Judge Awards Custody of Teen to His Homeless Dad
Posted on February 28, 2011 by SBrinkmann
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist

A Brooklyn judge has decided that a 17 year-old boy who has been in the custody of his well-paid mother all of his life, will now be better off living with his father – who is homeless and currently living in a city-run shelter.

The New York Post is reporting that Family Court Judge Bernard Graham has taken the teen away from his mother, Jeannette Traylor, a $90,000-a-year court worker, claiming his decision was based on the wishes of the child.

The boy claimed his mother was “self-absorbed” and uninterested in him, and that she once hit him with an umbrella.

As a result, custody of the boy was given to his father, John Jacobs, who has been living on the streets for years, according to court papers.

The couple broke up shortly after their son was born in 1994 and shared joint custody for a time until Traylor was awarded primary custody in 2001. Jacobs refused to accept that decision and spent the next decade trying to win back custody. In more than two dozen legal filings, Jacob “constantly misled” investigators and a psychologist once testified that he had “severe reservations” about his parenting skills, the papers claim.

“I begged the judge please not to play with my son’s life,” Traylor told The Post. “What my ex-husband does doesn’t surprise me. But I expected better when I went to court.”

Jacobs believes the judge made the right decision and is now living with his son in a city-run shelter in Brooklyn.

“If I was in a cardboard box and if it was better for my son, so be it,” he told the Post. “One parent is healthier for the child than the other . . . When you add the whole thing together, I’m better for the boy. That’s the bottom line.”

Traylor believes comments she made that were critical of the legal process affected the outcome of the case. Before rendering his final decision, the judge did indeed chastise her for being “quick to offer barbed criticism of the court and the legal process.”

The teen will continue to attend a nearby Catholic high school where his mother pays the tuition.

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Hello little men !

Hope you both are doing very well today ….lazy Sunday I guess for you both , felt a bit strange for me having to get up for work this morning as I have not done Sundays for the past 3 months….

I am really looking forward to your monthly update that I should get tomorrow as per the current Court order , maybe I might even get a current photo of you two…. You two need to also once you are able to send me a picture of you both with B&B , would love to see what breed they are and you having some fun with them both…

After your care givers spokes person went to talk rubbish to the Core Assets people re contact on 27 Feb I have not heard any news , all I know is your care giver said she would confirm a place for the contact on 24 Jan , that never happened , big surprise ! Also your solicitor said now that Core Assets class our family as to high risk after the visit of your care givers spokesperson she will find an alternative venue , that also have not happened so I guess I will have to come see you both at home then as the Court orders allowed me contact on the 27th , so can’t wait to see you both!

We had a comment from the lady called Babs again yesterday , if I did not know any better the poor English and foul langue I could swear that , that message came from your care giver or her spokesperson as that is they way they both speak to me all the time …nice people they are as I have said before…..

Ouma and Oupa sends all their love also , they say they hope that the will be able to see you both also one day soon or maybe even just say hello on the phone or Skype……

Just want to wish you both a great week , full of fun and lots of giggles , can’t wait to see you both on Thursday……

I will see you both a little later under our big old green tree in dream land, can’t wait for my dream cuddles and smiles…..

Night , night little men , happy new week dreams …..

Love you both more than mega big airports …..and miss you more ….

Love you little men…

Dad xx

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They are his Dog-tags from the Angolan War in 1975……

Parental responsibilities
41 For the purposes of this Part, parental responsibilities with respect to a child are as follows:

(a) making day-to-day decisions affecting the child and having day-to-day care, control and supervision of the child;
(b) making decisions respecting where the child will reside;
(c) making decisions respecting with whom the child will live and associate;
(d) making decisions respecting the child’s education and participation in extracurricular activities, including the nature, extent and location;
(e) making decisions respecting the child’s cultural, linguistic, religious and spiritual upbringing and heritage, including, if the child is an aboriginal child, the child’s aboriginal identity;
(f) subject to section 17 of the Infants Act, giving, refusing or withdrawing consent to medical, dental and other health-related treatments for the child;
(g) applying for a passport, licence, permit, benefit, privilege or other thing for the child;
(h) giving, refusing or withdrawing consent for the child, if consent is required;
(i) receiving and responding to any notice that a parent or guardian is entitled or required by law to receive;
(j) requesting and receiving from third parties health, education or other information respecting the child;
(k) subject to any applicable provincial legislation,
(i) starting, defending, compromising or settling any proceeding relating to the child, and
(ii) identifying, advancing and protecting the child’s legal and financial interests;
(l) exercising any other responsibilities reasonably necessary to nurture the child’s development.

It’s from the following website http://www.idads.co.uk worth a read and look when you have time

Dear Readers,

Firstly I would like to thank you all for taking the time out of your day to read our boys blog , also a big thank you to those whom choose to share their opinions and thoughts!

As I have said from day one I will not censor comments made to this blog but I would like to request that you show some restraint when it comes to the use of foul langue as I have always been taught that you can make your point without swearing and would not like our boys to read some of the words that are being used.

I also believe that resorting to foul langue is a sign of poor intellect and shows a lack of verbalising a solid and firm point of view.

Kind Regards,

Phill Ferreira