Life can be overwhelming sometimes. You might be asked to work two jobs just to make ends meet and put food on the table for your child. But if you leave your child alone too much and cannot take care of them, you might end up facing quite serious child neglect charges. This article explains what every parent needs to know about neglect in New York laws, including:
When harm comes to a child in your care as a result of your actions or inactions, the New York justice system will usually categorize this as either child neglect or abuse. Child neglect and child abuse are similar under the law, but abuse is a more serious charge.
For example, if you use excessive force to discipline your child, in most cases, that is considered neglect and is called excessive corporal punishment. But if you cause serious injury to the child in the process, such as broken bones, then it is moved up to the level of abuse.
Any sort of sexual case will usually be considered abuse if the child is alleged to be sexually molested in some way. Additionally, if an act is criminal in nature, it is likely to be considered abuse. Most neglect cases are not criminal.
There are cases that are almost never considered abuse. For example, educational neglect, where you haven’t been sending your child to school or making sure they are attending, is almost never charged as abuse. Similarly, unless it is a truly serious case, medical neglect is usually not considered abuse.
Drugs are normally not considered abuse, but if it involves a criminal activity such as selling drugs from the apartment or if there is a raid of the apartment where the parents are arrested, such extreme cases could be considered abuse.
The first stage in any neglect matter is a notification to the State Central Registry Of Treatment. This happens when someone calls in an allegation of neglect or abuse; the allegation then gets passed on to the Administration for Children’s Services in New York City, ACS for short, who will begin an investigation.
Child services will normally then talk to the parents and, depending on the age of the child, interview the child directly as well. They may also interview medical providers, especially if the case was called in by a hospital, doctor, or nurse. If the child is in school, child services may also interview the school or their teacher.
Based on their findings, child services will either find the allegation to be unsubstantiated or justified. If they are deemed unfounded, child services will close the case after the investigation, which typically lasts 36 to 90 days. On the other hand, if they find that the allegations are founded or substantiated, then they can put your family under ACS supervision.
In more serious cases, if the ACS decides that court action is needed, they will file a petition for either neglect or abuse. That petition will be served with a court date. If you do not already have a lawyer on the court date, you will be assigned one and the matter will go before a judge. The judge will then decide what the appropriate action to be taken is.
In the very most serious cases of abuse or neglect, ACS could ask the judge to place the children in foster care. At that point, you are entitled to a hearing on whether the children should go into foster care. Then, the case will proceed from there.
If a court proceeding is brought against you for neglect, you will have to comply with any court orders and with ACS. That could entail allowing visits to your home, and it could also entail any number of additional conditions. For example, attending parenting skills classes, anger management courses, domestic violence prevention classes, drug rehabilitation or education programs and so forth.
In the more severe cases, your children may be placed in foster care. If they are, you will have to comply with the ACS service plan, which could include many of those same courses and classes, before petitioning to have your children returned to you.
In the most serious cases of all, if you have not been able to meet the requirements set out to get your children returned to you within about three months, further action may be taken against you to terminate your parental rights, and that could result in the children being adopted by someone else.
Criminal cases are not handled in the family court system; they would be handled in the criminal court or in felony court. Most neglect cases will never result in criminal charges, and any related criminal charges, such as drug possession, will not directly impact your family court neglect case.
The vast majority of neglect cases are handled exclusively in family court. As a result, a family court judge will be in charge of most abuse and neglect cases in New York.
Unlike a judge in criminal court, the family court judge’s role is always to try to protect the child’s interest and keep the parents and children together whenever possible. If that is not possible, then they are supposed to try to reunite you with your children as soon as possible, in other words, as soon as it is safe for everyone to do so.
Their goal is always to look out for the best interests of the child, but also to keep families together. After all, except in the very worst of circumstances, that is what is best for the child.
Unlike a criminal charge, a finding of child neglect is not a conviction. It can, however, have several long-term consequences.
First, if you work in any sort of child care or child-related position, a finding of neglect could result in you losing your job, being unable to find new work in that sector, or being passed over for promotions.
These allegations will stay on the childcare registry and could also impact future decisions, such as any requests for adoption or foster parent applications. Given how long these cases can take to resolve, the various courses and restrictions and impositions could also be considered long term impacts.
Of course, the most serious possibility is that the ACS decides to remove the child, and maybe even other children, from your custody entirely. This could result in you losing the right to see your child for a time until you can successfully apply for custody again, or for, at the very least, the right to visits or supervised visits with them.
If you are completely unable to follow the service plan, then your rights could be terminated entirely, and the child could be put up for adoption.
While there are no legal differences between Child Services in the different boroughs of New York City, nor in the laws surrounding child neglect or child abuse cases, families in Staten Island may not have the same experience when facing them.
For one thing, there are far fewer cases in Staten Island, which may lead to faster resolution for your case. On the other hand, there are also far fewer services available for parents facing these charges, including the necessary courses and other obligations that might be required. This might mean that you have to travel to another borough to meet those requirements, adding a cost in time and money to what ACS or the court are asking of you.
No matter where you are accused of child neglect, it is vital you seek the advice and guidance of an experienced family law attorney.
For more information on Your Child And The Law, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (718) 557-9767 today.