What exactly qualifies as child neglect? Abuse and neglect are frequently discussed in conjunction with one another. Although there are behaviors that could be considered neglect, there are no legal standards of what constitutes neglect. The categories of neglect is more a description of the outcomes, results or symptoms of neglect. Weight loss may be seen as a symptom of neglect by mandatory reporters like pediatricians, which may result in a visit by Child Protective Services, or CPS.
Click here to watch the video on What is Considered Child Neglect in Michigan?
You might need to use caution when accusing someone of neglect since the court may not view the situation as you do. Your careless use of the word neglect could damage your reputation and moral character in a custody dispute.
Child Protective Services use the State Child Protection Law’s definition of child abuse as the basis for their inquiries. The Child Protection Law defines four basic categories of child maltreatment. Physical abuse, mental harm, child maltreatment, and sexual abuse are among the four categories. It is simply the bad things you do to a child.
Neglect is more about all the bad things you allow to happen to a child.
The Truth About Child Neglect
The State Child Protection Law defines child neglect as a parent, guardian, or other person in charge of the child’s welfare causing or threatening to cause injury to the child’s health or welfare as a result of any or a combination of:
[a] careless treatment, such as failing to give victims enough food, clothing, shelter, or medical attention, or
[b] failing to take action to reduce a risk to a child’s health or welfare when a parent, legal guardian, or other person responsible for the child’s health or welfare is able to do so and has knowledge of the risk, or should have had knowledge of it.
Physical neglect, medical neglect, failure to protect, improper supervision, and abandonment are the five categories of child neglect that Child Protective Services must establish by a preponderance of the evidence.
Physical Neglect
Physical neglect includes careless treatment, such as failing to give the child the food, clothing, or shelter they need to survive and remain healthy. Physical neglect of a child does not include situations that arise only because of poverty.
Medical Neglect
Medical neglect occurs when a parent or guardian fails to provide a child with the necessary medical care and that failure puts the child at risk of dying, becoming disfigured, or suffering physical harm and such failure affects the child’s ability to grow, develop, or function in a noticeable or material way.
Failure to Protect
When a parent intentionally permits another person to abuse or neglect a child without taking the necessary steps to stop the abuse or are neglecting to safeguard the child.
Improper Supervision
When a parent sets a child in an environment that is not suitable for the child’s maturity level, physical condition, or mental ability and that also causes harm to the child, this is known as child neglect by improper supervision.
Abandonment
When a parent or guardian leaves a child with someone else or an organization without first getting permission from that someone or organization to take care of the child, the parent or guardian is committing child neglect by abandonment.
How Michigan Handles Child Neglect Cases
Investigations into possible child abuse or neglect are carried out by the Department of Health and Human Services’ or DHHS Child Protective Services section. A “mandated reporter,” such as a teacher or a doctor, may report child abuse or neglect to trigger an investigation. A worried friend or neighbor may also phone to start an investigation.
DHHS will collaborate with families to address any childcare issues. Only the most severe situations end up in court. The process in these situations is as follows:
Preliminary Hearing
Preliminary hearings are conducted, excluding Sundays and holidays, within 24 hours if the child is taken from the family. If the parents do not have legal counsel, they may request that one be appointed by the court at the preliminary hearing. There will be separate attorneys for each parent. The petitioner DHHS-CPS, who is represented by the prosecuting attorney’s office, must establish probable cause during the hearing that the child was abused and/or neglected. The parents/respondents have the option of forgoing this hearing.
Pre-trial Conference
The court meets with the parties’ counsel to discuss any issues that will help the case be resolved fairly and quickly.
Plea of Responsibility
In response to the initial petition or a petition that has been amended, the respondent may enter a plea of admission or of no contest. The respondent must be informed on the record or in writing what becomes a part of the case before the court accepts a plea. The plea must be given voluntarily, knowingly, and with understanding. At the plea, the respondent gives the court information supporting a decision that the child is subject to the court’s jurisdiction.
Trial
If a child was taken from the house, the trial must start as quickly as feasible, but it cannot be delayed past 63 days after the child was taken. If the child was not taken away from the household, the trial must be held within six months of the petition’s filing, unless it is postponed for good reason.
The petitioner must establish at trial that the circumstances set out in the petition are accurate and constitute lawful negligence. The court may decide the case if legal neglect is established at trial by formally establishing its jurisdiction and declaring the child a temporary ward of the court.
Disposition
The dispositional hearing comes next if jurisdiction is established through either a plea agreement or a trial. The disposition entails choosing what, if any, action will be done on the child’s behalf. 35 days following the trial or plea, this hearing is scheduled. The dispositional hearing may be postponed if justification is provided.
Review Hearings
After establishing jurisdiction, the court may continue to have jurisdiction for a very long time. The review hearing’s objective is to determine if the parent has made progress toward the parent-agency plan intended to bring the family back together. The court wants to hear what arrangements have been made for the child’s permanent status, which may entail adoption or guardianship, if parental rights have been terminated.
In the first year that the child is subject to the court’s jurisdiction, the progress of the parent and child must be examined no later than 182 days after the petition is filed, and no later than every 91 days following the petition’s filing. After the first year, the child’s progress must be evaluated every 182 days from the last review until the case is dismissed.
Permanency Planning Hearing
From the time a child was taken from their home, hearings must be held every 12 months. Reuniting the child with his or her parents can be the goal. On the other hand, the permanent plan could be amended to terminate parental rights if the parent has not improved and bringing the child home would be harmful.
Termination of Parental Rights
In a termination proceeding, there is no right to a jury. The parties have the right to a judge upon request, even though a referee may hear a termination case.
The party attempting to have respondent’s parental rights terminated has the burden of proof. Clear and compelling evidence must be provided that one or more factual grounds exist for terminating parental rights.
If You Are Accused of Child Neglect…
Allegations of child abuse can result in both criminal prosecution and being taken away from your family and children. You run the risk of losing your parental rights and maybe going to jail if you are charged with child abuse.
In cases of child abuse and neglect, prosecutors and CPS frequently target the parents. The prosecutor, the guardian ad litem, social workers, the CPS investigator, and occasionally even court-appointed psychologists, psychiatrists, and medical professionals are all working against you in a CPS case.
Even when they are exonerated of all criminal charges, parents are occasionally still the focus of CPS investigation. This occurs for a number of reasons, one of which is that CPS action does not require the same level of proof as criminal courts in order to separate children from their parents.
Your worst fears will come when you meet an overzealous CPS investigator. We wrote about this and how to get around some of the tactics CPS uses to intimidate parents into “cooperating” in an investigation.
We suggest you read up on “What Is The Best Way To Deal With CPS In Michigan?” and “Hiring An Attorney Before Dealing With CPS If I Have Nothing To Hide In Michigan” here in our Legal Blog.
Because of the different bullying techniques employed by CPS, parents occasionally hesitate to contact an attorney. Some of the same intimidating techniques are employed by the police. Parents who refuse to assist CPS with their inquiry have previously been threatened with having their children removed.
The best way to handle these allegations is to talk to an attorney.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel today for more advice on Family Law!
Goldman & Associates Law Firm is here to with information about Child Custody and Divorce in the State of Michigan.