American Coalition of Fathers and Children

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The American Coalition for Fathers & Children is a non-profit organization headquartered in Washington, DC that is dedicated to reform of what it sees as the family law system and the dismantling of the divorce industry. ACFC believes that Shared Parenting is best for both Children and their parents.

The family court system, has become a multi-Billion dollar industry and operating under the current "best interest of the child standard", has become a forum for tug-o-war, where the children are the financial and emotional trophy to be "won".

The evidence reveals, the true "best interest of the child" in family court, is to take children out of their current position as financial and emotional trophies, and to presume that both parents, providing they are fit, should have maximum/equal opportunity to parent them. The courts need to STOP declaring a "winner" and a "loser" with regard to child placement decisions.

Shared parenting refers to a family arrangement in child custody or divorce settlements, in which the care of the children is equal, or more than substantially shared, between the natural parents. Such arrangements encourage children to know both parents are involved and share responsibility in their upbringing. This is generally considered to be a desirable plan in order to parent children separately. It is, however, still uncommon in situations where Family law practitioners have become involved, which is due to the adversarial nature of the courts.

More rarely, shared parenting refers to a similar situation after the separation of adoptive or other non biological parents.

Here is the chilling truth about our children who come from fatherless homes:

63% of youth suicides (Source: U.S. D.H.K.S., Bureau of the Census)
70% of juveniles in State Institutions (Source: U.S. Dept. of justice, special Report, Sept 1988)
71% of teen pregnancies (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services)
71% of High School dropouts (Source: National Principals Association Report on the State of High schools)
75% of children in chemical abuse centers (Source: Rainbows For All God’s Children.)
80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes (Source: Criminal Justice & Behavior, Vol 14, p- 403-26, 1978)
80% of adolescents in psychiatric hospitals come from broken homes. (Source: "Family Matters:The Plight of America's Children.' The Christian Century, July1993:14-21.)
85% of youth sitting in prisons grew up in fatherless homes. (Source: Fulton Co. Georgia jail populations, Texas Dept. of Corrections 1992).
85% of children with behavioral problems (Source: Center for Disease Control)
87% of the juvenile offenders in the Virginia juvenile justice system do not live with both natural parents and 73% are rearrested within three years of their release. (Source:Virginia Joint Legislative and Audit Review Commission)
90% of homeless and runaway children (Source: U.S- D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census)

ACFC has affiliated organizations across the United States and around the world. The organization publishes "The Liberator" quarterly newspaper and sponsors ad campaigns designed to raise awareness of Family Issues.