Canadian Parenting Coordinators Association, CPCA
Legislation: United States
States with legislation: Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Texas
For a complete overview of parenting coordination legislation in the US, read Summary of the States with Parenting Coordination Programs, by Barbara Ann Bartlett, J.D., March, 2005. Barbara was the key person in getting legislation enacted in Oklahoma and is the leading authority in the United States.
For a more detailed analysis refer to Parenting Coordination: Implementation Issues, April 30, 2003, which is the report of the AFCC Task Force on Parenting Coordination.
Listed below is some information, comments, and links associated with some of the states.
Colorado: In 1999, Colorado introduced parenting coordination legislation but it was withdrawn. (click here for link to 1999 proposed legislation, House Bill 99-1298)
Bill Fyfe, in the article, The unfinished promise of parenting coordination, in Viewpoint - A Quarterly Newsletter, Summer, 2002 Columbine Counselling Center, commented on this withdrawal and recommended that Colorado introduce legislation similar to Oklahoma's, and he made this comment, "What is needed in Colorado is the statutory authority to circumvent the hesitancy some courts have in ordering a PC to work with a family."
Colorado did reintroduce parenting coordination legislation and House Bill 05-1171 was signed by the governor on June 2, 2005. (click here for link to the legislation, House Bill 05-1171)
Florida: Florida released a proposed parenting coordination statute, dated January 15, 2004.
The Florida Bar Association offers an article that provides information regarding the proposed statute. (click here to read the article)
Florida's proposed statute Senate Bill 2640 - 2004 was vetoed by Governor Bush in June 2004. He supported it in principle and requested some revisions. To our knowledge, the statute has not yet been revised and reintroduced. The Report of the Parenting Coordination Workgroup dated March 9, 2005 presents a Parenting Coordination (PC) Administrative Order proposal. Use this link to AFCC Florida Chapter's website to view this report, Governor Bush's veto message, Senate Bill 2640 - 2004, the Florida Senate Interim Project Report, and the AFCC PC Task Force: Guidelines for Parenting Coordinators.
Idaho: In 2002, Idaho adopted a parenting coordination statute.
Kansas: On July 1, 2000 Kansas implemented statute 23-1001, (23-1002 & 23-1003) Chapter 23 - Domestic Relations, Part 9 - Miscellaneous Provisions, Article 10 - Case Management. While the process is called Case Management, it is essentially the same as parenting coordination.
Massachusetts: According to the article Parenting Coordination: Facts & Pending Legislation by Judge Arline Rotman, (Ret.), published in Family Mediation Quarterly, Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation, Vol. 3, No. 1, Winter 2004, Massachusetts is in the process of proposing new legislation. This article provides the following information about what is happening across the United States.
What Is The Practice Nationally?
A Parenting Coordinator model has been implemented in a number of states including Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon and Vermont. In June 2002, Oklahoma enacted the first specific statute "Parenting Coordinator Act." In March 2002 the Idaho legislature amended its Domestic Relations Code to allow for the appointment of Parenting Coordinators, effective July 2002.
For a more detailed description of what "implemented" means for each of the states identified above, except for Georgia, Kansas, and New Mexico, refer to (Bartlett, 2005).
Senate, No. 952, An Act Relative to the Appointment of Parenting Coordinators in the Probate Courts was referred to the committee on The Judiciary on January 26, 2005 and according to Bartlett (2005, p 4) it is "presently on hold".
Minnesota: In 2004, Minnesota enacted statute 518.1751 Parenting time dispute resolution. It uses the term "parenting time expeditor" and the process only deals with facilitating parenting time and prevent undue interferences.
North Carolina: On July 27, 2005, North Carolina approved House Bill 1221, AN ACT TO ESTABLISH THE APPOINTMENT OF PARENT COORDINATORS IN DOMESTIC CHILD CUSTODY ACTIONS. Chapter 50 of the General Statues was amended by adding a new article; Article 5. Parenting Coordinator
For a very brief summary, refer to Parenting Coordination Legislation Passes in North Carolina, by Barbara Bartlett.
Oklahoma: The first, and still one of the best models, is Oklahoma's Parenting Coordinator Act (enacted June 2001). [Note: To view the act from the link, click on section 120.1. Short Title under "Parenting Coordinator Act", then click on the Next Section button of that page to move to sections 120.2 through 120.6.
Oklahoma's act recently withstood a constitutional challenge in Barnes v. Barnes, 2005 OK 1, case number 98090.
Oregon: Oregon amended their law ORS 107.425 to accommodate parenting coordination and these changes came into effect on January 1, 2002.
Texas: Texas introduced bill H.B. No. 252 on December 17, 2004. It was signed by the Governor on June 17, 2005 and it takes effect on September 1, 2005. The bill adds a subchapter, J, to Chapter 153, Family Code. Link to the enrolled version of bill H.B. No. 252.