EIGHT KEYS TO PASSING PARENT EDUCATION LEGISLATION

• Date: 01 October 1997
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.174-1617.1997.tb00487.x
• Published date: 01 October 1997
• Author: Cheryl D. Lee

First

Runner-up

-

1997

Meyer

Elkin

Essay

Contest

EIGHT

KEYS

TO PASSING

PARENT EDUCATION LEGISLATION

Cheryl

D.

Lee

In

May

1996,

Domesiic Relations Education

on

Children

's

Issues, House Bill

2063,

was signed

into law by the governor ofArizona afersuccessfullyparsing through both houses

of

the Arizona

legislaiure. This new law made it mandatory for all new divorcingparents and unmam'edparents

with custody/access disputes to anend a domestic relations parent information program that

focused on the needs

of

their children. This article documents

some

of

the key steps

for

passage

of

this type

of

legislation, with illustrations

from

Arizona's eqerience.

The

process began in

November

1994,

and

it took

two

legislative sessions before the bill became a

law.

To

pass domestic relations

(DR)

parent education legislation, one has to

plan a strategy, research the topic, educate others regarding the research, build

strong support systems, know the political climate, generate media coverage,

obtain the support of legislative leadership, secure the governor's signature,

and then follow up to make sure the law is implemented.

This

is not an easy

process, but it offers exciting challenges and brings significant rewards. In

this article, some of the major steps to use in the political process are

documented. The first step

is

to develop a strategic plan.

STEP

ONE:

PLANNING

A

STRATEGY

The strategic plan documents the goals, objectives, deadlines, and meas-

ures to pass into law the domestic relations parent information program. It

turns

what seems like an overwhelming project into one that

is

orderly and

manageable. Listed in the plan are the steps that have to be taken in a timely

way. The plan needs to be flexible and may need to be altered.

As

the process

evolves, new ideas will be generated that may be incorporated into the plan

and the legislation.

FAMILY

AND

CONCILIATION

COURTS

REVIEW,

Vol.

35

No.

4,

October

1997 470-483

0

1997

Sagehblications,

Inc.

470