The Barron Foundation — Founded in Georgia
Dr. Kreslyn Barron Odum — physician, certified victims advocate, and founder of The Barron Foundation. Eight years and counting in a broken system turned into a national movement for change.
Dr. Kreslyn Barron Odum is a physician, women's rights advocate, and the founder and executive director of The Barron Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Georgia.
She is also a protective parent — and everything The Barron Foundation does is built from that truth.
She directs Family Court Awareness Month — the national initiative held every November to bring public attention to the epidemic of family court failures that leave children in danger. FCAM was co-founded by advocates Tina Swithin and Sandra Ross. Dr. Odum took the reins and now directs the initiative nationally.
Dr. Odum has testified, traveled, organized, and built coalitions across the country — from the Georgia State Capitol to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial — to demand that the family court system be held accountable to the children it is supposed to protect.
She carries this fight in her bones. Not just as a director, not just as a physician — but as a mother who knows exactly what is at stake when the system fails a child.
Words That Carry Us
“Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.”
— Brené Brown
“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
— Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
As seen in documentary screened at the National Press Club, Washington D.C.
The Founder
Founded by a mother who became a nationally-trained advocate — and built by the women and men who refuse to let another child be silenced.
“This isn’t just about me. It’s about a system that’s not working — not just in Georgia, but across the country.”— Dr. Kreslyn Barron Odum
Wherever Dr. Odum goes — the US Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, the beaches of California — she carries Clara.
Clara is a baby doll. She travels because the children Dr. Odum is fighting for cannot — every child failed by a system that was supposed to protect them.
The ASL “I love you” sign that appears in photo after photo is not a gesture for the camera. It is the sign protective parents use everywhere they are shunned — in courtrooms, school hallways, FaceTime calls, and goodbye windows. The one thing a parent can give their child when words are not allowed.
Clara has been to Washington. She has stood at the feet of Lincoln. She has looked up at the dome of the Capitol. She will keep going.
Dr. Odum does not wait for change to come. She carries this mission into every room, every city, every hall of power that will open its doors — and many that haven't yet.
At the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C. — bringing the fight to the feet of Lincoln.
With Ruth Bader Ginsburg — standing in the lineage of women who refused to accept a system that failed them.
This is why she keeps going.
The ASL “I love you” sign is not just a courtroom gesture. It travels everywhere parents are shunned — school pickup lines, FaceTime calls cut short, goodbye waves through car windows, visits that end too soon.
It is the one thing a parent can give their child when every other form of communication has been taken from them.
It is the symbol of The Barron Foundation. It is the sign of every protective parent who has not stopped fighting.
Make the sign. Share it. Let someone who needs it know they are not alone.
“What we are facing in family court is not just a personal battle — it is a humanitarian crisis. At its core, it is a moral issue, and I believe we are at a crossroads as a country and as a world in how history will remember us. I want to join others in making ‘good trouble,’ as John Lewis said, and in building tools and community so families don’t have to walk through this alone.”
— Dr. Kreslyn Barron Odum, Founder, The Barron Foundation
58,000+ children every year. Half a million at any moment.
According to the Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence — more than twice the yearly rate of new childhood cancer cases. This is the crisis Dr. Odum has spent eight years and counting fighting to end.
Written for mothers navigating family court — and open to everyone who stands with them.
For the mind, body, and soul of every woman fighting for her child.
Invited participant in Stage 1 of the ECCBS — the first academic scale developed to measure coercive control, child and mother sabotage, and post-separation abuse in family court contexts. University of Manchester, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health. Recruited at the request of leaders in the field.
Dr. Odum brings a clinician’s discipline and evidence-based lens to family court reform — demanding the same standard of proof the medical field requires.
Featured in a documentary screened at the National Press Club in Washington D.C., bringing the family court crisis to a national audience. See press →
A trusted source for CNN investigative reporters and numerous journalists covering family court reform. Featured on podcasts and in articles bringing the family court crisis to national attention.
In 2025, Dr. Odum engaged with Senator Jon Ossoff’s U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law (bipartisan investigation into Georgia DFCS), Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, U.S. Representative Buddy Carter, Georgia State Representative Steven Meeks, the Georgia DV Coalition at the Capitol, Georgia Protective Parents, and legislators from Arizona and Oregon.
Advocated at the Georgia State Capitol alongside YATP in the 2025 session. Ridge’s Law (SB 259) passed — parents now have the right to a second medical opinion in child abuse determinations. Ethan’s Law (HB 253), led by Georgia Protective Parents, did not reach a final Senate vote. The fight continues.
Dr. Odum has built working relationships with local law enforcement agencies, mayors, and DFCS throughout Georgia — ensuring protective parents have advocates in community leadership and within the system itself.
Founded The Barron Foundation (EIN: 41-2418788) in Georgia after eight years and counting navigating a broken family court system — turning lived experience into infrastructure for protective parents nationwide.
Certified by the University of Georgia Legal Studies Department — bringing both clinical training and formal advocacy credentials to every family she serves.
Trained as a Court Appointed Special Advocate — a volunteer role that puts children's best interests at the center of every court decision.
Directs FCAM — the national initiative held every November, co-founded by Tina Swithin and Sandra Ross — now recognized across all 50 states.
Completed nonprofit education and entrepreneurship courses through the Lucas Center for Entrepreneurship at College of Coastal Georgia — building the foundation’s infrastructure with the same rigor she brings to advocacy.
Over 620+ hours across 89 courses — coercive control, narcissistic abuse, trauma, forensic evaluation, high conflict communication, child safety, CASA advocacy, and family court reform. Trained with experts from Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, and throughout the United States.
96-hour certification through the High Conflict Divorce Coach Certification Program, founded by Tina Swithin of One Mom’s Battle. The program trains clinicians, coaches, and advocates to support protective parents navigating narcissistic and high-conflict co-parenting through documentation, court preparation, communication strategy, and family court advocacy. Filling the critical gap between legal and therapeutic support.
Private training with a retired Arizona Superior Court family court judge who served 19 years on the bench, retiring January 1, 2025. Direct judicial perspective on how courts evaluate evidence, assess credibility, and make custody determinations.
Certified through Evergreen Certifications — 54 hours through PESI with Sandra Brown MA and Dr. Arielle Schwartz. Completed as an advocate to better recognize and speak to narcissistic abuse patterns in family court.
Completed seven courses through the National Board of Forensic Evaluators including child custody evaluation, expert witness training, forensic evaluation discrediting, and records review — providing the tools to challenge inadequate court-appointed evaluations.
Built partnerships with One Mom's Battle, Georgia Protective Parents, Family Court Ordered Trauma, and advocates across all 50 states who are fighting to protect children in family courts.
A lifelong advocate for equality and child protection. Connected with the National Family Violence Law Center at George Washington University Law School, and carrying the mission into state capitols and communities across America for eight years and counting — and counting.
At the Women's Suffrage Monument — standing in the lineage of women who changed history by refusing to accept less.
“I Can. I Will. Watch Me.” — The only response to a system that said she couldn’t.
Gate B16 — Santa Barbara, CA. Clara travels every mile of this fight. The mission doesn’t stop.
Every person in hot pink is another protective parent seen. Another voice raised. Another community that decided silence was not an option.
The Barron Foundation runs on the belief that no protective parent should face this fight alone. Your support makes the difference.
🤟 Give a Child a Voice 🩷 Learn About FCAM 📢 Press & Media“Once your eyes have been opened to the true atrocities flooding our courts, you can never unsee. You can’t just walk away. It changes who you are. Ignorance may be bliss but education on the true evil happening to our children and our families will transform you into a fighter. You may take a mental health break, but you will forever come back to try to save another.”
— Dr. Kreslyn Barron Odum, Founder, The Barron Foundation
Words spoken when she thought no one was really even listening.
“I stand with the blood of generations of Barron women running through me. Their strength. Their fire. Their refusal to bend. I was made for such a time as this — and so was this foundation.”
— Dr. Kreslyn Barron Odum, Founder, The Barron Foundation
Barron is the founder’s middle name. Her mother’s maiden name. A name carried across generations of women who did not bend — and a foundation named to carry that strength forward.
