Local Rule 25.3
ALLOCATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITY
PARENTING SESSIONS & CHILDREN’S WORKSHOPS –
ATTENDANCE REQUIRED
All parents
involved in new cases, pending cases, and post-decree motions filed in
25.3 (A)
After the filing of a complaint for
divorce or a petition for dissolution of marriage in which minor children are
involved, and before said action will be set for hearing, any party seeking
allocation of parental rights and responsibilities, parenting time, and both
parties seeking dissolution shall attend two (2) 1.5 hour sessions on parenting
sponsored by the Court of Common Pleas of Crawford County, Ohio, Domestic
Relations in cooperation with the Community Counseling Services, Inc. Each child of said parties shall be required
to attend two (2) 1.5 hour sessions of a children’s workshop.
25.3 (B)
Before any motion for reallocation
of parental rights and responsibilities will be set for hearing, the party who
is seeking the change shall attend the above referenced parenting sessions if
they have not done so in the past two years.
25.3 (C)
A certificate of attendance shall
be issued to each participant and a copy of the same filed and docketed in each
domestic relations case in which attendance is required. Until the certificate of attendance is issued
and filed with the Clerk of Court, the Court will take no action.
25.3 (D)
The fee for attendance at said
parenting sessions shall be established by the Judge of the
25.3 (E)
In the event that parties having
previously attended such parenting sessions find it necessary to file a
post-decree motion, said motion shall be set for hearing providing attendance
at the parenting sessions has been completed within two years prior to the
filing of said motion. Prior to setting
said motion for hearing, the Assignment Commissioner shall verify attendance by
checking the prior docket entries to ascertain whether a certificate of
attendance is on file and if, in fact, it was within the two-year
requirement. If more than two years have
elapsed, it will be necessary that both parties attend the parenting sessions
prior to the case being set for hearing.
25.3 (F)
In each case in which parents are
required to attend parenting sessions, the parent designated as the temporary
residential parent in a divorce or dissolution, or each parent in a shared
parenting situation, shall enroll children between the ages of four and
thirteen, inclusive, in the appropriate children’s workshop (Ages 4-8 or 9-13)
at the time they register for parenting sessions. There is no cost for these workshops.
25.3 (G)
The Court may waive the above
attendance requirements upon proper verification that attendance would not
address the actual problem.
Updated:
25.3 (D) Amended: