' By YVETTE N. FREEMAN
.Chronide Staff Writer
There is now a support group
in Winston-Salem just for men and
women who are divorced and
. have been'allocated to pay child
support. .
Divorced Fathers of Forsyth
County was formed Tuesday
? night, Aug;-27, 7 p.m., at the
East Winston branch public library,
with a group of five men in atten
dance.
The purpose of the group,
which was convened by Shed rick
.Adams, is to provide moraj sup
port, information and a voice to
?ipeak out for "family- friendly"
?policies in divorce cases where
Children are involved.
"I call myself a convenerlcT
' call together other men who may
! have had similar experiences as
'.to mine in the court," said Adams,
;who has two children. "It's a
painful experience where I feel
!that the court should look at the
!broader picture in assigning cus
tody; of physical custody of the
child. I believe both parents
should have equal access to their
children. And we (fathers) should
not be denied the right to parent"
During the meeting, the group
discussed personal experiences in
how the courts handled each of
their custody cases, and how, in
most child support and custody
cases, judges tend to rule in favor _
?of the mothers. *
They also discussed lobbying
for laws in which parents who
receive child support payments
would have to document how that
money is spent, to verify that the
payments are being made and the
child is actually benefiting from
those payments.
Tim Jackson, branch manager
of the East Winston library and a
member of the group, suggested
audits for those parents. "When
yon rocflivft that money, if there's
going to be some periodic checks,
where you have to produce
receipts,. and if you can't produce
those receipts, theri you have to
deal with the law.
.Another member named
Charles, who preferred that his
last name not be used, agreed
and said that the courts do need
to check whether parents who
receive child support are actually
_ using the money for that purpose
and only that purpose.
Other issues also discussed
included how a judge's personal
? feelings can sometimes get in the
way of fair decisions in divorce
cases, how the judges do hot
always rule in the best interest of
the child, and the set up of a sys
tem in which fathers would not be
penalized (usually sentenced to
jail time) if they are unable to
make their child support payments
because of illness or involuntary
. unemployment. - ^
Although each of the men at
the meeting had different experi
ences in their cases, there was
one common agenda for the
group.
J
Shedrick Adams (right) and Tim Jackson (laft) discuss tha plight of fathara In divorce caaaa at tha
first maatlng of Dlvorcad Fathers of Forsyth County. . ^
"The reason I decided to
come is to promote fairness and
accountability in the child support
system. So that both parents will
have access to the child/ said
Jackson.
Also, in speaking for the otffer
-members of the group, he stated-^
-that the primary ^.purpose-PL
Divorced Fathers of Forsyth Coun
ty is "basically, to draw attention to .
tne laws tnemseives so that the
law will benefit each citizen as
opposed to benefiting one parent.
We feel that the laws at their pre
sent state are antiquated and that
some sensitivity needs to be
brought about so that there is fair
ness within the law. There are a
lot of responsibfefathers who get
caught in the shuffle."
The other members agreed
and commented that the laws
dealing with child custody and
support tend to be one-sided, usu
ally In favor of the mother. And .
although the group plans to work
for better policies relating to
fathers and their rights in child
support and child custody, the
members say they have no inten
tions of trying to erase the role of
women in the lives of the children.
They said that the group mainly
wants to work towards policies
that are in the best interest of
everyone involved, most impor
tantly, the children.
According to Adams in a writ
ten statement explaining the
group, "We contend that children
are adversely affected when
fathers do not participate fully in
their upbringing. We believe that
when fathers do not participate
fully in childrearing, the emotional
and cognitive development of their
sons and daughters-* is often
impaired. It is our hope that
courts will eventually adopt "Fami
ly-Friendly" policies rather than
automatically assign custody and
. child support payments to one
Nat'l Conclave meeting
The National Conclave of the
National Sorority of Phi Delta
Kappa, Inc. met recently in
Nashville, Tennessee. More than
1500 delegates assembjed for the
sixty-eighth anniversary and were
challenged by one of the greatest
of the nation's problems - the edu
cating of minority youth.
The convention was presided
over by the Supreme Basileus,
Mrs. Marguerite McClelland.
Some of the keynote speak
ers of the conclave were Dr. Gloria
Scott, president of Bennett Col
lege in Greensboro, N.C.; Dr. Ray- &
mond Winbush, Director of the
Black Culture Center at Vanderbilt
University of Nashville, Ten
nessee; Dr. Bruce B. Hare of
Syracuse University of New York;
and Dr. Henry Ponder, president
of Fisk University in Nashville,
Tennessee. -
Basileus Mabel Sullivan-Jes
sup was the delegate for the local
chapter, Beta Lambda. She was
accompanied by Mrs. Mattie Neal,
who was an alternate. Basileus
Mabel Sullivan-Jessup is now the
Eastern Region Chairman of the ^
Anthropos, "The Men in Our
Lives."
Plans are already well-devel
oped for the seventieth anniver
sary conclave which will convene
in San Diego, California, July 14 -
24, 1993.
Mrs. Bethlehem crowned
during Women's Day
Highlighting the First Annual Delores M. Gullick, wife of the
Women's Day of Bethlehem AME Rev. William Gullick, pastor of
2ion Church, 6475 Old Yadkinville Bethlehem, which is located in
Highway off Reynolds Rd., will be Pfafftown, N.C. as the 11 a.m.
the crowning and flowering of Mrs. speaker; and honored to have
Bethlehem AME Zion 1 991 . . Mrs. Jamie Speaks, wife of Bishop
The program will take place Ruben Speaks as the 3 p.m.
Sunday, September 15 at the 11 speaker.
' a.m. and 3 p.m. services. The The public is invited to join in
chgrch is proud to have Mrs. this affair. .
partner, in most cases to the
mother."
Divorced Fathers of Forsyth
County plans to meet again Mon
day, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. in the audi
torium of the East Winston branch
public library, located on Highland
Avenue ?t -Seventh Streetr^t
.which time , there will also be a .
panel discussion with representa
tives of the courts and judicial sys
tem. The group is open to any
one who is divorced, going
through a divorce, or considering '
divorce, but primarily those who
are paying child support, For
more information about Divorced
fathers of Forsyth County, call the
East Winston branch public library _
at (919) 727-2202.
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