Newsletter for March 23, 2022
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We’d like to share this inspiring story between Jordan Plyes and Ashley Harell who shares 50-50 custody of their daughter, Ann.
Who Gets the Child?
States across the country are considering equal shared parenting in custody cases. One young Kentucky couple serves as a test case.
Judge Brent Hall had some stern words of advice for the young couple seated before him at Hopkins County Family Court in Madisonville, Ky. Jordan Pyles and Ashlyn Harrell had come to make some small adjustments to a temporary custody arrangement for their 4-year-old daughter, but on this March afternoon in 2018 what preoccupied them was their upcoming trial in June. Pyles, a 25-year-old project manager at a steel manufacturing company, and Harrell, a 22-year-old full-time mom, were both hoping to win sole custody.
“I care about your child because I care about kids,” Hall said of the trial, which he would also be presiding over, “but I’m going in blind, and you are going to have a very limited period of time to tell me and try to get something to click in my mind that makes me see things your way. … And I’m probably not going to see it your way, either one of your ways.”
At that point in Kentucky, as in most states, in a contested custody case, one parent typically became the main custodian and the other was granted a certain amount of visitation. Listening to Judge Hall, Jordan and Ashlyn were each worried that the other parent would be awarded custody. Ashlyn was additionally concerned that during their contentious year-long custody battle they had spent so much time painting each other as a bad parent that the court would take their daughter and put her into foster care.
Jordan and Ashlyn never married. Their relationship had floundered even before Ann, who is identified in this story by her middle name, was born. Ashlyn had been prepared to raise the child on her own, but from the beginning, Jordan had embraced fatherhood and sought to be an equally active part of Ann’s life. Ever since, Jordan and Ashlyn had been on an exhausting emotional and legal roller coaster.
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In service to you and your family,
Managing Director, Hope4Families
UPCOMING EVENTS IN OUR CALENDAR
March 16, 2022 :
Helping Your Child Manage Anxiety
Hope4Families encourages you to send us your events to be featured at our website!
To learn more about Hope4Families, check our Website: @https://hope4families.net/welcome
MEET OUR PROFESSIONAL OF THE WEEK
Dr. Kelley Baker, PHD
Dr. Kelley Baker has counseled individuals and families in the Austin area since 1994. She was educated at Texas State University, where she earned a B.A. degree in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Counseling and Guidance. After completion of her Master’s Degree, she worked for two years in a residential center for adolescent girls as an individual and family counselor.
Dr. Baker has specialized in providing mental health services to families during divorce and post divorce since 2002. She has completed of 190 hours of specialized training for mental health professionals working with families of divorce and alienation. She has worked with over 300 cases since beginning her private practice and provided testimony throughout central Texas.
To learn more about Hope4Families, check our Website: @https://hope4families.net/welcome
FEATURED ARTICLES
The Generational Cost of Inequality
In recent years, we have been confronted by inequalities existent in society that are at the breaking point, and for some, it challenges our own personal beliefs. Inequality in society is not a collusion by lawmakers seeking to do harm to the marginalized. Nevertheless, it produces unforeseen impact on society, thereby illuminating the need for a course correction.
To learn more about Hope4Families, check our Website: @https://hope4families.net/welcome
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