Fathers' and Children's Equality
FACE
FACE meetings are suspended
until the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, or until
face-to-face gatherings can again be permitted.
Until then, all FACE meetings will be conducted by
Zoom teleconference.
To participate, email info@facenj.org .
We will reply with log-in instructions.
FACE members requiring assistance with family or
family court-related issues may email us
or phone the FACE Hot-Line at 888-763-2239.
Meeting Schedule
Quick Meeting Guide:
(See details and RSVP info below.)
First Thursday of each month - Mercer County Workgroup, Princeton, NJ
Second Tuesday of each month - General Meeting, Cherry Hill, NJ
Third Monday of each month - Camden County Workgroup, Runnemede, NJ
Third Wednesday of each month - Central Jersey Workgroup, Edison, NJ
Fourth Tuesday of each month - North Jersey Workgroup, Denville, NJ
Fourth Thursday of each month - Ocean County Workgroup, Bayville, NJ
The best way to learn about FACE and what FACE does is to attend some of our meetings, and meet and network with some of our members and other contacts.
GENERAL MEETING:
FACE's monthly General Meeting is open to the public, and is the best introduction to FACE. There is usually a speaker or a program pertinent to family relationships, family court, recent or pending legislation, or FACE's other areas of interest.Second Tuesday of each month, 7:00 PM to 8:45 PM
Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital (formerly Kennedy Hospital),
2201 West Chapel Ave. (at Cooper Landing Road), Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 [Map]
Hospital phone: 856-488-6500
Use the main entrance. We usually meet in the Executive Dining Room next to the Cafeteria.
Check with Security when you sign in for any unexpected meeting room change.
SECURITY REGULATIONS FOR KENNEDY HOSPITAL:
1. All persons attending FACE meetings at the hospital are required to sign in at the meeting.
2. The main entrance to the hospital closes at 8:00 PM. If you arrive after 8:00 PM you may enter the building through the Emergency Department.
3. Meeting must end by 8:45 PM, and all attendees must leave the building by 9:00 PM.
"MEETING AFTER THE MEETING"
After the General Meeting on the second Tuesday of each month, about 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM,
Cherry Hill Diner, 2341 Route 38 (eastbound at Cooper Landing Road/ Church Road Circle, next to Cherry Hill Nissan), Cherry Hill, NJ 08002, 856-667-8255 [Map]
If enough people want to continue the conversation, join us for coffee and informal conversation immediately following the General Meeting. Click here for map of route from hospital to diner.
WORKGROUP MEETINGS:
At workgroup meetings FACE staff helps members strategize how to manage their own cases and/or represent themselves in court. Non-members are usually welcome to observe, but some of our work with members may be confidential. Contact the meeting host for meeting location and directions. See FACE Meeting Rules, below.
MERCER COUNTY *
First Thursday of each month, 7:00 PM
Princetonian Diner, 3509 Route 1 (southbound), Princeton, NJ 08540, 609-452-2272 [Map]
Contact: Dave Fischer, 888-763-2239 ext. 102, dfischer@facenj.org
No RSVP is required for this meeting, but you may, as a courtesy, let us know that you plan to attend.
CAMDEN COUNTY
Third Monday of each month, 7:00 PM, Runnemede, NJ
Meeting location is confidential, but it is near to NJ Turnpike Exit 3.
Contact: Anthony Avallone, 856-739-7522, aavallone@facenj.org , for location.
Check this webpage just prior to the meeting. At times when our usual meeting space is unavailable, we will instead meet informally at:
Phily Diner, 31 S Black Horse Pike, Runnemede NJ 08078, 856-939-4322 [Map]
CENTRAL NEW JERSEY
Third Wednesday of each month, 7:00 PM, Edison, NJ
36 Meridian Rd., Edison, NJ 08820 [map]
Last building on right side of Meridian Rd. Park on the street if space is available. Enter through main entrance from the parking lot.
No RSVP is required for this meeting. To get directions, click here [map] , or phone 888-763-2239 ext. 101, or email info@facenj.org .
Please DO NOT bring any food to this meeting. There are strict dietary regulations in this entire building. Refreshments will usually be provided.
NORTHERN NEW JERSEY *
Fourth Tuesday of each month, 7:00 PM, Denville, NJ
Meeting location is confidential. Contact: denville@facenj.org by email only. Include your phone number. Host will respond with the location.
Please note Meeting Rule #2, below. Meeting may be canceled if no RSVPs have been received 24 hours prior to the meeting.
OCEAN COUNTY
Fourth Thursday of each month, 7:00 PM, Bayville, NJ
Meeting location is confidential. Contact: bayville@facenj.org by email only. Include your phone number.
Host will respond with the location.
At times when our usual meeting space may be unavailable, we will instead meet informally at:
Crystal Diner, 2 Route 37, Toms River NJ 08753, 732-244-6262 [Map]
See Meeting Rule #2, below. The Ocean County meeting will not be held unless RSVPs are received in advance.
PENNSYLVANIA
The New Jersey FACE organization welcomes everyone to our meetings. If legal jurisdiction in your case is in Pennsylvania, or if you live in Pennsylvania, you might prefer to attend meetings of the Pennsylvania FACE organization in Pennsylvania. Click here for the Pennsylvania meeting schedule and contact information.
* The hosts of meetings indicated by an asterisk ( * ) maintain their own contact lists. Persons attend these meetings will receive email announcements of future meetings. If you do not want to receive these emails, please let the host know.
FACE MEETING RULES:1. No alcoholic beverages or other controlled substances are allowed at any FACE activities. If you have consumed or are under the influence of alcohol or other controlled substances, please do not attend.
2. If meeting contact information is provided, please call or email in advance. Most workgroup meetings are held in members' private homes or other confidential locations. Be courteous and contact the hosts in advance to let them know you plan to attend and get directions. Workgroup meetings may be canceled if no calls have been received 24 hours prior to the meeting.
3. Every effort will be made to accommodate children at FACE meetings, but be aware that issues discussed may be inappropriate for young children.
4. "I can't come because of a scheduling conflict." Many FACE meetings run late or adjourn to another location. FACE wants to provide help on meeting days to everyone who needs it. Contact the meeting host, find out when the meeting is expected to end, and let him/her know when you would like to arrive.
5. For meetings at restaurants: We occupy the restaurant's business space for several hours. Please show your appreciation and gratitude by ordering refreshment and tipping wait-staff generously. Let us know if you are financially unable to do this, and refreshment will be provided by FACE.
LAWYERS AT FACE MEETINGS
Sometimes lawyers attend FACE meetings. Sometimes lawyers may be invited to FACE meetings as guest speakers. FACE does not discriminate against lawyers, and they are just as welcome to attend FACE meetings as those with any other occupation.
Some people who come to FACE meetings may feel an urgent need to hire a lawyer for their family issues. Sometimes they may think a lawyer they meet at a FACE meeting is in some way better qualified to handle their case than others, or that a lawyer at a FACE meeting has some special empathy to their problems that others don't, or they may feel that a lawyer at a FACE meeting is approved or recommended by FACE. None of this is correct.
FACE IS NOT A LAWYER REFERRAL SERVICE.
FACE DOES NOT RECOMMEND LAWYERS.Lawyers you may meet at a FACE meeting should be interviewed, investigated, and qualified just as you would any lawyer you find elsewhere. If you don't know how to do this, ask FACE. There are no “FACE lawyers.”
FACE IS ON THE MOVE!
FACE NEEDS NEW MEETING SITES NOW!
For the convenience of members and potential new members, FACE is now actively seeking new workgroup meeting sites in these locations:
PRIORITY #1: A far-southern New Jersey location, central to Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem counties. An ideal location would be somewhere in the vicinity of Vineland.
Workgroup meetings are confidential. The meeting place should be private so we can control attendence. A public meeting room at a library or a restaurant would not be ideal. What can you offer? Your dining room table or living room one evening a month? A conference room at your place of business? You must be able to make a commitment for not less than six months. Phone FACE at 888-76 FACE 9 or email info@facenj.org .
A SPECIAL INVITATION TO WOMEN:
Although the name of the organization is Fathers'and Children's Equality, no one is unwelcome at FACE meetings because of gender. Women are and always have been important to FACE. More than 50% of the initial inquiries FACE receives are from women, and FACE provides its services to all non-custodial parents and all of their loved ones regardless of gender. Membership is not limited to men. About 25% of our members and supporters are women, including not only non-custodial mothers, but also grandmothers, second wives, girlfriends, daughters and all the others affected by separation from extended family members.
If you are a woman who reached out to FACE seeking help for a man in your life who is important to you, you are his moral support. We especially want you to attend FACE meetings with him and to continue to provide that support for him.
------------------------------------------------------FACE IS A SELF-HELP GROUP. WE ARE NOT LAWYERS. WE DO NOT GIVE LEGAL ADVICE. WE CAN NOT AND DO NOT REPRESENT ANYONE IN COURT. If you find a competent, capable lawyer who fully understands your and your children's rights, who is willing and able to tenaciously fight to secure those rights, who completely understands the facts in your case, and who you can afford to pay, you should hire that lawyer and seek that lawyer's advice. If you can not find or afford to pay such a lawyer, we urge you to seek all available resources to aid yourself in securing these rights.
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FAN-PAC - Family Advocate Network Political Action Committee
UPDATE: The 2018-2019 session of the New Jersey legislature expired without Shared Custody being passed into law. On Tuesday, January 14, 2020, the very first day of the 2020-2021 session, the Assembly version of FAN-PAC's Shared Custody bill was reintroduced as A-1812 with 17 co-sponsors. The Senate version will be reintroduced shortly.
Monitor the progress of Shared Custody at FAN-PAC's website www.fanpacnj.org or on Facebook .
FAN-PAC is a group of concerned citizens formed for the purposes of:
- Proposing and supporting legislation to make the laws more family-friendly, and
- Supporting legislators and candidates for legislative office who will support changes in the law that will assure every child of an ongoing parent-child relationship with both parents following the separation or divorce of the parents.
FAN-PAC's bills have been re-introduced in the 2018-2019 session of the New Jersey Legislature as bills A-1091 and S-273 where, as of November 2, 2018, they now have 24 sponsors. When passed into law, these bills would create a rebuttable presumption of equal shared physical custody of children following the divorce or separation of their parents. As unbelievable as it may seem, such a presumption of shared custody is not in New Jersey's law today. FAN-PAC has been instrumental in the introduction of these bills with bi-partisan support in both the New Jersey General Assembly and Senate.
Find out more about FAN-PAC at www.fanpacnj.org or on Facebook. FAN-PAC needs constituent-members in every New Jersey legislative district. Join FAN-PAC to help change the laws so children can keep both of their parents. Contact FAN-PAC founder and president Rafael Franco at fanpacofnj@gmail.com .
Family Advocate Network Political Action Committee is an independent organization. You do not need to be a FACE member to participate in this political action committee.
This page last updated 5/08/2020.