Support Groups

I get lots of requests for help or for direction to a local support group. My capacity to help all of those who email me is severely limited and the majority of the time I get requests from men who do not have an attorney.

For that reason I feel compelled to say again that I am not an attorney and CANNOT offer legal advice. All I can offer is practical advice from my own experience and the experiences of others I have become involved with.

Also, people seem to be refraining from using the forum board and continuing to email me. It is extremely difficult for me to even slog through my email these days. I am asking again that you try and post to the forum before you email me. I have addressed all of the questions on the forum (I believe) and will continue to do so, generally much more thoroughly than I will through email.

I realize the expense of an attorney can be astronomical but in every case, if you are facing a potential legal battle, it is absolutely in your best interest to retain an attorney. I have discussed this several times and here are links to posts in this blog: Retaining Custody Step 1 Enter the Custody Evaluator Retaining Custody Step 2.

Here are various links from the blog of support groups I have discussed. I am not endorsing ANY of these groups as I do not have personal experience with them. But if they are local for you, it wouldn't hurt to check them out. If you know of others, or have personal experience (good or bad) with any listed here, please post that information in the forum. Because of the format of a blog, at times it can be very difficult to access old information so the best place to post info that can be easily accessed all the time is in the forum. Any posts that are about support groups or the like I will make sticky so they always appear at the top of the forum.
Parkersburg, OH Support Group

Jersey Support Groups

NH Co Parenting Classes

Ohio Legal Aid

Dads of Michigan

CT Custody and Visitation Seminar

Butler, PA Support Group

Alaska Self Help Legal Stations

Mississippi Legal Aid

Tennessee Legal Aid

San Bernardino Legal Aid

Also Men Against Discrimination (MAD) have chapters in the following states: Arizona, California, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington & West Virginia. They are working on chapters in Oregon, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin. If you don't see your state they are looking for people to help start new chapters.

Again, no personal experience with MAD, but it would not hurt to check them out.

Another place to look for fathers groups in your specific area would be on Meetup.com. They have a category for Fathers Rights, Non Custodial parents, Dads & Single Parents.

There is support out there, sometimes you just have to look a bit for it. All of the links on the left are also groups involved in fathers, joint custody, etc... and are good places to look for all kinds of information.