Thursday, 23 October 2014

All About Juvenile Dependency Cases

By Young Lindsay


Child abuse or neglect is an issue that has been very rampant in the world today with rates that are alarmingly going up. When a child has gotten abused by his parent or guardian and files a complaint in court, this becomes what is known as a juvenile dependency case. For those who would want to know more about this kind of case, here is some information that one should know about.

Now only recognized minors under the law that are still dependent on the protection of their parents can file this kind of a case. Now the two instances when one may file the case would be if the child in question is neglected meaning not given basic needs or abused. If the court finds out that all these claims are valid, legal action will definitely take place.

First, the court will investigate the case along with a social worker to see the validity of the complaint. If the judge does find the case perfectly valid, then the court will send the victim to a foster care family and let him stay there temporarily. The foster care family will act as the official guardians of the victim temporarily up until the judge has already made his last decision on the verdict of the case.

Now just in case the original family of the child would want him back, the court may allow it to happen after an evaluation first. The social worker will work closely with the judge in investigating whether the home is a safe place for the kid. If ever the parents have passed, then the child will be sent back to his home.

Now if the judge really finds that the home is definitely not suitable for the kid to live in, then the court will not allow the parents to take their kid back. From there, the court will create a permanent plan for the child. A permanent plan is when the court will decide as to where the child will live in the long term.

Now if one is wondering who will be the one to the do inquiries about where the child will go, it will be the social worker. The social worker is the one to hear the story of both sides and will give an evaluation to the judge. With the information gotten from the social worker, the court will make the decision.

Now the judge will be the one who will be making the very last decision of what happens. Now one very important thing to remember is that in a juvenile court, there is no jury which means that the decision of the judge is the golden word. No one can argue with his decision.

So basically, this is the legal process of this type of case. Now when it comes to abused or neglected children, the court will always follow this due process. Once the process has been done, then the decision will be made right away.




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