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The Indiana Supreme Court will be hearing oral arguments in November for a child in need of services case after determining it merited a hearing.
The high court invites participation of amicus briefs.
It also encourages the submission of joint briefs if similarly aligned entities want to appear as amici.
Any amicus brief must not exceed 4,200 words, exclusive of the items listed in Appellate Rule 44(C), and must be accompanied by the verified statement of word count. Amici are due on Oct. 4.
The parties can file a single response brief by Oct. 24. The briefs can not exceed 4,200 words in addressing the amicus briefs.
The hearing is scheduled for Nov. 19 at 10 a.m.
The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed the case in its memorandum opinion last May.
According to court records, J.S., the adoptive mother of E.K., had challenged whether the Whitley Circuit Court erred in adjudicating the child as a CHINS and if it abused its discretion by denying her motion to conform the Indiana Department of Child Services second CHINS petition to the evidence.
Since adopting E.K. in 2011, the child engaged in inappropriate and often violent behaviors, requiring law enforcement assistance on several occasions.
Both J.S. and A.K., the adoptive father, worked with various service providers over the years to provide the child with effective treatment and care.
In 2020, J.S. and A.K. divorced and J.S. was awarded primary physical custody of E.K. and his four siblings.
In July 2023, E.K. was set to be discharged from a behavioral center after attacking A.K., they could not find a safe place for the child so they requested DCS’s help to find a suitable placement.
DCS found a foster family for the child and filed a petition alleging E.K. was a CHINS.
In August 2023, the juvenile court dismissed the petition at DCS’s request, and the next day, the agency told the parents that one of them needed to pick up E.K. from foster care by 4:30 p.m. that day. When neither of the parents picked up E.K. by 4:30 p.m., DCS filed a second CHINS petition.
The case is In the Matter of E.K. (Minor Child), Child in Need of Services; J.S. (Mother) v. Indiana Department of Child Services, 24S-JC-300.
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