The State of Texas is repsonsible for intentionally and knowingly creating fatherless households.

Effects of Fatherlessness: #

1. Alcohol & Drug Abuse (e.g., Hoffman 2002; USDHHS, 1993)
   1. 10X more likely to abuse Alcohol/Drugs
   1. 71% of adolescent substance abusers
2. Physical & Emotional (e.g., Block, Block & Gjerde, 1988; Hofferth, S. L., 2006)
   1. 80% of children admitted for Psychiatric Hospitalizations
   1. 2X more likely to commit Suicide
3. Education (e.g., Tillman, 2007; see also Kruk, 2012)
   1. Score lower and achieve less (p = .01)
   1. 9X more likely to Drop out of School
4. Criminal System (e.g., Demuth & Brown, 2004; Knoester & Hayne, 2005)
   1. 70% Juvenile Detention
   1. 60% of Rapists
   1. 11X more likely to exhibit Violent Behavior
   1. 20X more likely to be Incarcerated
5. Sexuality (e.g., Hendricks  et al., 2005; Turner, Finkelhor, & Ormrod, 2006)
   1. 9X more likely to be Raped/Abused
   1. 70% of Teen Pregnancies
6. Other
   1. Significantly more likely to have difficulties in the following:
      1. Relationships
      1. Learning/Cognitive
      1. Behavior
      1. Homelessness
      1. Physical/Auto-Immune/Disease
      1. Etc. ad infinitum
7. Similar results are found for all children of Divorce, but they are significantly greater for children raised without a Father (e.g., Clarke-Stewart & Hayward, 1996).

Costs Societal/State (Money) #

1. $210,012 in 2010 dollars per child
   1. This is the estimated average lifetime cost per child who is maltreated, which, by definition, includes children of divorce (Fang, et al., 2012).
   1. Does not account for ancillary costs associated with placement, custody, divorce, the Family Law business model, child related programs/State agencies, etc. that are common in Texas.
2. Including the astronomical costs associated with the above 1(b), the costs per child is likely much higher than Feng and colleagues estimated.

Child Abuse #

1. Child Abuse is Defined by the Texas Family Code 261.001(1)(A) and (B) as:

(1) “Abuse” includes the following acts or omissions by a person:

(A) mental or emotional injury to a child that results in an observable and material impairment in the child’s growth, development, or psychological functioning;

(B) causing or permitting the child to be in a situation in which the child sustains a mental or emotional injury that results in an observable and material impairment in the child’s growth, development, or psychological functioning;

• By the Legal Definition of the State of Texas, Divorce with children is Child Abuse, except under the most extremely rare and egregious of circumstances (please note the words “extremely rare”).
• Over 5 decades of peer-reviewed empirical research has clearly and repeatedly defined the observable and material impairment in the child’s growth, development, or psychological functioning as a direct result of Divorce and Fatherlessness.
  • There is no argument ever, by any competent researcher ever, that Divorce and Fatherlessness does not harm children.
  • The State of Texas is sanctioning Child Abuse, and the judiciary is facilitating Child Abuse and Fatherless homes.

Custody Stats for Fathers in Texas #

1. According to the Texas Office of the Attorney General Statistics:
   1. Mothers have Primary Custody >90% of cases
   1. Fathers have Primary Custody <10% of cases
2. When the OAG data is analyzed using t-test and/or Z Scores, the probability of this being due to chance for a single year is less than 1 in 100,000; and the fact that every year is the similar, makes chance an impossibility.
3. Repeatedly, empirical peer-reviewed research (again, decades worth) has found that Divorce is extremely harmful to children and Fatherlessness is extremely harmful to children.
   1. These harmful effects (i.e., abuse) last across the life-span.
   1. These effects are almost always trans-generational.

Summary #

It is no secret that Texas has repeatedly failed to protect children, and has similarly failed to support the nuclear family. Texas has consistently ranked in the bottom 5 of all 50 States in protecting vulnerable populations, but especially children (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2021).

The Family Courts system in Texas is the greatest promotor of Fatherlessness in this State, routinely ignores Federal and State Law, and actively engages in conduct causing or permitting the child to be in a situation in which the child sustains a mental or emotional injury that results in an observable and material impairment in the child’s growth, development, or psychological functioning (TFC 261.001). What our “Honorable” judges in this State have done for decades is actually illegal, but their conduct has been ignored for decades. Our State DFPS and CPS are also nationally renowned for corruption, incompetence, and illegal activities; simply ask United States District Judge Janis Graham Jack.

As an office holder for the State of Texas, I have two simple questions:

Do you value protecting children and families?

What are you going to do, now that you know children are being permanently damaged by the Texas judiciary?

References #

Amato, P.R. (2003), Reconciling Divergent Perspectives: Judith Wallerstein, Quantitative Family Research, and Children of Divorce. Family Relations, 52: 332-339. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2003.00332.x

Annie E. Casey Foundation (2021). 2021 Kids Count Data Book.

Clarke-Stewart, K. A., & Hayward, C. (1996). Advantages of father custody and contact for the psychological well-being of school-age children. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 17(2), 239-270.

Demuth, S., & Brown, S. L. (2004). Family structure, family processes, and adolescent delinquency: The significance of parental absence versus parental gender. Journal of research in crime and delinquency, 41(1), 58-81.

Fang, X., Brown, D. S., Florence, C. S., & Mercy, J. A. (2012). The economic burden of child maltreatment in the United States and implications for prevention. Child Abuse & Neglect, 36(2), 156-165. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2011.10.006

Hendricks, C. S., Cesario, S. K., Murdaugh, C., & Gibbons, M. E. (2005). The Influence of Father Absence on the Self-Esteem and Self-Reported Sexual Activity of Rural Southern Adolescents. ABNF Journal, 16(6), 124.

Hoffmann, J. P. (2002). The community context of family structure and adolescent drug use. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64(2), 314-330.

Knoester, C., & Hayne, D.A. (2005). “Community context, social integration into family, and youth violence.” Journal of Marriage and Family 67, 767-780.

Kruk, E. (2012). Father absence, father deficit, father hunger the vital importance of paternal presence in children’s lives. Psychology Today, 20-28.

Tillman, K.H. (2007), Family Structure Pathways and Academic Disadvantage among Adolescents in Stepfamilies. Sociological Inquiry, 77: 383-424. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-682X.2007.00198.x

Turner, H. A., Finkelhor, D., & Ormrod, R. (2006). The effect of lifetime victimization on the mental health of children and adolescents. Social science & medicine, 62(1), 13-27.

U.S. Census Bureau (USCB; 2011), Children’s Living Arrangements and Characteristics: March 2011, Table C8. Washington D.C.: 2011.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS; 1993). National Center for Health Statistics. Survey on Child Health. Washington, DC, 1993.

US Department of Health and Human Services. (UDDHHS; 2009). Risk and protective factors for mental, emotional and behavioral disorders across the life cycle.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (USDHHS; 2012); ASEP Issue Brief: Information on Poverty and Income Statistics. September 12, 2012 http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/12/PovertyAndIncomeEst/ib.shtml

NOTE. This is a mere fraction of the decades of available research in these areas. If you require a more thorough reference list, I can provide you with hundreds of peer-reviewed empirical articles that elucidate that devastation that has been perpetrated on our children.