[Massachusetts-NFB] MAPBC June Meeting Minutes

[Liz Lesperance]

Good Morning Everyone,

Attached and pasted below please find the minutes from our recent parents'
division meeting held last Thursday.

Have a wonderful day!

Thanks,
Liz

**********

The MAPBC met on Thursday, June 8th at 6:00PM. Those in attendance included:

Basil Maurice

Hai Nguyen Ly

Justin Salisbury

Liz Lesperance

Shirley Doris

Stephanie Valdes

Youme Nguyen Ly



The meeting was called to order at 6:09PM. As an icebreaker, we introduced
ourselves and stated what we would like the month of June to represent.



Justin recited the NFB pledge.



We discussed the recent presidential release.



Hai moved that the May minutes be accepted as written which Shirley
seconded. The minutes were approved.



Liz went over the treasurer's report. The current balance stands at $90.00
but does not reflect the funds raised during our recent Giving Bean
fundraiser. Giving Bean will make a donation through the affiliate account.
Stephanie will be sharing the fundraiser totals shortly. Stephanie stated
that since we now have an account with Giving Bean, we can initiate another
fundraiser fairly quickly. We can also pursue other fundraising
opportunities as well.



We discussed trying to get our families together this summer. Justin noted
there is an annual MCB event held at Dunn Park in Gardner which honors the
ADA. We will look into logistics for this event. If we attend, we will wear
our NFB parenting t-shirts.



Katherine Nemens of the Family Law Project will be attending our July
meeting and has the zoom link already. She will need a reminder email a
week in advance which Liz will take care of. Katherine will begin with a
15-minute presentation.

Justin gave us an update on the parents' rights bill. National pointed out
that this bill does not use a consistent evidentiary standard and requests
that the language be homogenized. Justin has asked Katherine if the
coalition would be interested in changing "preponderance of evidence" to
"clear and convincing" so every situation would be uniform. Justin also
asked Katherine some technical questions regarding rules in the MA
legislature in addition to learning about the calendar and any upcoming
deadlines. Justin also inquired about non-judicial cases (i.e., situations
where there is no judge involved).  such as those involving the Dept. of
Children and Families. At present the bill does not address these
circumstances. The bill also does not address adoption and foster care.
This is another non-judicial proceeding.

Next steps:

After we have heard back from the coalition on evidentiary standards, we
will want to start talking to our individual legislators. Everyone should
research the contact info for their local representatives. Justin is
compiling a spreadsheet with this data.

Our next meeting will be Thursday, July 13th at 6:00PM.
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