I’m worried. My abusive ex-spouse can be granted custody by the court. Why do you consider your ex-spouse to be abusive? What degree of abuse are we referring to? Is the abuse known to the court? Is the child malnourished? Is a belt being used to hit the child?
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There are several degrees of abuse. Is it unlikely that the child’s abuser will be granted custody by the court? Parents may prioritize their enmity toward the other parent over what is best for their children. A judge is hardly likely to provide custody to an abusive parent. The court will grant you custody in this situation.
What do you mean by abusive?
Child abuse is defined under the Child Protection Law. The law is published and enforced by the MDHHS. MDHHS, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services manages Child Protective Services. You know Child Protective Services by its most popular acronym as CPS.
Certain people are expected to be custodians or caregivers of children. These are parents and legal guardians. They are persons responsible for the child’s health or welfare. This also includes teachers, teacher’s aides, or members of the clergy. These individuals can commit child abuse. They do so if they intentionally harm or threaten to harm the child’s health or welfare. They can do this through non-accidental physical or mental injury. They can perpetuate abuse such as sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, or maltreatment.
Understanding child abuse can be enlightening for parents. Parents can struggle with discipline difficulties with their children. It touches on the extremely delicate line between discipline and abuse.
People we trust to care for the child’s health or welfare can commit neglect. They do one of the following things to the child:
[ a ] Negligence. Not providing someone with enough food, clothing, shelter, or medical care.
[ b ] Failing to act to reduce risk to a child’s health or welfare. Failure to act despite being capable of doing so and being aware of the risk, or should have been aware of it.
When child abuse is reported to Child Protective Services or CPS a set of procedures are started. These procedures look into and confirm the abuse. Within 30 days, CPS must wrap up its investigation. It may take longer for certain cases. When CPS learns of a report of child abuse, they have 24 hours to start an investigation.
Your children may accuse your ex-spouse of abusing them, or you may suspect abuse. You don’t want CPS to get involved in the situation too early in the process. Talk to your children about it first. Get the facts and gather evidence about this alleged abuse.
How do courts handle child abuse?
It has already been heard in court too many times. It happens often in disputes over child custody. Accusations of child abuse are sometimes raised. It is a justification for being granted sole custody of a child. Courts are reluctant to consider reports of child abuse. Courts won’t take it without a prior CPS investigation. These child abuse accusations are becoming overused allegations.
The proper course of action is to contact Child Protective Services or CPS. This is if you are truly concerned about accusations of child abuse. Within 24 hours, CPS will launch an immediate investigation. The CPS investigation report can immediately verify any claim of child abuse. If a child abuse accusation has merit or not, CPS will swiftly inform the court.
A spouse can make up allegations of child abuse against the other spouse. This can be an effort to delay or interfere with parenting time. A parent should reconsider continuing with this ruse. CPS is required to find out and will inform the court of this.
You can continue to bring up child abuse concerns. You can do that while delaying reporting these charges to CPS. The court will eventually find out. Your case can be less compelling in court. The state’s main enforcement tool for safeguarding children from abuse is CPS. If a parent has concrete proof of child abuse and is worried, they won’t hesitate to contact CPS.
A partner might use this ruse to keep the former partner and child apart. This reduces parenting time without justification. You may do that without offering any concrete evidence. Your parenting rights will start to be restricted. On the other side, your ex-spouse will present a motion. Your ex-spouse will claim you withheld the child in contravention of the court’s order.
The court has tools at its disposal to punish spouses who use fabricated child abuse claims. Using these claims as leverage in child custody disputes. You might feel compelled to use a child abuse claim in a child custody dispute. Consider carefully if you can make it compelling. If the court learns you have another agenda, they might not be too kind to you.
What should you do if you suspect abuse?
What you ought to do is investigate. See if there is any tangible proof. The MDHHS advises following a specific protocol. This helps to spot the warning indicators of child abuse.
Determine the physical indicators of child abuse listed below:
Physical indicators of physical neglect.
[ a ] Medical needs that weren’t satisfied.
[ b ] Not being watched over.
[ c ] Persistent signs of hunger, inappropriate clothes, and poor hygiene.
[ d ] Stomach swollen and emaciated.
[ e ] Significant weight reduction
Physical signs of abuse on the body.
[ a ] Unknown bruises, loop marks, and welts that are still healing.
[ b ] Bite marks left by adult humans.
[ c ] Bald spots or clusters of hair loss.
[ d ] Unknown scalds or burns.
[ e ] Unreported skin injuries such as lacerations, punctures, or fractures.
[ f ] Swelling lips and chipped teeth.
[ g ] Parallel lines or linear marks near the cheeks and temples.
[ h ] Bruises that resemble a crescent.
[ i ] Scars or wounds left by a stab.
[ j ] Damage to the ears.
Your child might be adamant that there has been some abuse. Take the child to the doctor. Your doctor may not find anything wrong. The doctor may claim there is no physical proof of abuse. You will recognize that a few things could be happening. Even though they can’t see it, the doctor believes there is a plausible case of abuse. To be sure, your doctor will do a few further procedures or tests. Your doctor is required to disclose any abuse if they have reason to suspect it.
Medical professionals are referred to in Michigan as mandatory reporters. They are required by law to disclose any interactions they have with children regularly. They are compelled by law to report any children who they believe are at risk of child abuse. They report abuse based on their professional judgment.
This is why you should discuss these issues with your spouse first. Discuss this with your co-parent rather than hiring a professional. Before you do, make notes about the signs so you can discuss specifics. If these assumptions are false, it is preferable to leave this between the two of you. Look for a more effective approach to communicate these possible abuse issues. The doctor may suspect there are indications of child abuse. You can lose the right to keep these matters private.
The Michigan Child Protection Law requires certain practitioners to alert Centralized Intake (CI). Centralized Intake or CI is under MDHHS. These practitioners must report their suspicions of child abuse or neglect. Due to their line of work, these people have gotten to know kids. They are compelled to report child abuse-related issues.
These required reporters are unable to simply report anything without justification or proof. False reporting has the same penalties as failing to report child abuse. The next step may involve CPS if the doctor discovers any indications or proof of child abuse.
There may be required orders to CPS, which will then cause a cycle of CPS involvement in your life to begin. Everyone won’t necessarily benefit from it. Employees of CPS are instructed to adhere to a procedure set forth by the state. They are experts in their fields, just like your doctor.
You have to report the abuse clearly and honestly to CPS. The CPS will do its job and submit a report to the court. The court will consider the allegations. The court will rule against the parent committing the abuse. You can end up getting custody of your child.
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Goldman & Associates Law Firm is here to with information about Child Custody and Divorce in the State of Michigan.