02/07/2026
I want to define a body of work I have been building on since 2020. It is how I govern myself in relationship to others.
"In this work, I am serving as a lived experience advocate and process documenter, using Strategic Sharing and the Poor4APurpose™ method to protect parental rights and document procedural harm.”
Yvonne Monique Livingston LLC
What I am witnessing in family court is not okay.
Across multiple court appearances involving a self-represented parent, I have observed a consistent pattern:
• Filed motions are not reviewed.
• Parents are restricted from speaking while written filings are ignored.
• Unrelated criminal or administrative matters are raised to undermine credibility rather than assess parental fitness.
• Constitutional rights are misstated or left unclear.
• Self-employment is treated as illegitimate labor.
• The burden of preserving the court record is shifted onto the litigant.
This is not about the outcome of a single case.
This is about process.
When procedure becomes inconsistent, opaque, or selectively enforced, it harms parents, children, and trust in the legal system. When self-represented parents are disciplined for being organized, articulate, or persistent, that is not neutrality. That is gatekeeping.
In my work, we de-identify individuals to protect them and to surface patterns. What I am naming here is a pattern that deserves professional attention, especially given our current political climate.
Parents should not lose voice because they lack counsel.
Children should not lose access to engaged parents because process failed.
Courts should not require silence in place of fairness.
This is not okay.
