06/16/2024
Happy Father's Day!
Well life goes on, doesn't it? It has been a couple weeks since I received the decision from a three-judge panel who went to great length to defend the failure of the Superior Court of California to protect the best interest of my child according to their own rules.
No mention of what I might have done or not done that would provide a legal justification for removing the children (that was then, two are adults by now) from my custody.
What a trip. All I can say is I have been flabbergasted. The good news is I have developed a comprehensive program to help families in similar situations that I never would have come up with if I hadn't been facing this. And one of these days, I may share the details in book form with a chapter devoted to my surreal sojourn among the pseudo-sovereign citizens with United Parents for Children. It's been a seriously wild ride.
For now, here I am facing West. On my balcony, looking towards the camera for a moment actually before looking toward the Sun that appears to be on the horizon between where I am on the banks of the Arkansas River in Tulsa, Oklahoma and where my children are in Modesto, California. Modesto, home of the community hero Judge Distaso - lead prosecutor in the trial of Scott Peterson for the murder of his pregnant wife Lacy the year my oldest was born. And most recently the judge in my family law case.
I updated the info about my work and what I am doing on my website today, so I will share this with you here. Please do share and let me know if there is anyone you know who could use the help!
Nathan Johnston-Chiszar is an internationally certified coach and founder of the Interaction Focused Family Institute. An ordained interfaith minister, his approach is based on the metaphysical worldview of his Cherokee ancestors, and decades of experience in the fields of Early Childhood Education and Applied Behavior Analysis. He holds a Master’s degree in Human Behavior from City University of Seattle, and a Doctorate in Education from California State University, Stanislaus.
Beginning in the 1990’s, Nathan worked for the US Department of Defense to develop reunion and reintegration programs for military families experiencing post-deployment conflict on three continents. He now works with parents to realize the hope of their ancestors and create generational wealth and healing after family trauma, separation, and divorce.
Nathan learned the hard way how income inequality allows courts to profit from separating children from their parents.
During the pandemic, his own children were separated from him for 500 days when a celebrity judge in California cited "COVID" as an explanation for failing to follow the standard timeline for custody mediation. The judge set a new precedent for families of gender creative children by removing custody from a fit and affectionally available parent on the basis of the mother's claim she was "flabbergasted" when the father expressed concerns over signs of possible child abuse.
At the hearing, when Nathan objected to the state's failure to exercise due diligence in protecting the best interest of the child in coordination with Child Protective Services, the judge paused the proceeding to reply "...off the record, I can do whatever I want."
Borrowing and spending nearly a quarter of a million dollars to fight for his children, Nathan learned exactly what families must do to protect their children from becoming collateral damage in the culture war being waged in our family courts.
Parents in the family court system are generally treated worse than suspected criminals with rights to due process under the US Constitution. This is an 80 billion dollar a year industry subsidized by tax-dollars to generate more revenue for the government than all other areas of law combined. Without measures to safeguard constitutional rights, judges act as private contractors to procure matching funds from the federal government for enforcement of child support. This means that in some cases, local governments receive more funds for child support than children do. There is an incentive for bad actors to award custody and child support to a lower wage household in order earn additional funding for their federal contract for child support enforcement.
Nathan founded the Interaction Focused Family Institute for parents to connect with their children and ensure their success in the most challenging circumstances. Parents hire him to save valuable time and energy when it matters most, and ensure a legacy of pride and prosperity for the rising generation.
Nathan is an independent advocate for the child in high-conflict divorce proceedings, and parents sign a contract to indicate they acknowledge his service is provided in the best of interest of the child, and not one or the other parent. He provides access to affordable legal counsel at reduced rates in all 50 states and Canada, but he is not a lawyer. His sole focus is to support the child and assist the parents in creating the conditions for their child's success using the science of Applied Behavior Analysis.
Once the child is protected and both parents are satisfied with the result, Nathan works with families to recover from the financial cost of divorce. By cutting out the state as the middleman for payment of child support, they are able to increase the amount given and received for their child without reducing cash flow, and eliminate dependency on predatory lending.
Instead of the “one-size-fits all” approach typical of many family court system interventions, parents hire Nathan to implement his proprietary Interaction Focused® Family PRIIDE system, secure their financial future, and protect their child’s unique cultural and spiritual identity with a customized family legacy solution - without years of therapy.
