Iowa State Motto:

Our Liberties We Prize and

Our Rights We Will Maintain

 

Welcome

Iowa's traditional family unit is under attack by trial lawyers, special interest groups, and state agencies because of monetary gain or self preservation.

Divorce in Iowa is out of control with the latest data showing 9,766 decreed cases under Iowa Statute 598 per year (click to see divorce data). Legislative changes must be made to protect the family unit and ensure that children have an opportunity to be raised by parents, not a parent. This may require changing Iowa's no-fault divorce law or creating a rebuttable presumption of joint physical care (shared parenting) during a dissolution of marriage.

Post-divorce family litigation is at an all-time high in Iowa.  Lawyers, state agencies, and the Iowa Judicial Branch promote conflict because of the revenue that is generated. The Iowa Child Support Recovery Unit had 191,446 cases and collected $327.4 million dollars in 2007. This is crucial because the State of Iowa receives federal incentive money based upon the total amount of collections through U.S.C. Title 42 - Chapter 7 "Social Security" - Subchapter IV - Part D (click see child support collection data). Legislative changes must be made to de-escalate family litigation, possibly though programs like mandated binding mediation or legislation clarifying the intent of the law regarding what constitutes "contempt" for non-compliance of Court Order's, otherwise the future of Iowa families looks grim.

False domestic abuse allegations go unpunished are destroying families by automatically removing fathers from their children without one shred of physical evidence.  This despite the Office of Violence Against Women acknowledging that at least 40% of Domestic Violence is perpetrated by women. Legislative changes are needed so that due process is afforded to all citizens accused, including a presumption of innocence until proven guilty, and there must be consequences for false allegations.

Our military personnel are coming home and finding out that the "Soldiers and Sailors Act" did not protect them from litigation or from losing custody of their children while serving our nation. Legislative changes are needed to ensure that our military personnel are protected from any form of litigation while serving our nation.

Ultimately, we believe it is the responsibility of all Iowan's to protect our prestigious family unit and our children's future! 

Special Announcements:

On September 16, 2008, IowaFathers met with select members of the United States House of Representatives and select members of the United States Senate to discuss support of a federal law establishing a rebuttable presumption of joint physical care or shared parenting.  Please click on the picture to the left for more information.

During the 2010 state legislative session, IowaFathers PAC intends to have state legislators reintroduce legislation aimed at creating a rebuttable presumption of joint physical care. 

 

Did You Know:

Parenting is a fundamental right protected by the 5th and 14th amendments. This has been established in Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 99-138 (2000), Santosky v. Kramer, 102 S Ct 1388; 455 U.S. 745 (1982) and Quilloin v. Walcott, 98 S Ct 549; 434 U.S. 246, 255 Q56 (1978), among other cases.

80% of children with divorcing or divorced parents experience some form of Parental Alienation.  20% of these children experience such behaviors at least once a day (Source: American Bar Association).

In 2002, women received physical placement in 84.4% of the cases and men 15.6% (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, released February 2005).

About 85% of custodial parents are mothers (Source: Journal of Family Psychology. 2003, Vol. 17, No. 2, 206–219).

Three out of four teenage suicides (75%) occur in households where a parent has been absent (Source: Elshtain, Jean Bethke, "Family Matters: The Plight of America’s Children." The Christian Century, July 1993.)

Approximately 40 percent of child victims were maltreated by their mothers acting alone; another 18.3 percent were maltreated by their fathers acting alone; 17.3 percent were abused by both parents (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2007).