At the August 5 County Commissioners Meeting, representatives of Daddy Justice, a local organization committed to promoting the custody rights of fathers, exhorted the Commissioners to reconsider the County’s existing policies regarding protection from abuse (PFA) orders.

PFAs are frequently submitted by women alleging spousal abuse; the orders can effectively remove the alleged abuser from the home, demand financial support, and cut off communication between the alleged abuser and children. According to Ben Vonderheide, the leading voice of Daddy Justice, “There is such widespread abuse of PFA system in Lancaster County that legitimate victims are left in limbo….”

Vonderheide contended that, due to an excessively flexible reporting process, PFAs are frequently abused by women as a means to easily obtain custody rights to children without providing sufficient opportunity for the father to plead his case. According to Vonderheide, “Police officers I’ve spoken with have admitted off the record that, in their field experience, as much as 80-90% of these PFAs are unwarranted.”

Lancaster County, in particular, surpasses other areas in its frequency of PFA submissions. According to Vonderheide, Lancaster County reported 1,300 PFAs in 2008, while York County reported only 671: “Would you content that your constituency is twice as violent and dangerous as the citizens of York?,” he asserted.

Manor Township resident Jesse Storm also spoke during the presentation. Storm told the story of a recent PFA, issued against a father on the basis of claims that largely dissipated under later investigation. The man in this case was removed from his home and separated from his three-year-old daughter until a new custody order could be formed. The woman—who was automatically granted custody and financial support—later admitted to having been planning a divorce prior to filing the PFA.

Vonderheide requested that the Commissioners “initiate a survey to explore efficiencies and best practices by others in the judicial court system in the state of PA, beginning with York, Pennsylvania.” Storm recommended that the County adopt an emergency protection order (EPO) process for cases of abuse. Such a process, already implemented in other states and counties, would involve police and hospital officials in the early stages of filing a protection order.

Commissioner Scott Martin acknowledged the group’s concerns, referring to their claims as “information that I was not aware of.” “I think we always should be willing to look into things,” Martin said.

For more information about Daddy Justice, click here.