In recent years, the national (and international) trend has been one of increased tolerance of the notion of rotating custody, or timesharing that is more evenly distributed among parents than in traditional visitation schedules.

That is why the situation in Norway is so noteworthy.

Norway has an Ombudsman for Children, a government official who is supposed to be a mixture of spokesperson and advocate for kids.

And Norway’s Ombudsman doesn’t think children should have to “commute” between their parents’ respective homes after divorce.

He thinks this puts the parents’ rights above the children’s needs. And that the “commute” is too stressful and disruptive to most children.

The Ombudsman points out that some separated parents even want their children to attend different schools.

A Norwegian politician criticized the Ombudsman for failing to “equate the positions of mother and father”, concluding that therefore “it will continue to be the fathers who are discriminated against”.

The politician expressed no opinion as to the best interests of children though, arguably conceding the Ombudsman’s argument.

Read more in this Norway Aftenposten article: Child custody spurs debate.

A journalist for the Miami Herald observes that Miami-Dade’s family court is loaded with courtroom dramas.

The court processes some 4,500 child custody cases a year, most of them in its juvenile dependency division.

Those aren’t divorce or paternity cases. They’re cases where children are abandoned, abused or neglected, by one or both parents. So the state must intervene.

The children will typically be placed with extended family for a time or in foster care.

Cases can be very complex. As one court bailiff opines, ”[w]hen it’s just two parents who don’t like one another, a lot of times those are the easy ones”. That’s typical of family court.

Juvenile dependency court can be another can of worms entirely. There the mission is to educate parents who may not know on how to parent, and to assist them with the challenges that get in their way. Cases can continue for quite some time.

Twenty percent of the children involved are under the age of one year old. Thirty-three percent are under the age of five years old.

Read more in this Miami Herald article: Dramas large and small play out in family court.

Neighboring Georgia has just revamped its child custody statutory framework with the goal of streamlining its procedures.

The Georgia legislature attributed the changes to a desire to spare kids drawn-out, traumatic custody battles.

Odds are, the desire to spare family court judges and the judicial system’s infrastructure from the same was just as powerful a motivation.

But that, by itself, shouldn’t detract from the legal changes.

Under the new Georgia framework, each parent is required to propose a parenting plan.

This methodology has gained favor in several states and is under serious consideration by the Florida legislature as well.

Another change is that Georgians may now opt to submit their cases to binding arbitration, a somewhat less expensive and more informal process than taking their case before a judge in court.

This option is already available here in Florida, although rarely utilized.

Another significant change is that, under previous Georgia law, kids at least 14 years old could choose the parent with whom they wanted to live primarily. No longer do the kids necessarily get the final word.

Since the law continually evolves and changes with the people and times, it is very instructive to follow the experience and evolution of family law in our sister states.

Read more in this Atlanta 11 Alive TV article: 2008 Brings New Child Custody Laws.

Child abuse occurs most frequently during November, December and January, according to the University of Miami Child Protection Team, which sees 1,500 cases per year.

Recent horrific incidents include a woman allegedly stabbing her autistic nephew in the eyes and a mother allegedly beating her one year old baby to the extent of twelve broken bones.

The stresses of the holidays are the reason, the final straw – and they actually continue after the last of the Christmas decorations and the confetti are gone.

But the underlying problems were likely in the making for quite some time.

People under stress tend to take it out on those who are most vulnerable … children, the disabled and also the dependent elderly. The stresses of caregiving likely contribute to such incidents.

The number of child abuse cases rises from year to year.

But resources are available to help.

January is just beginning.

Note that the Florida child abuse hotline is 1-800-96-ABUSE.

Read more in this South Florida NBC 6 TV article: Recent Child Abuse Allegations Focus Attention On S. Fla. Kids In Jeopardy.