Opinion: Ohio law encourages 'lopsided, unfair custody arrangements' that put parents at war

By Teresa Harlow

Can we all agree that children deserve two parents in their lives after divorce?

It turns out maybe we can.

In a recent survey conducted by Public Policy Polling, 83% of Ohioans agreed that “a child would benefit from having equal time with both fit and willing parents following divorce.”

Surprisingly, current Ohio law fails to support this assumption.

Instead, it dictates that, in the absence of an approved parenting plan, one parent is granted sole custody while the other is allocated “continuing contact with the children.”

What does that even mean?

National Parents Organization, a nonprofit advocating for equal parenting, learned that in Ohio, guidelines for parenting time allocation are set by the counties.

Based on National Parents Organization’s review of these, most Ohio counties employ a schedule that limits non-custodial parents to every other weekend, plus one evening a week. This equates to only 16% of total available time.

How can a dad or mom be expected to remain a major force in a child’s life when they have so little time together?

Ohio House representatives Rodney Creech (R-West Alexandria) and Thomas E. West (D-Canton) recently introduced House Bill 508, the Equal Parenting Act –  Children Need Both Parents, to fix this.

Currently, often lopsided, unfair custody arrangements pit divorced parents against each other, and children become one more possession to fight over.