Opinion ID: 837290
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Removing a Child From His Home

Text: The sections of Michigan's Probate Code of 1939 governing juveniles (the Juvenile Code), MCL 712A.1 et seq., are guided by the following overarching goals: This chapter shall be liberally construed so that each juvenile coming within the court's jurisdiction receives the care, guidance, and control, preferably in his or her own home, conducive to the juvenile's welfare and the best interest of the state. If a juvenile is removed from the control of his or her parents, the juvenile shall be placed in care as nearly as possible equivalent to the care that should have been given to the juvenile by his or her parents. [MCL 712A.1(3) (emphasis added).] Subchapter 3.900 of the Michigan Court Rules, which covers proceedings involving juveniles, espouses the same statutorily derived goals. [17] Here, the court removed A. from her home, as authorized by the Juvenile Code, MCL 712A.2(b)(1), as a result of Kops's neglect. When a child is removed under § 2(b), her parents [18] are entitled to notice of the proceedings and, if they are named as respondents, to representation by an attorney. A parent whose parental rights have not been terminated, including one who is not a named respondent, must be notified of and permitted to participate in each hearing, including dispositional review hearings, permanency planning hearings, and termination proceedings. [19] Our court rules require the trial court to determine at the preliminary hearing whether the parent has been notified, and the court may adjourn the hearing to secure the presence of a parent. [20] The court must also advise a respondent parent at the respondent's first court appearance that he has a right to an attorney at each stage of the proceedings and a right to a courtappointed attorney if he is financially unable to employ an attorney on his own behalf. [21] When the DHS petitions for removal of a child under MCL 712A.2(b), the court must hold a preliminary hearing or hearings and may authorize the petition upon a showing of probable cause that 1 or more of the allegations in the petition are true and fall within the provisions of section 2(b).... MCL 712A.13a(2). The preliminary hearing is governed by MCL 712A.13a and corresponding provisions of MCR 3.965. At the hearing, if the court does not dismiss the petition for removal, it may release the child to a parent and may impose any terms and conditions necessary to protect the child's physical and mental well-being. [22] If the child is not returned to his home, the court shall order the juvenile placed in the most family-like setting available consistent with the juvenile's needs. [23] MCL 712A.13a(10). To this end, the court must inquire of the parent ... regarding the identity of relatives of the child who might be available to provide care. If the father of the child has not been identified, the court must inquire of the mother regarding the identity and whereabouts of the father. MCR 3.965(B)(13). The court must permit the juvenile's parent to have frequent parenting time unless visits, even if supervised, may be harmful to the juvenile. MCL 712A.13a(11). [24] If visits may be harmful, the court must order a psychological evaluation of, or counseling for, the child and may suspend parenting time until the evaluation or counseling takes place. [25] Within 30 days of the child's placement, and before the court may enter an order of disposition in a proceeding under § 2(b), the petitioning agency  here the DHS [26]  must provide an initial service plan. [27] The agency must report what efforts were made and what services were provided, if any, to prevent removal or to rectify the conditions that caused removal. [28] The child's continued placement must be in the most family-like setting available and in as close proximity to the child's parents' home as is consistent with the child's best interests and special needs. MCL 712A.18f(3). As part of the ISP, the agency is statutorily required to identify, locate, and consult with relatives to determine placement with a fit and appropriate relative who would meet the child's developmental, emotional, and physical needs as an alternative to foster care. MCL 722.954a(2). [29] The ISP also must detail the efforts to be made and services to be offered to facilitate the child's return to his home or other permanent placement and a schedule for regular and frequent parenting time between the child and his or her parent unless parenting time would be harmful to the child. MCL 712A.18f(3) and (4).
State and federal law require the DHS to promulgate rules, policies, and instructions to carry out the statutory mandates. [30] The DHS Childrens Foster Care Manual (which the agency refers to as the CFF) [31] guides the creation and implementation of a service plan, as required by 42 U.S.C. 671(a)(16) and 42 U.S.C. 675(1). Consistently with the statutory directives, the DHS requires the engagement of the family in development of the service plan, including all parents/guardians.... CFF 722-6, p. 1 (emphasis in original). Parents must be encouraged to actively participate, and the foster care worker must make an attempt or efforts to identify and locate absent parents(s)/legal guardian or putative father. Id. at 2 (emphasis in original). The participation of parents and members of the extended family/relative network is viewed as essential to achieving permanency and is to be actively sought. Id. at 3. The service plan must address [w]hat the parent(s) ... must do to achieve reunification and [w]hat the supervising agency must do to support parental objectives. Id. The foster care worker must meet with each parent face-to-face in the parent's home and by phone at specified intervals during the pendency of the child's placement in foster care. Id. at 5-6. The agency also must use parenting time to maintain and strengthen the relationship between parent and child. Id. at 7 (emphasis in original). Parenting time must be provided for every parent with a legal right to the child, regardless of prior custody. Id. With regard to the services offered to parents, the CFF explicitly advises: It is only when timely and intensive services are provided to families that agencies and courts can make informed decisions about parents' ability to protect and care for their children. CFF 722-6, p. 11. The CFF explains that services in part underlie the reasonable efforts in which the DHS must engage both to avoid removal and to reunify the child with his family. Id. at 14, 16. If reunification is the permanency planning goal, the court must consider whether efforts by the supervising agency to reunify a family are reasonable.... Id. at 16. In all cases, the supervising agency's service planning must include the parent(s) (except when parental rights have been terminated).... Id. If a parent is absent, the DHS must consult the Absent Parent Protocol (APP) to ensure DHS workers ... and the courts address the absent parent issue as early as possible in child protection proceedings. Id. at 17. [32]