What Does It Take for a Child to Be Taken Away Immediately? What Does a DCFS Investigation Look Like? When a call comes into DCFS, they need to determine whether there’s enough information to investigate the incident or not. If there is enough information to investigate, they may show up at…
Can You Get Your Kids Taken Away for Having a Messy Home? The Short Answer Is Yes Yes, if your home is unsanitary enough, your children can be removed from your custody, at least temporarily, until your home is in a condition that is safe enough to house your children….
Can you put your child up for adoption at any age? While custody (or guardianship) may be given to someone else, in a situation where the child’s parents are unable to care for the child, voluntarily giving away an older child may be legally challenging. TL; DR: No, Not Really …
When It’s Someone Else’s Child Whether or not you should call DCFS as soon as possible will depend on your situation. If you have good reason to believe that a child is experiencing abuse and/or neglect, and the child is not your child, contacting DCFS is not necessarily a bad…
Divorce and drug addiction. How It All Starts Addiction can become a risk for anyone who’s struggling with a difficult time—and divorce is usually a difficult time for most people. This can mean that addictions are more likely to develop during the divorce process. Of course, not everyone develops an…
While some parents have no problem with getting therapy for their children, such as therapy and/or medication, other parents have concerns. This has led some parents to wonder, do parents have a legal obligation to get mental health help for their children? Like most things in family law, the answer…
What does DCFS look for when they’re investigating? How Investigations Begin When a report is filed with DCFS, the report will need to be reviewed to ensure that there’s actually enough information to investigate the case. Assuming there is enough information, DCFS will likely show up unannounced at the child’s…
Does DCFS Remove Overweight Children Childhood obesity is becoming an increasingly large issue. Across the globe, rates of childhood obesity are increasing at an unprecedented rate. Not only are the rates of obesity increasing, but the rates of obesity-related complications are also increasing. If your child is struggling with weight-related…
Can Biological Parents Change Their Mind? Can biological parents change their minds after giving the child up for adoption? Well, in most cases, it is not an option. What Does “Adoption” Mean? In most cases, adoption is final and cannot be “undone.” When you give a child up for adoption,…
We hear a lot about children experiencing horrendous physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. However, we rarely hear horror stories about children experiencing emotional abuse. Yet, emotional abuse is real, and it can cause trauma that can take years of therapy to heal. Knowing just how dangerous emotional abuse can…
How to Survive and Thrive When Your Marriage Ends