Alameda County Supervisor Gail Steele and the Center for Judicial Excellence convened a daylong public forum on June 11, 2009 to explore the systemic failure of the Family Law system to protect vulnerable children in California – and nationwide – from judicial decisions that are placing thousands of kids in harm’s way as their parents divorce.

The morning session included two dynamic panels of experts and the East Bay film premiere of the Center for Judicial Excellence’s award-winning, 12-minute documentary Family Court Crisis: Our Children At Risk.

A noon press conference featured a statement by Nancy Lee Grahn, and an announcement by Supervisor Gail Steele regarding Alameda County’s new commitment to better protect vulnerable children in the family courts. The full-length, 42-minute version of Family Court Crisis: Our Children At Risk was also screened at noon.

The afternoon session featured public testimony from family court litigants, child advocates and the general public about ongoing problems in the California Family Courts. The hearing closed with a panel of legal experts and attorneys sharing general, non-specific legal advice for family court litigants about how to best protect themselves in family court.

Panelists included:

• Nancy Lee Grahn, Protective Parent & Star of TV’s General Hospital
• Nancy Lemon, Professor of Law, Berkeley Law, UC Berkeley (Boalt)
• Connie Valentine, President of the California Protective Parents Association
• Tara Flanagan, Supervising Attorney, Family Violence Law Center
• Ken Theisen, Advocate, Bay Area Legal Aid
• Meera Fox, Executive Director of Child Abuse Solutions, Inc.
• Barbara Kauffman and Robin Yeamans, Family law attorneys
• Sarah, "Courageous Kid" who survived court-ordered child abuse

Forum co-sponsors include Berkeley Law, UC Berkeley (Boalt), California Protective Parents Association, Justice for Children, California Safe Child Coalition, Child Abuse Solutions Inc., and the Incest Survivors Speakers Bureau.