In The News
All About The Children on CBS 2- Chicago
May 10, 2010 5:41 pm US/Central
New Website Helps Divorced Parents Communicate
Reporting
Vince Gerasole CHICAGO (CBS)
A new website, "All About The Children", helps divorced parents manage child support and communicate their kids' scheduling issues, without putting the kids in the middle.
You may know that nearly half of all marriages end in divorce. Those splits can be messy and very expensive. But, as CBS 2's Vince Gerasole reports, there's a new way some couples are saving thousands of dollars and saying good-bye to those face-to-face fights forever.
The Keilwitz family moves like a well-oiled machine through their morning routine, but something is missing. They've been coping with divorce for four years.
"At first, it was something that I tried to shield the children from because it was about us, it wasn't about the kids," said mother Lea Keilwitz. "That's what we tried to make it about, but eventually it got a little more difficult."
"Staying in constant contact with the children being amicable, while speaking to one another and not bringing up issues in front of the children," said father Dave Keilwitz.
Consulting attorneys at $300 an hour over matters as simple as e-mails and visitation schedules helped the ex-couple ring up some $30,000 in legal fees.
Dave says it was frightening.
"Getting to court and paying for everything in court was just a constant battle," he said.
Lea acknowledges financial matters were the biggest hurdles to tackle.
For the past two months, however, the family's been avoiding confrontation through the new online mediation website: "All About The Children."
By signing up, the couple agrees to post undeletable communications on the site about schedules and finances, monitored by mediators. Families also can arrange to automatically pay and track their childrens' expenses.
The family therapists who created the site say it lifts a burden from the children of divorce.
"The children tend to have to negotiate the relationship between their parents once divorce has occurred, and the need is to pull the children out of that," said Kimberly Kick, a licensed clinical social worker and one of the site's creators.
"Websites like these are excellent, but what's unfortunate, especially in the 21st century, is a lack of communication between two parents," said Dave.
All About The Children costs roughly $20 a month per parent. It went online in January, and counselors say it's the first of its kind in Illinois to offer the expense payment option.
You can view the video on our home page or by visiting http://cbs2chicago.com/local/divorce.website.all.2.1686048.html