Behind the Scenes: Action Steps You Can Take to Change the Law and Future Custody Battles after Divorces

How to Contact Your Elected Officials:usa.gov
Teresa Harlow wrote a terrific seven-step co-parenting guide for co-parenting and immediate action as a helpful resource for the National Parents Organization.

1. Communicate with Your Co-parent
2. Work on Yourself
3. Mediation Keeps Decision-making in Parents’ Hands
4. Collaborative and Amicable Divorce Processes
5. Family therapists
6. Co-parent Coaching
7. Courts should be a last resort

Two examples of how significant social change came from the bottom-up and directly from the people.
Ways to get involved in your local legislation change:

• Help write the new proposed bill by partnering with the leading organization.
• Give your testimony at the state house to help get the bill passed into law and explain why you are for the bill
• Raise awareness by communicating the progress of the bill to your community
• Meet with other legislators outside of your area to help inform them of what the bill says and why they should vote to pass.

The steps of passing a bill.

• Legislator becomes aware of the community need
• Draft bill
• Propose the bill
• Obtain a name/number for the bill
• Committee review which includes public hearings for those that want to speak in favor and against the bill
• Debated in committee and possible recommendations for amending it to pass
• Voted on by committee and referred to Senate to evaluate