Transforming Norms on Shared Parenting

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MISSION

To improve the lives of children & strengthen society by protecting every child's right to the love & care of both parents when divorced or separated.

VISION

The overarching goal of National Parents Organization (NPO) is to promote shared parenting by educating parents, divorce professionals, and legislators and by reforming family courts and laws in every state. We envision a society where:

  • Shared parenting when parents are separated or divorced is the norm;

  • Children’s natural right to be nurtured & guided by both parents is fully honored;

  • Society treats fathers & mothers as equally important to the well-being of their children;

  • Children are happier & more successful because their loving bonds to their parents and extended family are protected after parental separation or divorce; and,

  • The courts arrange finances after separation or divorce so that both mothers & fathers can afford to house and care for their children & themselves.

RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS

  • In 2026, awarded the fifth annual Ned Holstein Shared Parenting Research award to Tom James for "Equal Custody Presumptions - From Fault and Gender to Equal Time" and Maria Cancian, Molly A. Costanzo, & Daniel Meyer for "Formal and Informal Shared Parenting Among Divorced and Never-Married Parents." An honorable mention was awarded to Bradley Hardy, Krista Ruffini, Maria Cancian, Thomas DeLeire, and Nada Eissa for "A New Tax System for Children and Families."

  • In 2025, updated and enhanced the ground-breaking Shared Parenting Report Card, which was the first ever evaluation of states’ statutory provisions promoting shared parenting. The Report Card was released during an event at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

  • In 2024, with support from the national NPO, Minnesota members Brian Ulrich and Charlie Hurd negotiated with lawyers' groups and lobbied to pass a family law reform bill. The law  promotes accelerated child-centered temporary relief during divorce or separation, which provides for continued access with both parents. The law also provides significant remedies when a parent does not follow court-ordered parenting time orders.

  • In 2023, after a nine year fight, NPO Missouri and NPO Missouri Chair Linda Reutzel, added Missouri to the list of shared parenting states with the enactment of SB 35.

  • In 2022, published the first of its kind NPO Child Support and Shared Parenting Report Card that examined in detail the child support guidelines of each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, grading them on the degree to which they encourage or discourage shared parenting.

  • Held International Shared Parenting Day events on April 26 that brought together groups from all over the world to educate people on shared parenting and how to successfully co-parent.

  • In honor of the date the first in the nation equal shared parenting bill was passed in Kentucky, NPO volunteers applied for and received proclamations for April 26 to be declared Shared Parenting Day in Kentucky, Missouri, Arizona, Massachusetts, Maryland, and a number of cities nationwide. Shared Parenting Day was also declared Shared Parenting Day by the state legislatures of South Dakota and Wisconsin.