ParentGrid launches survivor-built documentation platform for coercive control cases

ParentGrid launched June 3, 2026, as a national documentation platform for parents in high-conflict custody cases involving domestic violence and coercive control. The platform is built around California Family Code Section 6320 and aims to turn abuse patterns that often leave no paper trail into legally defensible records for family court.

Why it matters: - ParentGrid targets a major gap in family court and survivor services: coercive control often leaves no police report, hospital record, or other standard evidence trail. - The platform is designed to help survivors document abuse in a way courts, attorneys, advocates, and public health professionals can use. - The company is positioning the tool for a population that is widely affected but often under-documented in the domestic violence system.

What happened: - ParentGrid launched on June 3, 2026, as a documentation platform for parents navigating high-conflict custody proceedings involving domestic violence and coercive control. - The platform is described as the first survivor-built system architected directly on California Family Code Section 6320, the state’s coercive control statute enacted through SB 1141. - ParentGrid is available nationally. - The platform is accessible at the company’s announcement.

The details: - ParentGrid creates structured, timestamped documentation mapped to the behavioral categories defined in California Family Code Section 6320. - The platform produces records intended to be legally defensible and accessible to survivors, their attorneys, and, with user consent, advocates and public health professionals. - California’s SB 1141, signed into law in 2020, was among the first U.S. statutes to codify coercive control as a form of domestic violence in family court proceedings. - ParentGrid’s framework aligns with the statute’s specific behavioral definitions. - The platform is designed to function in any jurisdiction where coercive control is recognized. - Intimate partner violence affects more than 43.5 million U.S. women and 20.7 million U.S. men over their lifetimes, according to the CDC National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (2023–24). - The lifetime economic burden of IPV in the U.S. is estimated at nearly $3.6 trillion, including $2.1 trillion in medical costs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. - Coercive control occurs in up to 58% of IPV relationships, according to a 2023 systematic review and meta-analysis in Frontiers in Psychology. - Coercive control is associated with elevated rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and suicidal ideation. - A 2025 peer-reviewed study in Child Abuse and Neglect found that 85% of maternal IPV survivors reported difficulty accessing healthcare for their children because of post-separation coercive tactics. - The tactics included denied medical consent and weaponized custody exchanges. - Research published in the Journal of Family Violence by Case Western Reserve University estimates that the federal government spends $55 billion annually on downstream effects of childhood exposure to domestic violence. - ParentGrid is designed to help document medical neglect, denied healthcare access and coercive interference with children’s care.

Between the lines: - ParentGrid is not just a case-management tool; it is built around a legal framework that tries to convert behavior patterns into evidence that can survive in court. - The focus on California’s statute suggests the platform is betting that more states will move toward formal recognition of coercive control. - The emphasis on healthcare and child custody shows how abuse often extends beyond direct violence into systems where families need documentation to get help. - Lisa Kerr, ParentGrid’s head of advocacy and partnerships, said the platform was built for the gap between what is happening to survivors in family court and what systems can see or act on.

What's next: - ParentGrid is building partnerships with domestic violence coalitions, public health agencies, Family Justice Centers and legislative offices in California and nationally. - The company plans to expand its institutional reach as more jurisdictions recognize coercive control. - The platform’s next test is adoption by survivors, advocates and legal professionals who need documentation that can support custody and protection cases.

The bottom line: - ParentGrid is trying to make coercive control visible in the one place where visibility can change outcomes: family court.