FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FaFNY Submits Budget Testimony Outlining Savings

FaFNY testimony shows possible savings in the Judiciary Budget of $105.2 Million and savings in agency budgets of $20.75 Million resulting from enactment of shared parenting legislation.

March 1, 2004 -- The Coalition of Fathers and Families NY, Inc. has submitted written testimony to Chairman Herman D. Farrell, Jr. of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee and Chairman Owen H. Johnson of the Senate Finance Committee showing that enactment of shared parenting in New York would cause an immediate drop in need for services from both the judiciary and Office of Children and Family Services and the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance agency budgets.  You can review a copy of the testimony from the web site www.FaFNY.org or download it directly from the site in MS Word Here.

The budget testimony revolves around supply side reductions for services provided by the Judiciary and Executive branches of government.  In the Judiciary shared parenting would cause a 10% drop in court cases resulting in $4.13 million saved in the supreme court and $5.6 million in family court.  Additional savings through reduced re-litigation would save a whopping $53.29 million in family court alone.  This same 10% drop in case load would result in savings of $1.8 million in Children and Family Services budget and $2.15 million in the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance budget.  These supply side reductions include direct savings and do not include impacts to administrative expenses as the case loads trickle through the agencies administrative work loads.

Shared parenting legislation is proposed in both houses of the legislature.  In the Assembly it is A01123 sponsored by Assemblyman David Sidikman and in the Senate it is S3220 sponsored by Senator Owen Johnson.  The legislation would establishes the rebuttable presumption in matrimonial proceedings for awarding shared parenting of minor children and the submission of a parenting plan for post separation parenting of children.  As the legislation is rebuttable an allegation that shared parenting would be detrimental to the best interests of the child such as in cases where there has been child or spousal abuse.

Information used in obtaining the above results can be obtained on the web site www.FaFNY.org.                               

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