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Do I Have To Release My Child’s Medical Records to CPS? (Part 1)
When a parent is suspected of child abuse or neglect by CPS, every aspect of their parenting comes under scrutiny by Child Protective Services. How they care for their children, what (and how often) their children are fed, and how they spend their free time will be reviewed. Even issues like how conflict is handled…
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Take Action When CPS Comes Calling, Or Risk Losing Your Child!
When we have a few minutes, we like to catch up on local news and find out what’s happening in Michigan and around the nation. One story, published just a few days ago, raised much discussion in the office, because it did a perfect job of illustrating a point we often make to our clients…
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Former Foster Youth Conduct Survey – Keep Families Together!
There have been countless studies conducted over the years to determine whether children fare better in foster care, or with their natural families. The answers have been unanimous across the board – kids are better off with their own families, wherever possible. But what makes this particular piece of research unique is that it was…
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Leaving Your Children Alone at Home Can Spell Disaster!
We’ve shared with you before about the fact that CPS and the state take a very grim view of parents who leave their children unattended, even for short periods of time. Despite that, there are no clear laws specifying at what age a child can be left unattended, and parent are expected to decide based…
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Families of The Accused Also Suffer in Child Abuse Cases!
When someone is accused of abusing a child, they suffer enormously, even if the allegations aren’t true. In fact, those are by far the most tragic cases – where someone is falsely accused of hurting a child, and as a result of the allegations their life’s turned upside down. They lose their job, their relationships…
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How the Nassar Case Will Change Michigan’s Child Abuse Reporting Laws (Pt 2)
Welcome back, and thanks for joining us for this difficult discussion about a topic that has shaken Michigan to the core. Many things are changing in the wake of the revelations about Larry Nassar, and after the historic trial where more than 100 victims shared victim impact statements. Laws are being reviewed and criticised. New…
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How the Nassar Case Will Change Michigan’s Child Abuse Reporting Laws (Part 1)
The ripples of the Larry Nassar case can be felt in every corner of the state. New legislation is being introduced, people’s motives are being questioned, jobs are being lost, rules and regulations are changing. The upheaval is enormous. And one of the areas (one of many) that has come under fire since this case…
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Would CPS Label You “Neglectful” if They Showed up at Your House Today? (Pt. 2)
Welcome back, and thanks for joining us again for this difficult discussion on predictive risk assessment as it’s used by CPS to determine if parents are likely to harm their children. In the previous article we looked at an article written by Virginia Eubanks that explained the problems with predictive risk assessment, and how it…
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Would CPS Label You “Neglectful” if They Showed up at Your House Today? (Pt. 1)
A couple of weeks ago, a story by writer Virginia Eubanks hit the media. Published by Wired magazine, the story shared some interesting, and truly heartbreaking details about how the use of child abuse prediction models have unfairly labelled poor people. Eubanks shares her experience helping man the Allegheny County Office of Children, Youth and…
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Michigan Mom Fighting For Her Kids After Unfair Treatment From CPS!
We’ve discussed this issue many times before on this blog – the tragedy of parents being subjected to domestic violence, and then losing their children on top of it! It’s beyond heartbreaking, and it’s happening right now, all over the country. Sadly, Michigan is no exception. We’d like to share an ongoing story with you,…