Daddy's Want Custody Too

By: Scott L. Earle Sr.

Of course, every relationship goal is for marriage and for the family to stay under the same roof until death do you part. Starting a relationship, having children, and starting a family are collectively one of life’s greatest joys in a healthy relationship When you get married and have children, you never know what could happen in the relationship, but we must remember a relationship doesn’t require marriage, or even a long-term, loving, or permanent relationship for children to be born. How the relationship evolves, and what part each parent decides to play in the child’s life, is a huge decision between the two parties; we must note that married or unmarried, if you have a child or children, you need to know the laws in America in case things take a turn for the worse in your relationship

On January 25th four members of the Psi Alpha Chapter Fatherhood Initiatives Committee met to have a candid conversation about child custody. All 4 of the members had fought for custody and to be part of their children’s lives. Brother Fred Beebe shared his story of winning full custody in the 1990s and the lack of support systems for single fathers that exist for single mothers Brother Scott Earle shared his experience when he lost in the 1990s and received standard visiting rights and then shared that through the mentoring from Brother Beebe, he received much better results and was able to share custody of his younger children and although they lived with him only half the time, he was able to see them every day and take them and pickup them up from school daily His son moved with him full-time at 16 and he credits Brother Beebe for his mentoring. Brother Jacques Shinault shared his story of winning full custody of his young son as a single dad after a failed relationship and recently being granted shared custody of his infant son after his divorce Brother Shinault is 30 years of age and serving in the Marines and doing a great job as a dad. Brother Le Marc Holcombe shared the story of his tears fighting to be part of his older teenage daughter’s life and blending her with his wife and two small children. His story is ongoing, and he still has not been able to secure proper visitation and for the child custody decree to be followed How much custody time a father gets varies widely by state, with 20 states giving fathers 50% of the overall time but in Texas, fathers are awarded only about 120.5 days each year with their children (33%) compared to the 245 days awarded to women

This forum was candid and needed for men with similar stories to listen and communicate with each other. This was not a forum to bash women and we all wished the family structure could have not been broken We all agreed that the misconception that black fathers are not present is incorrect Recently the CDC reported that 70% of Black fathers were most likely to have bathed, dressed, diapered, or helped their children use the toilet every day compared with white (60 percent) and Hispanic fathers (45 percent) Fathers need to have custody whether full, joint, or shared