3rd JD - Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Schoharie, Sullivan & Ulster Counties

Family Courts:
Albany

Columbia

Greene

Rensselaer

Schoharie

Sullivan

Ulster

Districtwide Info:
Adoption

Child Protective Proceedings

Child Support

Custody / Visitation

Directions

Family Offense

Forms

General Info

Guardianship

Juvenile Delinquency

Paternity

PINS

Family Courts Child Protective Proceedings

A child protective proceeding is a proceeding designed to help protect a child from injury or maltreatment and help safeguard the child's mental and emotional health. It provides due process of law for determining when the State may intervene against the wishes of a parent on behalf of the child so that the child's needs are properly met.

A law guardian will be assigned to represent the child. A law guardian is an independent attorney who represents the interests of the child.

Allegations of abuse and or neglect must be proved at a fact-finding hearing. If the court finds that there has been abuse or neglect, the court will then hold a dispositional hearing to determine what order of disposition should be made. At this hearing, the court will consider the seriousness of the abuse or neglect, the potential danger to the child and the child's best interests.

If the parent or guardian is found to have neglected or abused the child, the court may enter an order of disposition suspending judgment against the parent or guardian for up to one year on certain conditions, release the child to the custody of his or her parent(s), place the child in the custody of a relative or other suitable person or the Commission of Social Services, make an order of protection which sets forth reasonable conditions of behavior to be observed by the parent or person legally responsible for the child, or place the person before the court under supervision of a child protective agency.

At the end of the one-year placement, the child may be returned to the parent or guardian. However, the child protective agency may file a petition to extend the child's stay in foster care. The child protective agency must explain why it feels the child should not be returned to the parent or guardian at that time and must present a plan for the permanent care of the child. The plan may include a later return of the child to the parent or guardian or the filing of a petition to terminate the rights of the parents and approve the release of the child for adoption. The court must review the plan for the child every year, and may continue the child in placement until the child reaches the age of 18.