Substance abuse, homelessness, and Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement are intertwined in a huge and complex fashion. We previously wrote about how Seattle formed a task force to address both heroin use and homelessness. With opioid overdoses accounting for about 30,000 U.S. deaths in o…
Every divorce is different and brings unique challenges. However, with every breakup comes a re-definition, a movement when you move from being a couple to an individual. While it is not unusual to experience feelings of loss, loneliness, or grief, this can also be a time of self-reflection and growth. So how do you ring in the New Year with a new and improved you? Today, I share my top five tips for moving on from divorce with grace, joy, and, yes, enthusiasm.
Locally and nationwide it’s clear the child welfare system is in a dire state of disrepair. We recently highlighted one of the bigger problems facing the system: caseworker burnout and turnover. One possible solution on the horizon is a dramatic restructuring of the Department of Social and Healt…
As divorce attorneys are well versed in the numerous and varied reasons that couples split. Many of the same issues that led to divorce may resurface and could be exacerbated by the divorce process. What is a person to do when they are again on the receiving end of their soon-to-be-ex’s anger, bl…
If you are here, you are already doing something right. Putting your child’s emotional needs at the forefront of this difficult process. The age of your child will play a large role in how best to bring the news to them. You need to expect that children, like many parents in divorce, may have a w…
The Youth First Initiative, a national advocacy campaign, is seeking to end incarceration of youth by closing youth prisons and investing in community-based alternatives. The Initiative believes that the system of incarcerating youth is so beyond repair that is does not need mere improvement but …
Last month we came to you with a guide to selecting divorce professionals, but there is one divorce professional that may have been surprisingly overlooked: your child’s pediatrician. According to Health line Pediatricians can often be on the front lines of helping children cope with stressful si…
One of the biggest crises in the child welfare system is caseworker turnover. Many involved families have ten or more new workers through the life of their case. According to Crosscut, turnover is around 20 percent a year in Washington State and has been as high as 30 percent in King County (almo…
Wonderful grandparents can make an enormous impact in the lives of their grandchildren. Arguably, it is in the child’s best interest to have visitations with their grandparents, and the grandparents have an interest in maintaining their relationship with their grandchildren. The Washington Legisl…
Parental alienation occurs in high-conflict divorce, where the child is caught between two fighting parents and made to choose sides. While every divorce, every family, and every child is unique there are some universal recommendations for helping the polarized child form and maintain healthy rel…
