Paternity Acknowledgment Programs

We can fairly acknowledge that governmental agencies, such as child support divisions and services for children and families, will convey to us that they "do not" own the right to designate protective care or guardianship. To a certain degree they are correct. Government agencies cannot designate "legal custody." Only a Judge in the Court of Law has that authority. However, governmental agencies do designate "administrative custody."

Whenever a government agency or the welfare system provides services to a family with a child, the agency is acknowledging that the applicant parent (95% single mother households) is in possession of the child 50.1% of the time, which means primary custody. However, because the governmental agencies’ policy on fraud is seldom challenged or investigated, there is no positive proof if the child is actually in the residence of the applicant parents.

Due to the fact that government agencies, child support divisions and welfare services have the right to designate "administrative custody," this causes the mother or father of the child to race to the welfare office, the agency waits to see which parent will get its foot in the door and claim the child first. The parent who won the race in claiming the child is the parent who receives, not only assistance (money, food, housing et cetera) but at the same time, the agency will, immediately, "protect the applicant." Why? Because if the government, welfare/child support divisions and services were to discover that the applicant committed fraud (lying about the child living with her/him 50.1% of the time) the spotlight would show how either badly the agency mishandles verifying whether the applicant is truthful or not when she/he provided required information in the written declaration made under oath.

The primary message that moves forcefully through these paternity acknowledgment programs is responsibility. Although, in reality, these programs promote "selective responsibility," since the programs’ major concern is on child support only, while ignoring data information. This is inadvertently saying to fathers that they are merely considered financial contributors.

Just follow the money also applies to paternity acknowledgments. The Federal government is aware that the State child support enforcement programs need money to control the functioning of a process. The government helps to bring about the process by funding the state child support enforcement programs, and of course, only after determining how much child support is collected in each State.
These excessively abusive, morally offensive tactics (against fathers) has motivated most states to increase their child support collections so that the state enforcement programs can depend on with full trust on meeting the requirements for additional monies from Uncle Sam.

If we leave this matter strictly in the hands of the government and state agencies, it is certain that they will discover ways to gain financially from child support collections. (This is called, The Float.)

For quite some time now, States have worked to the fullest extent possible to transmit the continuous progression of all child support monies into their baskets. In their view, this is the most proof positive way of keeping efficient accounting and disbursement of payments in place. The truth is that the State holds on to the interest from the child support payments that linger in the bank for more than 30 days. In Oregon, the state collects approximately 25 million dollars in child support a month. Go figure, the interest from this amount. By far, this is not "chump change." (www.dnadiagnosticscenter.com)

Welfare was first established to help those in hardship manage tough crisis situations until they could get back on their feet. The creation of welfare was never meant to be a way of life. However, quite a number of people in this country have figured out how to work the system, as opposed to working, and have become comfortable in living the welfare lifestyle. In other words, they work at not having to work.

To make matters worse, their offspring tend to repeat their parent's behaviors, and hence they too become lazy and refuse to work, and thus the cycle continues. Human Nature being what it is, why would they entertain the thought of working when they have learned to work the system and receive free benefits?

Our country needs real and serious welfare reform, not band-Aids. Let's give those who have abused welfare a fair warning that changes to that system are on the way so that they can plan ahead and tackle their situations appropriately. This includes getting an education, and learning a new skill or trade that will enable them to re-enter the work place. With new and improved skills, they will be empowered to wean themselves off the welfare roles.

One obstacle legal American workers fresh off the welfare system face, is the reality of sleazy employers who would rather hire and exploit illegal aliens who lack language skills and can easily be manipulated to work overtime without extra pay, and accept less money than a minimum wage. We often hear the argument that Americans refuse to do certain jobs that they may deem to be beneath them. Not many legal citizens accept this as true. If we begin tightening up the rules for welfare applications, and laws are passed to penalize or fine unscrupulous employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants, we will inevitably discover that many Americans will do honest work for the well-being of their families.

If people do not want to do hard labor tasks for the rest of their lives, they can improve their English language skills, attend classes in vocational/technical schools that will upgrade their capabilities and this will lead to better paying jobs. Just as importantly, these folks just off welfare can teach their children the principles and values of education and work. Many college students would also fill work positions that employers are currently issuing to illegal immigrants, and this would allow them to purchase necessary items such as books, supplies, or perhaps new clothing.

Welfare people, for the most part, need to learn to teach their children work ethics. There are many diligent parents who work two jobs to pay for their kid's college education. The kids should be able to get a job and earn a living and the value of making their own money, as many of them wished they could have done this past summer. But unfortunately, the sleazy employers gave those positions to criminal illegal aliens for less money instead.

There is definitely something wrong in America when criminals’ pleas for insanity are found innocent of terrifying crimes, released from prison and delivered back into civilization to repeat their crimes. There are many problems with a system that considers the mentally ill and criminally insane as innocent victims. The law ponders: Did the accused do it or not? And if he did do it, did he mean to do it? Were the accused legally insane when he or she committed the crime?

While a plea for insanity is every criminal's right, rarely are the People's rights considered when determining if the mentally ill and the criminally insane should be punished for their crimes? Or if they should be treated first and then released back into our neighborhoods?

The potentially insane are often diagnosed as bossy, controlling and domineering manic depressants (similar to the bunch connected to domestic violence situations) that take medication for depression and often turn out to be unpredictable. Most of us know unpredictability has a huge price tag attached to violence because unpredictable individuals under the influence of drugs are dangerous. And since the People can never be certain what manic depressants will do next, society is not safe.

Nonetheless, despite their crimes, the legal system does not often take into account that a criminal's behavior may be dangerous because most criminals seem perfectly normal in the light of day. Is this seemingly normal outlook the legal system's justification to release them back into our communities? How can the law suggest that they are not criminally responsible for their actions and claim they do not pose a threat to the community? For that reason, criminals, absent of any moral compass are let off the hook and escape being formally condemned as responsible for their acts.

This attitude has openly suggested to the mentally ill and the criminally insane that the justice system will likely show sympathy toward those who claim insanity. Can the justice system be so naive not to figure out that with help from their lawyers, criminals who know they have committed a crime are adroitly using the insanity plea to escape punishment?

For instance, let's reflect a moment on the history teacher who was legally found to be mentally ill after he killed a teenage boy. This guy tied the boy in the basement of his home and forced the boy to perform oral sex. When the boy refused, the teacher castrated the boy and then shot him in the head.
Furthermore, it was revealed in court that the teacher premeditated the act in the back of his head to one day execute the boy. Did a mentally ill individual or a criminally insane psycho commit this act?

The time must come for the justice system, Legislators, and Congress to use their power to change the laws and force a bill, to understand the extent of a criminal's actions. The time must come for those in power to grasp the fact that many of the criminals they release back into our neighborhoods their wives, children and girlfriends. (A small exception should be made on behalf of those who attack strangers. Most who fit this category are mentally ill and should not be put in prison. They must be locked up in a mental institution.)

Why do the people in power continue to permit criminals to control our communities?

Perhaps they have not had anything villainous happen to them in their lives so that they are blind to what is happening to our nation when the ill and the insane are allowed to go free and victimize our society? No one is safe as long as those who are in power keep offering criminals the freedom to murder people and destroy our nation. It is demoralizing that the law is more than not pro-criminal.

It is pathetic when the law does not set real standards for criminal responsibility, and linger in limbo while juggling to determine if an accused qualifies for the insanity defense. This anti-People approach will ultimately cause the American people to mistrust those running the system and consider them to be behaving as cowards. Knowing well what is happening in this country, what are the citizens to do when their outcry for justice is ignored?

The People have little control once the judge makes his final decision. In most cases involving accused criminals pleading innocent by reason of insanity, the People rarely have the courtesy of a jury. Unless the case at hand receives nationwide attention, 70 percent of insanity pleas are made by plea bargain in which both prosecution and defense agree to the plea and there is no trial.

For instance, the cases of would be Reagan assassin John Hinckley, Jeffrey Dahmer, Kevin McKiever, who viciously stabbed a former Radio City Rockette and Colin Ferguson, who turned a crowded, rush hour train into a shooting gallery, killing six passengers and wounding nineteen. These cases were considered special and worthy media-attention cases.

However, there are hush-hush cases not talked about because they lack the kind of "sensationalism," with which the media thrive. Another issue to address is directed at attorneys who fashion the insanity defense. They defend psychos and do their best to release criminals into the streets to kill again. How do attorneys defend psychos and sleep at night? How can they help criminals to walk away from punishment to breathe air they should not be breathing when they should be jailed for life with criminals like themselves? At this rate, it is frightening to think about how many criminals will claim innocence by reason of insanity the day New York decides to re-instate the death penalty.

Many citizens believe that when defendants use the insanity defense, they are sometimes mentally ill. Most of the time they are crafty con artists trying to get off the hook by playing crazy even in the face of a mandated personality test to determine the mental status of the accused, and forensic psychologists who evaluate the competency of those accused of committing crimes. They diagnose whether the accused claiming insanity is exaggerating or minimizing their symptoms and if they can be held criminally responsible for their acts. Mental health professionals are frequently left to wrestle with an individual's moral responsibility.

Surveys of prison populations have claimed that there are higher rates of mental illness, mental retardation, brain damage and substance abuse among prison inmates than in the general population. How do we know this is accurate? We know that sometimes, when someone volunteers to make a survey public, there is usually a larger number behind the curtain withheld from the public to avoid public panic.

Many mentally ill and criminally insane individuals are indeed clever and manipulative con artists skilled to commit devious acts in private to escape getting caught committing crimes. Who knows for sure? We may have as many nuts in prison as we do running the streets disguised as normal individuals. And who knows? Tomorrow may be different. If we can count on anything, it is that everything must change, including Congress, the legislators and the justice system.

There are many faces of abuse. However, the darkest side of this is the hidden abuse. These victims are cornered into a situation where they have little if any self-confidence. This results in feelings of worthlessness, and in certain situations may lead to suicide. Although physical abuse is clearly perceived in the public’s mind, the most catastrophic kind is “mental and spiritual abuse,” which is sadly not easily perceived or apparent in our societies.

This mildly understood mode of abuse is probably the most dangerous and devastating to its victims. This insidious type of abuse inflicts damage upon others lives in relentless and cumulative ways through illegal drug use, alcohol, false teachings, liars, cheaters, in short by those who betray us. A common example of this is when a partner restricts the movements of their other half, basically keeping them away from family and friends. This means isolating them, and not allowing them to communicate nor engage with family or friends for fear of them wising up to what they are going through. In the end they lack confidence, and in the extreme, harm themselves in a desperate bid for attention.

Spiritual (mental and emotional) abuse can be defined as having your creations destroyed by betrayal and treachery, or being betrayed by a loved one. It can also result from loving someone who is dishonest and corrupt, or maybe even someone who perhaps focuses in a narcissistic way on their own mind, body, or even material objects, rather than on the supposed loved one. These selfish abusive partners are more concerned with control, dominance, or playing mind games, than to actually give of themselves to others. They also tend to deny the vast scope of the supposed loved ones spiritual powers, and do not live up to the loved ones’ principles, codes, or virtues.

This form of abuse is more damaging than actual physical abuse as it is hidden, and tends to demolish the dominated partners’ self-esteem. However because there are no obvious signs of abuse, i.e., bruises, etc., this is overlooked. If the injury were visible, the abuser would end up before the court, facing an assault charge. It would also be more difficult to hide from outsiders just what is going on behind closed doors. These cowards that inflict this evil treatment on their so-called loved ones don't deserve to have a partner.

Our Courts of Law, however, do not recognize spiritual and emotional abuse for either gender, making the situation worse for the abused, and therefore the abuser, the coward, continues to inflict this evil treatment on someone they claim to love. (In these cases, male instigators are not often the sole abusers. There is a basketful of female culprits as well.)

Another important aspect of this behavior occurs when there are children in the relationship, as they become exposed to it. The youngsters pick up on the bad vibes between mom and dad, causing them to feel unhappy and confused. Often children blame themselves for the confusing behaviors they witness. To make matters worse, in later life, these children will often repeat the same patterns of behaviors they saw when they were involved in adult relationships.

It becomes clear how the whole family unit can become emotionally abused by one selfish parent. It’s clear that these unfit couples who carry unresolved emotional issues, should think very carefully about having children. Otherwise, it is unfair on the child. In the extreme, couples often believe bringing a baby into the equation will solve the difficulties they are having. This approach is totally misplaced and often brings in a whole host of new problems. A child needs stability in the home, if it has any chance of growing up without emotional problems. Also if a youngster witnesses abusive behavior, then it is likely to inherit these traits in adulthood and it more likely than not develop into a vicious cycle.

The next time your partner disturbs your spirit to the point that you feel a humongous sense of inexplicable pain, run.

The Mansfield Rule states that if a child is conceived within marriage, the husband is accepted without verification or proof to be the father. Since this presumption is not always true, some states have introduced "milkman" legislation to challenge or refute this presumption. A father's name written (even if in his own handwriting) on the birth certificate does not establish the validity of paternity.

During the last thirty years, the number of children born outside of marriage (out of wedlock) has commanded our attention due to the abundance of false paternity suits against innocent men. In many cases, this false claim directly and unfavorably harms the economic well-being of our nation’s children.

It is imperative for our legislators to develop and enforce policies which will make the process of determining paternity as easy and transparent as possible. A man must know with certainty if the new child is actually his biological offspring, and for which he will be economically and socially responsible. Any father who believes he has been treated unfairly, or who has reason to believe he is being deceived, should not expect someone else to take action for him.

These aggrieved fathers must research their state's laws for specifics on paternity establishment. It is his duty to draw the attention of the appropriate officials in government, and in their communities or wherever else this issue needs to be raised. These victimized fathers should join forces and utilize all the resources available to them to resolve this very serious issue that hurts so many people, including society's weakest and most vulnerable members, our children.

What starts off wrong, ends off wrong. Deception can never be a substitute for honesty and fair play.