Guest Contributor, Daniel Pollack, Author at Ohio Family Law Blog

Grandparents Adopting Grandchildren: The Darlings Are in the Details

Can Grandparents Have Legal Adoption Rights Over Their Grandchildren?

Grandchildren Adoption Not Always Automatic. Grandparents Not Always First Choice; Best Interest Of The Child Is Also Considered!

Deciding to adopt a child into a family is a serious undertaking, one that hopefully will bring great happiness for many years. While adoption laws vary from state to state, the process is always a lengthy one, with the applicant needing to meet many detailed requirements before being qualified to adopt. Among them are:

Providing a thorough family and social history;
Being physically and mentally healthy;
Demonstrating financial stability;
Showing moral integrity, with no significant criminal background history;
Demonstrating other factors that the state or agency believe are relevant to the adoption.

At an increased pace, grandparents are petitioning courts to adopt their own grandchildren. This is occurring as result of the incarceration of one or both parents, substance abuse issues the parent(s) are dealing with, or as a consequence of domestic violence, etc. In fact, more than 2.6 million children are living with grandparents, relatives, or close family friends without either of their parents in the home.

Approximately 7.6 million children live in households headed by a grandparent or other … Read More... “Grandparents Adopting Grandchildren: The Darlings Are in the Details”

The Legal Contours of Child Endangerment

Child Endangerment In Ohio

Could You Be Legally Charged With Child Endangerment Or
Child Abuse?

Adults who care for children have a legal obligation to ensure that those children avoid unreasonably dangerous situations. Failing to adequately protect a child may result in the caregiver being charged with “child endangerment” or “endangering the welfare of a child.”

Examples of child endangerment may include:

Driving while intoxicated with a child in the vehicle
Leaving a child alone and unsupervised with available dangerous weapons
Leaving a child unattended in an unsafe area or vehicle
Hiring a person with a known history of sexual offenses to supervise a child
Leaving a young child unsupervised or in the care of another young child
Providing drugs or alcohol to an underage driver
Opting for spiritual healing rather than conventional medicine when a child’s life is in danger
Failing to report suspected child abuse
Domestic violence episodes that take place in front of children

The Supreme Court of Nebraska recently had the opportunity to explore the contours of this concept in State v. Mendez-Osorio, 297 Neb. 520 (2017). The case revolved around a domestic incident between defendant Abel Mendez-Osorio and his partner Katia Santos-Velasquez. … Read More... “The Legal Contours of Child Endangerment”

For Mandated Child Abuse Reporters, Is “Concern” the Same as “Suspicion”?

young girl in field looking at light in distance

In the process of doing her monthly visit, a social work case manager notices another child in the foster home. The child is moaning softly and seems listless and groggy. There are no noticeable bruises, no bleeding, no obvious broken bones. The child is not a client of the case manager, nor even of the worker’s agency. When the case manager gets back to her office she casually mentions her concern regarding the child to her supervisor. Both are mandated reporters but neither calls the state child abuse hotline. A week later they find out that, tragically, the child died a few days after the case manager had made her visit. The cause of death was non-accidental blunt force trauma.

Months later a lawsuit is initiated by the estate of the deceased child. Among the named defendants are the social work case manager and her supervisor. The plaintiffs claim that, as mandated reporters, both were negligent in not contacting the state hotline. Had they done so the child would not have died.

In its publication, Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect (2016), the Child Welfare Information Gateway reports: “The circumstances under which a mandatory reporter must make a … Read More... “For Mandated Child Abuse Reporters, Is “Concern” the Same as “Suspicion”?”

Sexual Abuse: May a Foster Child Sue Their Biological Parent for Abuse?

Foster Child Sexual Abuse And Abolishing the Parental Immunity Doctrine

sexual abuse parental immunity Removed from their biological parents, the children were placed in foster care. The court and all the professionals held out hope that the children would one day be reunified. Toward that end, under court order, unsupervised visits were gradually introduced. Unfortunately, those unsupervised visits were occasions for the biological father to molest his own children in plain sight of the mother.

Eventually, the children sought to sue their mother. May they? Aside from the practical aspect of the mother having insignificant assets, what is the legal answer? The mother was present when the children were being abused. She saw their plight in time to act so the children could avoid being harmed and she knew, or should have known, that a legal duty existed to protect them. In such a circumstance, when a child suffers an injury resulting from a parent’s failure to adequately protect, should there be an actionable tort against the biological parent?

Can A Minor Child Bring A Civil Lawsuit against his or her parent for personal injuries arising out of sexual abuse? Parental Immunity Explained

The doctrine of parental immunity can be traced back to 1891 … Read More... “Sexual Abuse: May a Foster Child Sue Their Biological Parent for Abuse?”

Parenting Arrangements: Experts Weigh in on Temporary Guardianship for Child

When Do Informal Parenting Arrangements For Child Need Approval from the State?

Professor Dan Pollack contacted me several months ago requesting some input about this topic from the perspective of an Ohio family law attorney. Dan is an excellent writer and has posted articles as a guest Contributor to the Ohio Family Law Blog since 2009. I was pleased to see that my comments made it to his recent article published in Policy & Practice, 74 (2), 25, 28-29. Thanks Dan! Keep up your quality scholarship and writing!

parenting arrangements child ohio It is axiomatic that ideally it is best for children to be cared for by their parents. Yet, on an informal basis, thousands of children reside for extended periods of time with a caregiver who is not their parent. Often they are the child’s relatives, sometimes they are friends or acquaintances of the child’s family. This may be done to accommodate unique family dynamics, after-school or social activities, or for a variety of other reasons. Such time-efficient and cost-effective parenting arrangements are accomplished without involving any lawyers or signing any legally binding documents. All things being equal, is there an expectation that such parenting arrangements have to be sanctioned by the state?… Read More... “Parenting Arrangements: Experts Weigh in on Temporary Guardianship for Child”

Print Media Coverage of Child Fatalities When a Human Services Agency is Involved

Are Child Fatalities Reported Fairly and Ethically By Print Media When The Human Services Agency Is Associated?

child fatalities print media human services agency When a child dies and we learn that a human services agency or department was involved, how well does the print media cover the story? How accurate and thorough is it? Does the story convey sufficient comprehensiveness and perspective to give the reader a solid understanding of the events? Is there any discernible information bias, either intentional or unintentional? Does the writer seem to have an agenda?

In short – is it fair? And, for our purposes, to what extent might a news story have an unintended effect on a subsequent legal proceeding regarding that same child fatality? There is no scientifically valid, objective, approach to accurately answer these questions. Nonetheless, with a sincere effort at intellectual integrity, and given the space limitations, I attempt some meaningful observations. By no means should this be called a “study,” “research” or similar formal term; nor is this effort pro- or anti-department/agency.

In reviewing relevant articles, I looked at ones from 2014 to the present that had the terms “child died,” “department of human services,” and “custody” (and similar terms for each). I sifted through the … Read More... “Print Media Coverage of Child Fatalities When a Human Services Agency is Involved”

Foster Home Placement For Children: The Psycho-Legal Considerations

Foster Care Placement For A Child – What Effect Will Other Children In A Foster Home Have?

foster home children A healthy 3-year-old is placed in a foster home. A month later, a 16-year-old with a history of borderline personality disorder is placed in the same home. Without permission, the 16-year-old decides to give the 3-year-old a bath. Tragically, the 3-year-old drowns. Whatever the exact circumstances, and the foster parents’ behavior and liability aside, was it negligent of the agency initially to place the teenager in the same home as the young child?

When a child is placed in a foster home, it is the responsibility of the placing agency to evaluate the prospective home by considering its environmental, physical, emotional, medical, and educational benefits and hazards. Finding a compatible foster home is not just a question of finding the right foster parents. If there are other children in the home, they are also crucial to the selection process.

The placement process is a very personal and intentional one. Some variables can be controlled; others cannot. For instance, one controllable variable is the maximum number of foster children that can be placed in a foster home. For most states, it … Read More... “Foster Home Placement For Children: The Psycho-Legal Considerations”

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