In the case, a mother was in the hospital after giving birth to her son. She was undressed in her hospital room when she was interrupted by a hospital nurse. Perhaps embarrassed or annoyed, the mother had some words with the nurse. The nurse then called the Illinois child abuse hotline, claiming that this mother had a mental health disorder. However, the mother had never been diagnosed with that mental health disorder. When the mother tried to prove this to child welfare investigators by giving them a note from a psychiatrist, the investigators would not consider the note as evidence because it was not typed. Furthermore, having a mental health disorder does not, in itself, constitute child abuse/neglect. It is a good thing this mother has competent and aggressive attorneys representing her against these allegations.

In Michigan, overzealous Child Protective Services (CPS) caseworkers can be very intrusive to families. In many cases, mothers and fathers are doing their best to raise their children, but for one reason or another, some CPS government caseworkers act like they know what is best for the children. CPS workers may threaten to remove children from the home unless parents comply with their orders. But CPS has no obligation to inform families that they are not authorized to order anything. They are not judges. Parents in this intimidating situation should immediately seek the advice of an experienced, tough attorney who is well versed in family protection law in Michigan.

CPS often becomes in meth cases where there are children in the home. The obvious concern is for the physical and emotional safety of the children. The physical dangers can be from the environmental / fire / explosion hazards associated with meth labs. It is possible for children to be emotionally abused by parents that are using, manufacturing or selling meth.

However, as top CPS defense lawyers, we know that even once the drugs are removed from the house, the fight to get the kids back is not easy. CPS caseworkers may threaten that the parent needs to successfully complete many hours of substance abuse treatment and parenting classes or else they might ask the Michigan court to terminate parental rights. An attorney who regularly fights against CPS will know which threats are serious threats, and which ones are just tactics to get parents to participate in services. Let us use our knowledge to help you in your family protection matter.

The Family Defense Center breaks Child Protective Services cases down into two types. First are those cases where a child has a clear and objective injury, such as a broken bone. In those cases, the defense usually centers on straightforward issues, like why the injury occurred and who caused it. Second are those cases where there are vague allegations of current or even future child neglect. The defense in these cases usually centers on whether the parent is a good parent, which can be much harder to accomplish. Unfortunately, this second type of case “is almost exclusively brought against mothers only,” writes Redleaf. She also notes that past studies have suggested that with criminal child abuse charges, mothers tend to be held accountable for the acts of others (“failure to act”), while fathers are generally only held accountable for their own actions (physically injuring a child).

After researching, the Family Defense Center identified four categories of cases in which they believe mothers are subject to gender bias:

It is the group’s hope that knowledge of the gender bias against mothers in the child welfare system will spread across the public, including to policymakers. Redleaf writes, “But through the revelation that the system operates with unacceptable gender biases, incorrect stereotypes, and gender-plus discrimination, mothers who are caught up in the system through no fault of their own may gain new supporters.”

As experienced CPS defense attorneys, we see first-hand the disproportionate number of CPS cases against mothers. We work hard to protect our clients from the devastation that can be caused if CPS is left unchecked. Hiring a lawyer to fight against CPS is always recommended. Contact us today.

There tends to be a prevailing view with some government CPS employees that some parents who do not have a lot of money are somehow placing their children in abuse or neglect situations. At Kronzek & Cronkright, we understand that being in poverty and abusing/neglecting children are two very different things. We often disagree that children are abused or neglected when parents innocently do something of a minor nature, or forget to do something of a minor nature, and then find themselves labeled as child abusers.

We know that workers from Children’s Protective Services, or CPS, are more aggressive than ever when it comes to investigating allegations of child abuse and neglect. That is why we fight hard to termination of parental rights because we are family advocates who believe that, in most cases, children should be with their parents. We have an excellent record of keeping families together even when CPS is trying hard to pull them apart. Our team can be reached at 1 866-766-5245.

This program provides statewide and local assessment of parent representation systems. For example, beginning in 2008, Project staff studied the child welfare system in Michigan. They created a detailed analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of Michigan’s parent representation system and also proposed some reforms. The program trains attorneys, courts, and legislators and also provides resources—such as an email listserv—to CPS defense attorneys.

At Kronzek & Cronkright, we are pleased that more is being done to train attorneys who fight against Michigan’s Children’s Protective Services. There are not many attorneys in Michigan who make child neglect and child abuse cases a regular part of their practice like we do. Many court-appointed attorneys are untrained in this very specific area of family law. CPS is a tough and intimidating force and opposing them in court is not a job for anybody other than a skilled, trained CPS lawyer. The more the American Bar Association is able to train attorneys, the higher the quality of legal representation in family protective proceedings across Michigan will be. And if parents are represented by a more skilled attorney, perhaps more Michigan families will be kept intact. We strive to protect families every day from a system that can be over-reaching, over-reactive and just plain inappropriate.

Contact a CPS defense attorney today if you are fighting termination of parental rights, removal of a child from the home, foster care placement, or any other family protective issue involving CPS in Michigan.

Numerous state and federal legislators have responded to the crimes committed at Penn State (rape, assault, facilitating, aiding and abetting, failing to report under current law, covering up) by introducing legislation to enlarge laws on mandatory reporting of child abuse, and/or to increase penalties for failure to report. They are, perhaps out of unfamiliarity with the legal systems involved,
missing the target: mandatory reporting laws are intended primarily to protect children in their own families, and are most often used that way, to involved child protective services. Criminal actions should be dealt with by the criminal justice system.

I propose that the groups involved in these list serves, as well as other, join in issuing a public statement about mandatory reporting. I propose the following statement:

Increasing Mandatory Reporting in the Wake of Penn State – A Time Not to Take Action

INCREASING MANDATORY REPORTING OF ALLEGED CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT WILL HARM CHILDREN

In the wake of the Penn State cases, there have been calls to increase the number of people required to report any suspicion of child abuse or neglect. Some proposals would make every American a mandated reporter. There are a series of problems with these proposals:

All this is why, in this editorial: http://bsun.md/vuR5IP, the Baltimore Sun urged caution on adding tougher penalties to Maryland’s reporting laws. According to the Sun:

Similarly, in this editorial: http://bit.ly/u2ae4w, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette warns that:

About the author: David Lansner is a member of the New York City law firm of Lansner Kubitschek Schaffer and represents children and parents in neglect and abuse cases and in civil rights cases against child protective and foster care agencies. He is a co-chair of the NYS Citizen Review Panel on Child Protection.

If CPS is intruding into your life, contact a CPS defense lawyer today!

In the trial court, the judge ordered that the rights of the baby’s mother and father be terminated. The parents appealed the case to the Michigan Court of Appeals. They argued that there is no evidence against either of them that they were the perpetrator of any child abuse, and therefore the child should not be taken from them. However, the Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s ruling, stating that there need be no “definitive evidence regarding the identity of the perpetrator, where the evidence does show that the respondent or respondents must either have caused or failed to prevent the child’s injuries.” This ruling is one step closer to strict liability for unexplained infant injuries in Michigan. According to the Court of Appeals, the caretaking parent must have caused the injury, or he or she must have failed to prevent the injury. According to the Court of Appeals, either of these situations offer sufficient grounds for a judge to terminate a parent’s parental rights.

This creates an ominous situation for parents with a sudden unexplained injury to a child. In essence, any unexplained injury can be used to terminate a parent’s parental rights. Why? Because with this holding, the government does not have the burden of proving who harmed the child. So, for example, in the Ellis case the government was able to terminate the rights of both parents when presumably one of them had harmed the child.

As CPS defense lawyers, and advocates for parents, we are concerned about the effect this case will have on Michigan families. Many times, an injury of a baby or infant is unexplained. Nobody knows exactly what or who caused it. CPS and prosecutors have almost unlimited government resources to hire medical experts to testify in court that the injuries resulted from certain types of abuse. In order to avoid termination of parental rights, the defending parent must convince a jury or judge that the government’s medical expert is wrong, and also that they did not cause—or fail to prevent—any injuries to the child. Without the financial resources to hire their own medical experts and qualified attorneys, many low-income parents come to court at a severe disadvantage.

It is already difficult for parents with adequate means to locate and retain medical experts when child protection team doctors are stating strongly held opinions. Most courts will offer indigent parents very little assistance in obtaining medical experts. Retained, qualified medical experts and experienced trial attorneys can be very expensive. The net effect of rulings like the Ellis ruling is to shift the burden to the parents to prove who the perpetrator is or that the injury was not caused by abuse (in other words, that it was not intentionally inflicted).

In medically complex cases such as those involving infant fractures, scalding, Munchauesen Syndrome by Proxy type allegations, or Shaken Baby Syndrome, the defense often needs several expert witnesses to undo the harm caused by a single Child Protection Team physician. Often, highly specialized experts are needed. These expert witnesses can cost a family thousands of dollars which Courts often refuse to pay for.

At Kronzek & Cronkright, our attorneys have over 80 combined years of experience and we defend against false allegations of child abuse regularly. If you have need of an experienced and effective attorney who has been able to achieve numerous favorable results for families, feel free to call us for an immediate consultation.

On June 10th, law enforcement officials were dispatched to the home of Richard Gillis III, 22, after his four month-old son stopped breathing. Richard Gillis IV was immediately rushed to the hospital where he was put on life support and eventually died on Tuesday. According to medical examiners, the infant died from craniocerebral trauma, noting multiple injuries including: fractured ribs, skull fractures and cranial bleeding. Gillis allegedly slammed the child’s head against a table to get him to stop crying right before emergency medical crews were called. Also, because Gillis admitted to investigators that he plays roughly with his son, prompted investigators to believe that child abuse played a role here. As a result, police arrested Gillis, charging him with felony murder and first-degree child abuse.

Despite the charges against Gillis, medical examiners also noted that some injuries present were older ones. Evidence from social media also supports this claim, as the infant was in-and-out of doctor’s offices earlier this spring with a potentially fatal syndrome. During a lengthy hospital stay in March, physicians allegedly diagnosed the child with Ohtahara Syndrome, a “severely progressive” disease often causing death. Those that live through the disease are almost always left seriously disabled. Without a doubt, this information is certainly something that Gillis’ child abuse attorneys would want to present at trial.

However, the the Oakland County Sheriff Lt. Clay Jansson insists that although detectives were aware of a few pre-existing medical conditions, none were life-threatening. “The child did have some medical issues, but certainly none, based on what I’ve been told by experts, that would create a situation in which this child would die,” Jansson explained.

It will certainly be interesting to follow this case, as it is a perfect example of how serious charges of child abuse & neglect are. Not only is Gillis facing public humiliation and the termination his of parental rights, but a lengthy prison sentence as well. Because of the serious consequences associated with child abuse charges, it is essential for a defendant to seek experienced CPS attorneys in Michigan. Doing so immediately will not only provide the best legal advice and legal representation, but help keep you from behind bars and with your family.

A perfect example of this is shown in a recent child abuse case involving a Michigan mother who is accused of “exaggerating, fabricating, and/or inducing” illness in one of her two children, who is under the age of five. Generally, a child abuse attorney would immediately state that the defendant was suffering from Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, a disease where a parent or guardian intentionally produces symptoms of illness in another person to gain sympathy or attention. However, during the first trial session, prosecuting attorneys objected to using the scientific term in court, as it opens the doors allowing additional testimony to be presented. Family Court Judge Jack Arnold agreed, and instead chose the term “possible medical child abuse” to be considered by the jury.

Following an investigation extending over a year, Alma mother Katie Hendrick lost custody of her two children, aged six and eight. Between the ages of 11 months to five years-old, Hendrick’s daughter was hospitalized sometimes two to three times a month, undergoing several procedures and treatments. However, while one would expect that this little girl was very sick, she has very manageable health impairments–asthma, a small hearing problem, and narrowed bronchial tubes. As none of these ailments required the excessive hospitalization and medical treatment that the girl endured, a child abuse medical team at the University of Michigan hospital determined that Hendrick was medically abusing her child.

The child has not been hospitalized since leaving her mother’s care, so the battle against these charges will be difficult for Katie Hendrick–especially because the defense is not permitted to use the phrase “Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy” in court. Although this is a medically recognized disease, this case is currently not a criminal one. Although a criminal investigation is ongoing, this case is currently being presented in family court, debating whether Hendrick should regain custody of her children.

The Michigan child abuse attorney representing Hendrick maintains that her client was simply following doctor’s orders taking her daughter to requested examinations and tests. “No one’s happier that (the child’s) health is better than her mom,” Hendrick’s defense attorney stated. “She never asked for treatment. She followed doctor’s orders, she never initiated anything on her own.”

As this case progresses, Michigan child abuse & neglect attorneys will be watching to see whether this case stays in Family Court, or if it becomes a criminal one as well. If it does, it is likely that the term “Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy” will be difficult to avoid. It will certainly be interesting to see whether the judge presiding over a Criminal Court will allow the term to be used, or whether he or she will agree with the Family Court–this case could affect many parents or guardians accused of child abuse across the state!