09101996 - News Article - Family House clinches funding for 1997

Family House clinches funding for 1997
NWI Times
Sep 10, 1996
http://www.nwitimes.com/uncategorized/family-house-clinches-funding-for/article_d4ceb503-0e7f-5d88-b7b2-c72923ece3f4.html
What's next
Porter County Council members have until Friday to balance an $18.2 million budget. They've already cut more than $3.8 million from county departments' 1997 budget requests; by mid-Monday evening, they had less than $195,000 in cuts left to find. Budget hearings continue at 4:30 p.m. today in the County Administration Building.

VALPARAISO - A child visitation center that two Porter County judges say isn't meeting the needs of children from divorced families will continue receiving county funds.

The County Council agreed Monday that the $33,400 it has traditionally allocated to Family House in Valparaiso should automatically get the money next year.

Porter Superior Court judges Thomas Webber and Roger Bradford had advocated putting the Family House money into a general court fund next year.

Then, the majority of judges would decide whether the money would go to Family House, which they say doesn't have enough weekend hours to accommodate divorced families.

"We'd like to have the right to go to Family House and say, 'Meet our needs, please,' " Webber said. "We do need a visitation service we can count on."

But Ruth Massmann, director for Family House, said judges had never told the center they were unhappy with its weekend schedule. The center is open by appointment-only on Saturdays and Sundays.

"We can't provide a service that no one has told us they need," Massmann said.

"It's working. And we feel if it's not broke, don't fix it."

County Council members agreed.

Funding for Family House has been part of the county's circuit court budget since 1992.

Council members feared that by putting the Family House money into a fund called "children's visitation services" in next year's general court budget, the money could be used to finance more than one center.

"Unless there's a better plan ... I personally say leave it as Family House in the circuit court budget," Council member Karen Martin said.

Council Vice-President Mike Bucko agreed the judges' concerns were important.

But, he said, "It seems to me that (Family House) has been working.

"If you have a problem, work together," he urged Judge Webber.

The council's decision came as a relief to Family House's board of directors, many of whom showed up to hear debate on the center's county funding. Children served by Family House are typically referred by the county's divorce or juvenile courts.

The majority of children who frequent the center are in foster care; Porter Circuit Court Judge Raymond Kickbush refers them there.

Kickbush prefers Family House because the center is set up like a home.

But Webber said the center's limited weekend hours make it difficult for divorced parents who cannot exchange their children for weekend visits without argument to rely on Family House as neutral territory.

"One real problem that started about a year-and-a-half ago was the issue of family exchange," Webber explained to the council. "We were using the police departments around the county (for exchanges). Kids were sitting in the lobby, waiting to be picked up."

But after a disturbance occurred inside a Portage jail while children were waiting to be exchanged, divorced parents no longer had that option, Webber said.

He suggested the money be allocated to a children's visitation service fund so that judges could negotiate with Family House for better weekend hours.

Massmann said the center would be willing to accommodate family exchanges, but divorced parents would need to make appointments for this service, just as they make appointments for visits during the week.

"We can't just have people coming in and out," she said.

Webber told the council that the majority of the county's six judges favored putting the money into the general court budget. Bradford argued in favor of the change last week; Porter Superior Court Judge Nancy Vaidik also supported the proposal Monday night.

But Porter Superior Court Judge Mary Harper told the council she believed there wasn't a majority consensus among the judges.

"I would say it's pretty well evenly divided," she said.

"We have a lot of things on our table right now. To say, 'Let's throw Family House on the table and have the six of us do that,' I think, is too much."

09091996 - News Article - Agency's funds in danger

Agency's funds in danger
NWI Times
Sep 9, 1996
http://www.nwitimes.com/uncategorized/agency-s-funds-in-danger/article_93884c99-a675-5c71-8163-a268eb374300.html
VALPARAISO - For 15 years, Family House has provided a neutral ground for children whose families have been torn apart by divorce.

There, children whose parents are divorced or separated can visit with the non-custodial parent in a home-like setting.

Porter County has traditionally funded Family House, and its judges refer children whose parents need to re-establish healthy parental visitation to the center, located in Valparaiso.

But some judges disagree on whether Family House should automatically receive the county's children visitation services funding next year.

Two judges propose the money be put into a general court budget next year. Then the majority of judges could decide whether the funds should go to Family House or a similar center.

"I want it understood that this isn't because somebody's mad at Family House," Porter Superior Court Judge Roger Bradford said. "It's about what's best for the children of divorce. We're doing it for the benefit of the kids."

The County Council will decide on the judges' request tonight during final hearings on next year's county budget.

In the meantime, the money remains part of the county's circuit court budget. Children served by Family House are typically referred by the county's divorce or juvenile courts.

Funding for Family House usually goes under the circuit court budget. The majority of children who frequent the center are in foster care; Porter Circuit Court Judge Raymond Kickbush refers them there.

He prefers Family House because the center is set up like a home.

"When I yank kids out of houses and take kids away from their parents, my God, that's traumatic," Kickbush said. "They need a comfortable setting for visits."

Kickbush hadn't heard his colleagues were in favor of switching the children's visitation services money to another fund until after Wednesday's council meeting.

He explained that he was on vacation when county judges held a meeting on next year's budget requests, when the issue was discussed.

The problem, Bradford said, is that Family House has limited weekend hours.

The center is open by appointment-only on Saturdays and is closed Sundays.

In some cases where divorced parents need a neutral place to exchange their children on weekends for court-ordered visitation, he believes the center's hours make it difficult for them to rely on Family House for help.

"There are unfortunately a large number of people who can't exchange their kids without arguing with each other," he said.

It's the main reason he and Porter Superior Court Judge Thomas Webber aren't content with the center.

They presented their concerns to the County Council last Wednesday.

The majority of Family House's funding comes from the county.

Ruth Massman, director for Family House, said the center is willing to accommodate families on Sundays by appointment. "Quite frankly, we haven't had a demand for that," she said.

Family House is open a minimum of 43 hours a week, Massman said. Its regular hours run from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays.

Massman was not at Wednesday's council meeting when Bradford and Webber made their proposal and could not comment on it.

By leaving the money in the circuit court budget, Bradford explained to the council, judges who deal with divorce cases have no say over where money for children's visitation services should go.

"We'd like all six judges' input," he said.

The judges haven't decided where they'd like to see the money go. Unless the County Council approves the request from Webber and Bradford, it's a moot point, he said.

"We wanted clarification as to whether it would be for Family House or whether they would leave it open," County Council member Karen Martin explained.

Martin said she needed more information about the availability of Family House before she could make a decision.

Family House isn't the only children's visitation center that has vied for county dollars.

Beatrice Lightfoot, who serves as a court-appointed guardian ad litem in child custody disputes, opened the Children/Parent Center in Chesterton. Her center also provides a place for children to visit with non-custodial parents.

Last spring, she requested county funds for her center, which has longer hours than Family House.

Lightfoot's request that the county reimburse her for representing children in rancorous divorce cases attracted emotional protests from parents and other child advocates who insist Lightfoot is unfit to represent children or operate her Children/Parent Center in Chesterton.

The council grilled center director Karen Klein about the need for Lightfoot's services when the county is already paying for other child advocates and subsidizing Family House for supervised visitation by non-custodial parents.

Council members told the center director last February that no appropriation for Lightfoot would be considered unless the county judges request funding as part of the court system's budget.

Kickbush's concern with giving money to Children/Parent Center is that it hasn't been open long enough to prove itself in the way Family House has. "I don't know the operation of that place," he said. "I applaud the person who set it up, but giving money is another thing.

"Family House has been around for more than 15 years. It has a board of directors. It's stable."

Bradford said if the council approves his request, he doesn't envision that the judges would split the money - $33,400 - among more than one center.

"I'm not sure that's desirable," he said.

If county funds are moved to the general court budget, he anticipates the judges would discuss what they would like from a child visitation services program, then meet with existing Porter County centers before making a decision.

"Don't make any presumption that we're getting rid of Family House," he said.

"We're not happy with them. But not being happy with them doesn't mean this can't be resolved. It doesn't mean they can't readjust their hours to give us what we need."