In cases involving child abuse allegations against a parent, lawyers must decide whether to bring an action in children's court or family court. There are procedural and substantive advantages and disadvantages to filing ...

Few areas of family law are as bristling with risk and the potential for appeal as a petition to terminate parental rights. When the child involved has special needs, the child may be particularly imperiled if proper ...

Homer’s Odyssey describes Odysseus’s ten-year return journey back to his home on the island of Ithaca. Looking forward over the next ten years, professional child welfare directors face a similar daunting task. The ...

A protective order cannot guarantee the abuse will stop and the victim and children will be safe. Nonetheless, it is a critical step to take because it helps to legally document the abusive experience.

This is a client who needs special handling. And you need special training in expertly talking with the client as well as how to collect and document information evidence from a sexual assault victim.

Where a child has disclosed abuse, the child needs immediate protection and the court is place to go, because unlike Child Protective Services, the court has the power to stop contact between a child and a parent. To succeed ...

There is a well-known psychological phenomenon known as hindsight bias, “the recognized tendency for individuals to overestimate or exaggerate…

A faulty medical determination of child abuse or neglect can destroy the life of a child and its family. “Measure twice, cut once,” is a great rule for carpenters; it’s also an important lesson for Child Protective Services.

Perhaps one of the major reasons mandated reporters hesitate to report is because they are not confident that CPS workers have adequate assessment and intervention skills. They reflect on countless news headlines indicating ...

Social workers must have a basic knowledge of how legal proceedings work, especially if they are called to be an outcry witness.