Category: Child Neglect
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What Michigan Judges Consider at a Termination of Parental Rights Hearing: A Guide for Families in Lansing and Surrounding Counties
When a termination of parental rights (TPR) hearing takes place in a Michigan court, the judge’s decision can permanently sever the legal rights of a parent to their child. In places like Lansing, and across Mid-Michigan, these hearings are not taken lightly. Judges weigh numerous factors based on the best interests of the child when…
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Surveillance Versus Safety: What is CPS Involvement Really Doing to Struggling Families?
When a teacher sees a child who doesn’t have a winter coat that fits, or a doctor realizes that a child they’re seeing for a Wellchild check up is clearly hungry, what do they do? In most cases, they call the CPS hotline and report suspected neglect. But is that what they should be doing?…
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When is it Okay to Leave Your Child Unattended in Michigan?
This is a question we get asked a lot by parents who are caught up in protracted battles with CPS over the issue of child neglect. And the truth is, it can be a little challenging to answer. Because there isn’t a one-size-fits-all response. After all, there are a lot of factors involved in deciding…
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Can You be a Free Range Parent in Michigan And Not be Accused of Neglect?
How do you encourage your children to be independent, self-reliant, and responsible as they grow up? According to the free range parenting movement, you encourage them to function as independently as possible, with limited parental supervision, while still expecting them to be accountable and responsible for their actions. It’s a movement that’s slowly gaining in…
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Will Faith Healing Couple Face Child Abuse Charges After All?
Joshua and Rachel Piland have been in the news a lot lately. Between CPS and the Michigan family court, they have been caught between a rock and a hard place since making the controversial decision to refuse medical care for their baby based on their religion. It all started when their baby daughter, Abigail, was…
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Baby Found Alive Beside Dead Parents in Hotel Room in Michigan
One of the gripes people seem to have with CPS in Michigan is their inability to get it right when making decisions about which kids are at risk and which kids aren’t. They will fight a loving parent tooth and nail, sometimes for years, trying to remove a child who’s in no danger, but on…
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Accident or Neglectful Parenting? What Happens When a Child Goes Missing?
Whenever a child goes missing in the movies, the story tends to focus on the frantic manhunt, and the relief parents experience when the child is finally found. Which makes sense, because that’s what parents and loved ones are experiencing when a kid turns up missing. At first it’s all denial and horror and anxiety,…
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What Happens When Your Kids Get Into Your ‘Medibles’?
One of the major points of contention among supporters of legalized recreational marijuana in Michigan and its detractors, was the issue of how it would affect kids. Would seeing their parents use pot make it more likely for kids to want to use it too? Would they be exposed to the second hand smoke of…
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“Faith-based Healing” Parents Defend Their Choices in Court
This case has been controversial from day one. It has brought on all sorts of arguments, from issues of religious freedom, to parenting rights, medical neglect, and child abuse. And what’s interesting is that all sides have made some valid points. But what remains an indisputable fact, regardless of anyone’s perspectives and beliefs, is that…
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Factors That Could Influence CPS When it Comes to Removing Your Kids (Pt 4)
Thanks for joining us for the final wrap up of this talk about what could affect a CPS worker’s decision when it comes to removing your kids from your home. In the previous three articles we looked at a number of different factors than can all play a role in making you look like a…