Thinking back to when you were little you can probably remember the love and fun times with grandma and grandpa. It was a sweet love, wasn’t it? Now fast forward to you being all grown up a job, a wife, kids of your own and probably even blessed with your own grandbabies now. Now you are a grandma or grandpa with the love you had when you were just a young one, but now you know family core values and the sense of love and protection for your very own little grandbabies.
You either grew up in Florida or you moved here, maybe to retire. Then your family is faced with the loss of your very own child, which in itself is devastating, but then you find out that you have zero rights in Florida to petition the court for visitation with your grandchild.
You can refer to Florida Law Chapter 752.011 to find out exactly what rights you have as a grandparent. Which are very limited, most likely you won’t qualify to file a petition and your life is further destroyed when your grandbaby is gone too.
Savanna’s Law is what we need. Just ask yourself what you would do if you lost your child and then your grandchild. Savanna’s Law also includes sibling visitation. Yes, did you know that grandbabies have zero rights in Florida to file a petition to see their brothers and sisters either.
Savanna’s Law is an amendment to the current statute that grants grandparent/siblings to said child/children in the event of the death of one parent. It makes it legal to file a petition immediately for visitation without fear of being sued, because you want to see and be involved in said child’s life after the loss of a parent. The law supports and promotes family values and structure and would be created to promote child development. It would also allow families to help the child be a more well rounded productive member of society. The importance of family structure would be seen through this law as family bonding plays a crucial role in the healthy development of any child. This law would result in keeping more families and children together in the face of tragedy.
Savanna’s Law has the ability to positively impact the community socio-economically, because there are many grandparents/families already supporting children and they find it hard to raise their grandchildren on their limited income. This in turn affects how children are raised and limits the opportunities for these children in these situations. Savanna’s Law has the ability to affect criminal statistics in your county by changing the way children are raised. Creating a healthy, nurturing environment for a child lowers the risk of them engaging in risky behavior such as drugs, criminal acts, dropping out of school, etc. Statistics show that children who are raised in a supportive environment flourish. This would then result in this child becoming a productive member of the community both financially and independently.
We must step up for the children and protect them, guard them and love them. When we see something wrong we must not be quiet. We must protect core family value. So I ask you to lend your heart to Savanna’s law. Go to change.org search savannaslaw one word. Sign and share our petition.
Sincerely,
Tina and Bonnie Sessa-Wicks
#justiceformonikawicks
https://m.facebook.com/Justiceformonikawicks-Ethans-Journey-to-justiceformonikawicks-195199394401199/
