Ala. looks at mandating divorce classes for parents

• Legislators in various states have been concerned with divorce%2C kids for more than 20 years
• Many states mandate classes for parents%3B others let judges decide whether they%27re necessary
• Goal is to decrease trauma of divorce on the kids%2C show parents benefits of civility

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Parents considering divorce could face mandatory class time if a bill in the Alabama Legislature becomes law.

The bill, sponsored by GOP Rep. Bill Poole of Northport, Ala., would require couples with children younger than 16 to take a four-hour class to increase parents' sensitivity to their children's needs during a divorce or separation proceeding. The House Judiciary Committee has approved it unanimously.

"The purpose of the bill is to simply provide a moment for parents to pause and get a little bit of assistance and direction to focus on the children," Poole said. "Children get stuck in the middle and become pawns in the divorce process sometimes."

The full Alabama House and Senate would need to pass it and send it to the governor before the bill could become law.

Many other states have similar laws:

• At least 19 states — Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin — require classes for parents; some make the requirement only for those with minor children.

• Alaska requires either viewing a 48-minute video in person in the state's largest cities or completing an online class.

• Minnesota and New Jersey require classes if parents cannot agree on custody or parenting time.

• Some jurisdictions in Indiana, Idaho, Michigan, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas also mandate classes.

• And courts in California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Montana, New York, North Carolina and Vermont may require parents to attend classes.

Poole said Tuscaloosa County and some others in Alabama already have the requirement in place.

Forty-eight states offer such classes in some form, according to a 2008 study from the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.

Alabama is tied with Tennessee for 11th highest divorce rate nationwide, according to National Center for Health Statistics information for 2011, the most recent available. Nevada is No. 1, followed by Arkansas, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Idaho.

"It's easy, it's not time consuming and we make sure children — who have rights in a divorce setting — are taken into account," Poole said.

Each parent would be required to pay for the class, which would be capped at $75. The class could take place online class if a local jurisdiction approves or could be live and supervised by a family professional or licensed mental health professional.

Parents would learn about increasing cooperation, how divorce affects children of different ages and assessing whether they're involved in domestic violence.

Judges would be able to exempt people from class if parents can't speak or read the languages the class is offered in, if they don't have access to the Internet and a course isn't available in their region, if a spouse's behavior would make it dangerous to co-parent or if some other type of emergency intervenes.

Robert Griffith, a dermatologist in Northport who is involved with marriage counseling at his church, asked Poole to sponsor the bill a few years ago. He said he's seen a lot of benefits to these programs.

"It will help give (parents) tools to go through the divorce and hopefully take their children out so they'll be less damaged as a result," he said. "Statistically, across the country, these couples are much less likely to re-litigate."

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, some of the programs it offers — which are programs offered in Tuscaloosa County — have shown a 30% to 53% reduction in parental conflict and a 57% reduction in litigation, which includes child-access, change-of-custody and child-support disputes.

Some are concerned about the bill creating a barrier to getting a divorce, Poole said. That's what legislators are discussing in Utah, where lawmakers want couples to take the course that they've been mandating for 20 years earlier in the divorce process. But that's not the intent of Alabama's bill.

"We're not trying to create barriers, financial or otherwise, but we want to make sure we can do everything we can to support the children," Poole said. "This bill is simply about helping parents who are getting divorced to recognize the needs of their children, who are in the middle."

Contributing: The Associated Press