Will Cindy Booth or Cynthia Dean of Indianapolis based Child Advocates, Inc., respond to this latest contact seeking help for children?

For the past two years my main area of focus and effort has been on creating a more child focused parenting time guidelines for the State of Indiana. On 01 March 2013 the revised IPTG went into effect. After submission of my input had been completed I enjoyed a brief respite of a day before embarking upon the latest effort.

This year I am pursuing altering court processes through adaptive measures to insure that parents, practitioners and judicial officers are afforded all essential opportunities to ensure the best interest of the children.

The statewide rules should emulate some of the novel approaches that have been effectuated through local rules. Candid conversations with judicial officers and program participants have revealed useful anecdotal evidence about program efficacy.

I recently broached the concept of mandatory mediation to the Domestic relations Committee. This is just the first of a series of proposals that I intend to inject into the consciousness of judicial and legislative policy makers before the process of revising the Indiana Child Support Guidelines is commenced in 2014.

I have also recently written extensively about the Moore v Moore child custody case and rebuked Child Advocates, Inc., for it's involvement in obfuscating and prolonging that litigation. This has given way to reproach of Cynthia Booth, the Executive Director of Child Advocates, Inc., for her avoidance of the topic of mitigating the potential for actions like those of Del Anderson and Cynthia Dean to occur again. Such conjecture and fabrications by Del Anderson do not serve benefit to the courts nor sustain public confidence. While Anderson maintains that his qualifications are “trainings” I suspect the problem arises either in those or caseload. I have repeatedly sought an explanation.

All previous efforts for comment from Ms Booth have been ignored though. On Monday I sent letters to both Ms Booth and Ms Dean which are not intended to daunt them but instead ameliorate opportunities for further harm to children by seeking their input. Other GAL/CASA's have been forthright in discussions with me. Judges have expressed their concerns and disclosed faults in the system. Law makers continue to seek both raw data and anecdotal evidence.

Yet, while all others have cooperated in a mutual goal of assuring the best interest of children, one agency stands in isolation – Child Advocates, Inc.

Following are the letters sent to Booth and Dean. Child Advocates, Inc. may be contacted by phone at 317.205.3055

Cynthia Dean
Child Advocates, Inc.
8200 Haverstick Rd Ste 240
Indianapolis, IN 46240
17 March 2013

Ms Dean-

Enclosed please find a copy of the American Bar Association Section of Family Law Standards of Practice for Lawyers Representing Children in Custody Cases. As I have been hearing from litigants and attorneys about your actions in other child custody cases it is apparent that your behaviour in the Moore case is not an isolated act.

Please feel free to request my assistance to meet your need of understanding the role of a best interest attorney in a child custody case, the relevant statutory law, and the impact that child custody proceedings have on children. Additionally, here is the web address of the Indiana Commission for Continuing Legal Education's CLE calendar.
http://hats2.courts.state.in.us/Ccourses/CcoursesPrompt.jsp
You will likely find some of the classes or seminars there to be of a benefit.

Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance to you.

Best Regards-

Stuart Showalter
P.O.B. 374
Lebanon, IN 46052-0374



Cindy Booth
Child Advocates, Inc.
8200 Haverstick Rd Ste 240
Indianapolis, IN 46240
17 March 2013

Ms Booth-

I am extremely disappointed that I have not received any response from Child Advocates, Inc., to my multiple requests for comment about the actions of Cynthia Dean and Del Anderson. As I work with judges and legislators on pursuing methods of improving court efficiency in child custody cases I am seeking as much input as possible.

As court calendars become more congested the courts are seeking the use of third-party evaluators to provide an objective presentation of the evidence meeting the criteria for child custody rulings. This should lead to a more efficient process. However, in the Moore case we have seen that Mr Anderson and Ms Dean have been neither objective nor contributed to the efficient resolution of the case. Their actions have actually prolonged this matter and wasted valuable court time that could be used for the benefit of children.

It would be easy to simply malign both Anderson and Dean as being rogue characters acting upon their own biases but I do not believe that such is the case nor that it would serve to improve the services provided by guardian ad litems. Other litigants and attorneys have contacted me about similar problems involving Dean and Anderson and others in a similar position. I have provided a copy of the American Bar Association Section of Family Law Standards of Practice for Lawyers Representing Children in Custody Cases so that she may better understand her role in the process.

As I continue to provide information to policy making bodies I would be appreciative of receiving from you an outline of your needs that you feel could mitigate the types of problems that Dean and Anderson have created. When questioned about his qualifications Mr Anderson was only able to respond that he had been to lots of trainings.

I trust that you will be willing to participate in this effort to improve court efficiency and the outcomes for children having to experience the child custody litigation process. The best interest of children demand that the types of problems created by Anderson and Dean neither be tolerated nor continued to be ignored by yourself.

Feel free to contact me anytime for assistance.

Best Regards-

Stuart Showalter
P.O.B. 374
Lebanon, IN 46052-0374

If you need assistance with a child custody evaluation matter then please visit my website and contact my scheduler to make an appointment to meet with me.

If you would like to follow my activities more closely then send a friend request to my Political FaceBook page.

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More information about child custody rights and procedures may be found on the Indiana Custodial Rights Advocates website.

©2008, 2013 Stuart Showalter, LLC. Permission is granted to all non-commercial entities to reproduce this article in it's entirety with credit given.