For decades, family courts defaulted to sole custody arrangements that left fathers fighting for basic presence in their children’s lives. Now, the Good Dad Act Committee, a growing legislative movement, is dismantling that default, state by state.
Good Dad Act Committee: A tipping point in family law
On April 8, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves signed House Bill 1662 into law, establishing a rebuttable presumption of joint physical custody effective July 1, 2026. The legislation makes Mississippi the sixth state to formally align with the principles championed by the Good Dad Act Committee, a national advocacy initiative founded in Florida.
The bill introduces a 50/50 custody starting point alongside a modernized comparative-income child support formula. It arrives as more than 12 states, including South Carolina and Ohio, have active equal parenting legislation advancing through their 2026 sessions.
Meanwhile, approximately 25 states have now adopted some form of shared parenting presumption. The move is a decisive shift from the sole custody frameworks that dominated family law for generations.
Alabama’s Good Dad Act takes effect on October 1, 2026, granting automatic parental rights to acknowledged fathers, while New Jersey has passed legislation reinforcing natural guardian status for unmarried fathers.
“Today, the nation is recognizing what research and real-life experience have consistently shown,” said Dr. Bernard W.H. Jennings, Chairman of the Good Dad Act Committee. “Children thrive when both parents are actively involved.”
146 weeks and counting
Dr. Jennings told Charity Journal that the Good Dad Act Committee extends beyond its legislative wins. The organization has also recorded a streak of victories, hosting 146 consecutive weekly national meetings.
Held every Tuesday at 8:00 PM via Google Meet, the weekly meeting draws hundreds of fathers and legal professionals discussing custody matters and legislative developments.
Each session features practicing attorneys who share practical guidance on the shifting legal landscape. Dr. Jennings says the attorneys also carry that knowledge beyond the meetings, sharing it with colleagues and clients in ways that advance the movement organically.
“Every Tuesday night, we turn pain into purpose and purpose into policy,” said Jennings.
What the wins look like on the ground
On the question of how new child support formulas affect families across income levels, the Committee points to its weekly attorney sessions as the primary mechanism for working through those complexities in real time. Fathers navigating the new frameworks can access legal expertise directly through the meetings.
However, tracking the long-term impact on children is harder. The Committee has not yet developed a formal national method for measuring outcomes.
Instead, it leans on anecdotal data to measure immediate impact on children. Fathers who attend the weekly meetings and share what the changes have meant for their families, sometimes bringing their children on camera.
The gap between legislative victory and measurable child welfare outcome is one that the movement has not yet closed. Whether the growing coalition of states can build the data infrastructure to match its legal momentum remains the open question behind an otherwise striking run of wins.