• Estate Planning

    Slide title

    Write your caption here
    Button
  • Child Custody

    Slide title

    Write your caption here
    Button
  • Child Support

    Slide title

    Write your caption here
    Button
  • Child Protection

    Slide title

    Write your caption here
    Button
  • Step Parent Adoption

    Slide title

    Write your caption here
    Button
  • Divorce

    Slide title

    Write your caption here
    Button

ASSOCIATIONS

American Bar Association logo
American Bar Association logo
American Bar Association logo

Lisa Rutland - Parent Attorney - Family Defender

Child Welfare – Child Protection - Permanency

Any time child protection knocks on your door, the experience can be terrifying, emotionality challenging, and traumatic for all members of the family. The local child welfare agency must assess allegations of child abuse and neglect and take steps necessary to protect children whose health and welfare is immediately endangered.

Allegation of child maltreatment include:


  • Physical Abuse
  • Sexual Abuse
  • Domestic Violence
  • Emotional Abuse
  • Neglect (lack of supervision, food, clothing, shelter or medical care)
  • Failure to Protect from Harm
  • Use of Alcohol or Drugs that adversely affects the child
  • Juvenile Delinquency
  • Educational Neglect or Truancy

Child Welfare Matters include “family assessments” or “child maltreatment investigations” which may result the following court actions:


  • A Petition alleging your children are Children in Need of Protection or Services.
  • A Petition to Transfer of Permanent Legal and Physical Custody of your children to a relative or other person. 
  • A Petition to Terminate of Parental Rights (TPR) to your children.

Child protection workers may ask the court to direct a parent to do or refrain from doing something. Child protection may seek to remove your children from your care, custody and control to place your children in non-relative foster care. Sometimes child protection may immediately seek to permanently sever your parental rights to your children.

Whether the local child protection agency is investigating allegations of maltreatment or threatening you with court action seeking to remove your children from your care, custody and control… quality legal representation matters.

Legal Representation for Grandparents & Kin

If your adult child, relative, or family friend is involved in a CHIPS case it may be in the children’s best interest that you intervene in the court proceedings. Intervention into the CHIPS Matter may lead to your ability to serve as a relative or kinship placement and may help identify you as a permanency resource for the children in the event the children are not reunified with their parent.

Share by: