Tribe: Ponca Tribe of Nebraska
Section 4-5-15. Parenting Plan.
1. In any proceeding under this Chapter, except a proceeding solely for visitation by an immediate or extended family member or person with a significant connection to the child, a parenting plan shall be developed and approved by the Court in accordance with this Section. b. To provide for the child’s physical care and to maintain the child’s emotional stability;
c. To provide for the child’s changing needs as the child grows;
d. To promote and preserve the child’s cultural heritage and tribal affiliation, if any;
e. To set forth the authority and responsibilities of each parent and any other individual seeking custody;
f. To minimize the child’s exposure to harmful parental conflict;
g. To encourage parents and other parties seeking custody to meet their responsibilities through the parenting plan rather than by relying on court intervention; and
h. To otherwise protect the best interests of the child consistent with this Chapter.
5. A parenting plan shall include, but not be limited to:
a. Legal custody and physical custody of the child;
b. Provisions for the child’s living arrangements and for the custodial responsibility of each parent and/or other individual seeking custody, which shall include either:
i. A custodial schedule that designates in which party’s home the child will reside on given days of the year including birthdays, vacations, holidays, and weekends including weekends with holidays or school in-service days preceding or following weekends; or
ii. A formula or method for determining such a schedule in sufficient detail that, if necessary, the schedule can be enforced in a subsequent proceeding.
c. Apportionment of parenting time, visitation, or other access to the child to the extent not included in provisions for the child’s living arrangements;
d. A designation of decision-making responsibilities regarding the child; e. Telephone access and transportation needs;
f. Provisions to ensure regular and continuous school attendance and progress for a school-age child;
g. Provisions for the parties to notify each other of a change of address, unless the Court finds such information should be withheld because of safety concerns; and
h. Any other issues and matters the parties agree to or the Court finds appropriate regarding the child.
6. A parenting plan may include:
a. Visitation with immediate or extended family members or other persons with a significant connection to the child;
b. Methods for dispute resolution other than a proceeding in the Court, including counseling, mediation, arbitration or traditional dispute resolution processes;
c. Provisions for suspension of parenting time, visitation, and other access until a modified custody order and parenting plan is in place when new findings of child abuse or neglect, domestic or family abuse, criminal activity affecting the best interests of the child, or violation of an order for protection occur; and
d. Consequences for failure to follow the parenting plan’s provisions.
7. Each parenting plan filed under this Section shall be supported by an affidavit containing, to the extent known:
a. The name, address, tribal affiliation, and length of co-residence of any individuals with whom the child has lived for one (1) year or more, or in the case of a child less than one (1) year old, any individuals with whom the child has lived for any significant period of time since birth;
b. A description of the past allocation of caretaking and other parenting functions performed by both parents and any individual seeking an allocation of custodial responsibility, including at a minimum during the twenty-four (24) months preceding the filing of the proceeding; c. A description of the employment and child-care schedules of any individual seeking an allocation of custodial responsibility, and any expected changes to these schedules in the future;
d. A schedule of the child’s school and extracurricular activities;
e. A description of any limiting factors specified in this Chapter that are present in the case, including any restraining orders to prevent child abuse or domestic or family abuse, with case number and issuing court; and
f. A description of the known areas of agreement and disagreement with any other parenting plan submitted in the case.
8. If a party fails to comply with a provision of an approved parenting plan, the other parties’ obligations under the parenting plan are not affected.
9. The Court shall approve a submitted parenting plan if the plan meets all of the requirements of this Chapter and is in the best interests of the child. If the parenting plan lacks any of the elements required by this Chapter or is not in the child’s best interests, the Court shall either:
a. Modify the parenting plan and approve it plan as modified;
b. Reject the parenting plan and order the parties to develop a new parenting plan; or
c. Reject the parenting plan and create a parenting plan that meets the requirements of this Chapter and is in the best interests of the child.
2. Any party to a proceeding under this Chapter may submit a proposed parenting plan to the Court for approval. To promote amicable settlement of disputes between parties regarding child custody and visitation, the parties may and are encouraged to submit a joint parenting plan. When a parenting plan has not been developed and submitted to the Court, the Court shall create the parenting plan in accordance with this Section.
3. On the written agreement of the parties or on the Court’s own motion, the Court may order or refer parties to a proceeding under this Chapter to mediation or traditional dispute resolution to assist them in entering into a joint parenting plan pursuant to this Section, with the costs allocated between the parties, provided that:
a. The Court shall not order or refer the parties to mediation or traditional dispute resolution if an order for protection is in effect involving the parties or a preponderance of the evidence demonstrates that domestic or family abuse has occurred between the parties; and
b. If a party alleges that domestic or family abuse has occurred between the parties, but the allegation is not supported by a preponderance of the evidence, the Court shall order appropriate measures be taken to ensure the physical and emotional safety of the alleged victim of domestic or family abuse, including ordering that the parties not be required to have face-to-face contact and be placed in separate rooms during the mediation or traditional dispute resolution.
4. The objective of any parenting plan shall be:
a. To provide for the child’s care and maintain the child’s emotional well-being;