriction, and without disclosing their location! We need legal funding to keep my baby near the family and to keep him safe. The father has been arrested for assault, criminal trespass, enticement of a child and felony retaliation, all against my family.

River would be heartbroken to be pulled away from his big brother and sister, and Quanah and Maya would also be very devastated to lose their little brother. It would be dangerous and scary for my son to go live alone with the man who has been terrorizing our family. My son would be isolated from his support network if the judge allows them to move away and not disclose their location. He's a cutie, funny nine-year-old who loves to act out scenes from  games and movies and he loves to make videos.

It's been a long, hard road to escape a situation of domestic violence, and it's been even harder to keep our family protected after our escape, with such gender bias in law enforcement, and court officials who seem untrained and uneducated about domestic abuse. 

You might think it unlikely for an abuser to gain custody of a child, but under the current system, dads win 90% of the time when they challenge moms for custody. Even when there is documented domestic violence perpetrated by the father, he will still win 73% of the time! 58,000 kids are awarded custody to the abusive parent each year. Time is up for these perpetrators! We have to stop protecting and rewarding their behavior.

We need enough gender equality in family court to keep our kids safe. Right now we do not.

The current administration has withdrawn federal funding for legal support for survivors of domestic violence through grants at local women's shelters, so we can't get as much legal help there. The women's center here says that economic sabotage is part of the abuser's strategy of coercive control. It's critical to have equal legal representation in court.

It costs $6,000 for a lawyer here to litigate a custody case.  It costs an additional $563 for a court transcript of the hearing. The father has already filed the papers and served me, and  I have already filed a response and prepared my own petition to file, seeking custody. I just need a lawyer to present it.

Please take this opportunity to join me in fighting back against the Good Ol' Boy system of jurisprudence of Texas. If anyone wants to see details, like legal motions or police reports, I am willing to share.

Please, please chip in so this protective mother can keep her little boy safe.  Time is crucial.  Thank you!