Child welfare - The Indiana Lawyer

Justices: Juvenile convicted of attempted murder failed to show parent ‘essential’

March 25, 2021 | Olivia Covington

When juvenile defendants are tried in adult court, parents who are also witnesses may be excluded from witness-separation orders if their children establish them as “essential” to the presentation of evidence, the Indiana Supreme Court has ruled. However, applying that holding to the facts of the case before them, justices concluded an Elkhart County teen failed to establish his mom was “essential” to his attempted murder defense.

Boy, 14, faces murder, molesting counts in girl’s death

March 23, 2021 | Associated Press

A 14-year-old boy was charged with murder and child molestation Monday in the asphyxiation death of a 6-year-old girl in northern Indiana, prosecutors said.

Left out of COVID relief, Legal Services Corp. prepares $1B budget request

March 22, 2021 | Marilyn Odendahl

Legal Services Corp., the national funder for legal aid providers across the country, including Indiana Legal Services, was unable to get additional funding through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, but the organization is planning to nearly double its annual budget request to more than $1 billion for fiscal year 2022.

Man sentenced 75 years for bomb threats, extortion

March 15, 2021 | Associated Press

A California man accused of making online threats to bomb two suburban Indianapolis high schools in addition to a slew of other crimes was sentenced Friday by a federal judge to 75 years in prison.

Police: Suspect detained in Indianapolis quadruple slaying

March 15, 2021 | Associated Press

A man wanted in connection with the disappearance of a baby girl from the scene of a quadruple slaying was taken into custody Sunday, Indianapolis Police said.

7th Circuit: State courts, not federal, should rule on counsel for kids in CHINS cases

March 8, 2021 | Olivia Covington

The question of whether children in CHINS proceedings should be appointed counsel is best left for state court resolution, the 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled, finding no “civil Gideon” principle requiring counsel in child welfare cases.

Father must consent to stepfather’s adoption of children, appellate court rules

March 4, 2021 | Olivia Covington

The adoption of two children by their stepfather after their mother died cannot proceed without their father’s consent, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Thursday, reversing a trial court order.

Suit: Siblings claim DCS knew of adoptive parents’ abusive past

February 18, 2021 | Marilyn Odendahl

Three adults who claim they were abused as children have filed a lawsuit against their adoptive parents as well as the Indiana Department of Child Services and the department’s county director and caseworkers, claiming the state agency and its employees were the “proximate cause of the shocking abuse” that the plaintiffs suffered.

COA upholds denial of grandparents’ adoption petition

February 17, 2021 | Olivia Covington

A request by grandparents to adopt a grandson found to be a child in need of services was properly denied, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday, upholding a trial court’s determination that adoption was not in the child’s best interests.

Allen County judge applications open as Pratt retires

February 12, 2021 | IL Staff

The pending retirement of Allen Superior Judge Charles F. Pratt from the court’s Family Relations Division will create a judicial vacancy, and qualified candidates have until 1 p.m. March 10 to apply, the Indiana Supreme Court announced Friday.

Mother’s voluntary termination of rights reversed for lack of advisement

January 13, 2021 | Olivia Covington

A Henry County mother will get the opportunity to challenge the voluntary relinquishment of her parental rights after the Indiana Court of Appeals found that she was not given a proper advisement before signing a relinquishment form.

CHINS filings stabilize after surge in recent years

January 6, 2021 | Katie Stancombe

Filings for child in need of services and termination of parental rights cases have swung in opposite directions in the past few years, according to statistics released recently by the Indiana Supreme Court.

‘It all starts with the family’

December 23, 2020 | Marilyn Odendahl

With a pending move to a new courthouse, Marion County Courts are launching a new family division that aims to follow a one family, one judge model.

Appeals court affirms termination of mother’s parental rights

December 21, 2020 | Olivia Covington

A Marion County mother has failed to convince the Indiana Court of Appeals that her parental rights over her 13-year-old daughter should be reinstated.

Justices reverse custody order after judge ‘conflated’ contempt with best interests

December 18, 2020 | Olivia Covington

A mother has regained legal custody of her child for now after the Indiana Supreme Court reversed a trial court order Friday, finding that a lower court judge improperly “coupled” a finding of contempt against the mother with an analysis into the child’s best interests.

COA affirms denial of motion to suppress in child porn case

December 16, 2020 | Katie Stancombe

The Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed the denial of a Dubois County man’s second motion to suppress evidence found on a hard drive he owned that tied him to charges of child pornography.

Nestle, Cargill at high court in child labor case

December 2, 2020 | Associated Press

The Supreme Court of the United States seemed concerned Tuesday about the impact of siding with food giants Nestle and Cargill and ending a lawsuit that claims they knowingly bought cocoa beans from farms in Africa that used child slave labor.

Fostering hope: Adoption attorney releases documentary series on Indiana’s foster care system

November 11, 2020 | Katie Stancombe

The importance of working for social change runs deep in the veins of adoption attorney Natalie Chavis, who’s advocating for foster awareness through a new documentary series.

Michigan woman gets 13 years in Indiana death of girl, 10

November 6, 2020 | Associated Press

A Michigan woman has been sentenced to 13 years in prison after pleading guilty to neglect charges in the drug-related Indiana death of her boyfriend’s 10-year-old daughter.

In ‘painful’ case posing ‘terrifying precedent’, COA reverses mom’s TPR, lets dad’s stand

October 21, 2020 | Katie Stancombe

The Indiana Court of Appeals in a decision admonishing the Indiana Department of Child Services has reversed the termination of a mother’s parental rights to her son, while upholding the termination of his father’s parental rights in a separate case.

Articles