Florida Senate - 2023                              (NP)    SR 70
       
       
        
       By Senator Berman
       
       
       
       
       
       26-00136-23                                             202370__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing November 2023, and each
    3         November thereafter, as “Family Court Awareness Month”
    4         in Florida.
    5  
    6         WHEREAS, in 2021, 4-year-old Greyson Kessler was shot and
    7  killed by his biological father during an approved court visit,
    8  despite his father’s history of abusive behavior and a plea to
    9  the court from his mother, Ali Kessler, to protect him, and
   10         WHEREAS, to help honor Greyson Kessler’s life and the lives
   11  of the estimated 58,000 children annually who are at risk due to
   12  being ordered into unsupervised visitation with an abusive
   13  parent, a national coalition of organizations launched a
   14  nationwide movement to seek the designation of November as
   15  Family Court Awareness Month, and
   16         WHEREAS, the mission of that coalition, the Family Court
   17  Awareness Month Committee, is to provide judges and other family
   18  court professionals with current empirical data and research,
   19  which are critical components in making judicial determinations
   20  that are in the best interest of children, and
   21         WHEREAS, the committee’s mission is fueled by the desire
   22  for awareness and change in the family court system and to honor
   23  the lives of the more than 800 children reported murdered in the
   24  United States by separating or divorcing parents, and
   25         WHEREAS, in at least 110 of those cases, the courts heard
   26  direct pleas to intervene before the crime occurred, and
   27         WHEREAS, the recognition of Family Court Awareness Month is
   28  intended to increase awareness of the importance of education
   29  and training on family violence, childhood trauma, and
   30  postseparation abuse for all professionals working within the
   31  family court system, NOW, THEREFORE,
   32  
   33  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   34  
   35         That November 2023, and each November thereafter, is
   36  recognized as “Family Court Awareness Month” in Florida.