UPDATES IN MICHIGAN FAMILY LAW

The Abuse Neglect Proceeding: What Does "Unsubstantiated" Mean?

Parents often ask me about whether or not they should report suspected child abuse. These questions often arise in the context of a pending divorce case or after a child custody proceeding or a custody modification motion has been filed. I routinely recommend that the concerned parent figure out a way to have any report to Child Protective Services be made by a mandated reporter. Why do I recommend this? Too often, in my experience, CPS or the Friend of the Court or the judge in the case may not believe the report. When a CPS referral is made and the report comes back in 60 days (or less) as "unsubstantiated," that report may negatively affect a parent's custody rights. If the judge thinks that a parent is making false allegations of abuse, the judge may well rule in favor of the other parent when making custody or parenting time rulings.

"Unsubstantiated." What does this term mean in this context? Professor Daniel Pollack and Lori Kornblum, J.D. discuss the literal and substantive meaning of the term in a recent article.

From NCMEC | The Online Enticement of Children

A message from NCMEC: [The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children:

"To better understand the evolving trend of "online enticement", NCMEC analyzed over 5,800 reports made to the CyberTipline in 2015 by Internet companies, other agencies and the public about the interactions and exchange of information by/between individuals regarding the online enticement of children. The findings of this in-depth analysis further substantiated online enticement as a complex form of victimization.

Image credit: https://enoughisenoughau.blogspot.com/2011/08/online-safety.html

Stopping Sexual Abuse of Children

 

Courts are seeing more allegations of child sexual abuse these days in child custody and neglect / abuse cases are before them. When should child protective services workers substantiate abuse because the forensic evidence is there rather than writing the allegations off as being prompted by a parent seeking custody?

Children today are at much greater risk because of the ability of so many to be connected through email, text and social media--and the potential for them to become victims of sexual predators.

And then there are the sexual predators who lurk among the people parents trust the most with their children: teachers, coaches, priests.

The news reports today increasingly are exposing persons who have abused that trust and molested children.

David Leonhardt writes in the New York Times Op-Ed Section today about his personal experiences at the Horace Mann School where a conspiracy of silence allowed teachers to sexually molest children.

The truth came out in 2012. This happened to be about the same time that The Boston Globe exposed the decades of coverup by the Diocese of Boston of predatory priests. 

Sometimes "silence is golden." However, when people who are in charge conceal sexual predatory conduct, it can be the cause of life-long suffering for the victims of such coverups. You can read that NY Times article here.Leonhardt, D. (2017, November 6). The Conspiracy of Inaction on Sexual Abuse and Harassment. The New York Times. Retrieved November 6, 2017, from https://tinyurl.com/y7ybpsxv

 

How to banish child sexual groomers

From the website of YouthToday.org, by our regular guest blogger, Professor Daniel Pollack:

Cockroaches, those infamous, hearty and adaptable bugs, can withstand hostile temperatures that few other creatures can endure. Chameleons, known for their ability to change their appearance, can effortlessly merge with their environment. In the desert? Go brown. In the jungle? Go green.

Child sexual groomers are far superior to roaches and chameleons. The challenge to law enforcement and the general public is that groomers hide in plain sight, not by enduring intense scrutiny or by blending in, but by appearing so positively friendly and caring.

The news headlines from just the past few weeks give a vivid picture of the many faces of child sexual groomers:

Witness Tampering | Jail Calls: What Do Kids Have to Do with It

Witness Tampering: In 2011, Professor Amy Bonomi, Professor and Chair of Human Development and Family Studies at Michigan State University and David Martin, King County (Washington) published the field’s first analysis of jail calls that occur between domestic abusers and their victims; outlining a five-stage model describing how abusers manipulate their victims into changing their stories to lessen impending criminal charges. Recently, a new commentary has been published by Bonomi and Martin expanding upon their earlier research. Professor Bonomi has graciously approved the sharing of this information on my blog pre-publication, and a link to the article will be live for a week or two. After that, it's a "pay-per-download."

Professor Bonomi states:

"As professionals working in the field, a common question we are asked when leading an investigation and providing expert testimony is how abusers involve their children (directly or indirectly) during jail calls.

Foster Parenting & Screening for Criminal or Child Abuse/Neglect History

A recent article published in Youth Today might interest you: “Child Maltreatment History Should Be a Bar to Being a Foster Parent.” The authors are Daniel Pollack and Noy Davis.

It’s just common sense: An adult's past criminal history or history of child maltreatment is not to be balanced against the safety of a child. This is not to say a person with any criminal record should be barred as a foster parent, but certainly an applicant with a substantiated history of child maltreatment, no matter how far in the distant past, should be permanently barred.

Foster care agencies have a legitimate reason to inquire about a prospective foster parent’s criminal and child maltreatment history, be it an inquiry, arrest, charge or conviction. Why? Quite simply, the agency seeks to maximize child safety.

The entire article may be read on the website of Youth Today at this URL:
https://youthtoday.org/2016/06/child-maltreatment-history-should-be-a-bar-to-being-a-foster-parent/

Daniel Pollack, MSSA (MSW), JD is a professor at Yeshiva University, School of Social Work, in New York City and a frequent expert witness in child welfare cases. Contact information: dpollack@yu.edu, 212-960-0836

Anonymous Versus Identified Reporting of Child Maltreatment

The child abuse and neglect hotline rings. All other factors being equal, does it matter if the reporter is anonymous or identified?

Effective child maltreatment investigation relies to a significant extent upon information supplied by anonymous reporters. Reliance on these reporters presents the child protection, law enforcement, and judicial systems with a challenge: giving proper weight to such reports while safeguarding everyone’s constitutional rights.

During FFY 2012, child protective services agencies received 3.4 million referrals involving approximately 6.3 million children. Among the 46 states that reported both screened-in and screened-out referrals, 62 percent of referrals were screened in and 38 percent were screened out.[1] “For 2012, professionals made three-fifths (58.7%) of reports of alleged child abuse and neglect. The term professional means that the person had contact with the alleged child maltreatment victim as part of his or her job. This term includes teachers, police officers, lawyers, and social services staff. Nonprofessionals—including friends, neighbors, and relatives—submitted one-fifth of reports (18.0%). Unclassified sources submitted the remainder of reports (23.3%). Unclassified includes anonymous, “other,” and unknown report sources” [emphasis added].[2] 

The Importance of Child Abuse Prevention

Today's Guest Author is Sean Morris.

Child abuse comes in many different forms, but knowing the definition of child mistreatment, how to prevent it, and how to promote positive change can make all the difference for a family.

Abuse can be sexual, physical, or emotional in nature and can include neglect. Studies show that all of these can lead to adverse effects on children later in life, including substance abuse and other risk-taking behavior, social disorders, teenage pregnancy, anxiety, depression, and suicide, so it is important to stop the cycle as soon as possible. According to the CDC, mistreatment can include:

●    Physical abuse, such as hitting, kicking, or shaking
●    Neglect of any kind, including not meeting a child’s needs for food, shelter, clothing, or education
●    Emotional abuse, such as shaming, threatening, or name-calling
●    Sexual abuse, including physically abusing a child or exposing him/her to sex acts

Photo by Pixabay

PA Man with Twelve Young Girls in House Charged with Statutory Rape

On this Father's Day 2016, I read a post online at PBS Newshour that made me feel incredibly sad. Last week, police arrested Lee Kaplan, 51 for statutory sexual assault after they found 12 young girls living in his Feasterville, Pennsylvania, house. The girls ranged in age from six months to 18 years. The 18-year-old girl (unrelated to Kaplan) told police that she and Kaplan had two children together, a six-month-old and a 3-year-old.

The prosecutor in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, also seeks additional charges of aggravated indecent assault, corruption of minors and unlawful contact with a minor against Kaplan.

Photo from Human Trafficking Awareness

Sexual Assault of Minors in Rural Areas

    While sexual assaults of minors may not make the national news very often, minors in rural areas are frequently sexually assaulted, according to Professor Daniel Pollock. Pollock's recent article "Sexual assault of minors in rural areas: The role of departments of human services." Two such cases have made the local news in the Traverse City, Michigan area in the past two weeks. Thus, the question about how many minors in other rural communities are affected resonates with me.
    Megan’s Law, adopted in 1996, created a nationwide sex offender registry. The law prohibits registered sex offenders from residing within 2,000 feet of a school or park and requires registration with local police authorities and notification of past victims of the offender’s presence in the neighborhood. This, Pollock states, is not enough protection for children living in rural areas.

Monitoring Community Living for the Disabled

The lack of uniformity in policies regarding monitoring of licensed community living arrangements across states and the fact that many states require only minimal supervision raise concerns for parents of developmentally  disabled adolescents and young adults. For instance, California requires multiple home visits per year, some of which must be unannounced. Illinois only requires that the state check on its licensed community living arrangements once every three years. No unannounced visits are required.

It is inevitable that these parents need to prepare their children to be on their own one day. They are worried that one day, some unscrupulous person will take advantage of her sexually. Citing an article in Journal of Family Violence, Professor Daniel Pollack and attorney Jonathan G. Lerner state that among the developmentally disabled, as many as 83 percent of the females and 32 percent of the males are victims of sexual assault. Adolescents and young adults are particularly vulnerable.

 

What needs to be done? States with minimal supervision need to enact legislation that will mandate more supervision, particularly unannounced visits. See “Do States Adequately Oversee People with Developmental Disabilities in Community Settings?”

Guest bloggers today are Daniel Pollack, MSSA, J.D., a professor at the School of Social Work, Yeshiva University in New York City, and a frequent expert witness in cases involving child welfare and developmental disabilities and Jonathan G. Lerner, a licensed attorney in New York and Connecticut.

Videotaping Child Sexual Abuse Investigation Interviews

Today's guest author is Daniel Pollack, professor, Yeshiva University, School of Social Work, New York City, and a frequent expert witness in child abuse and foster care abuse cases.

From a family lawyer's point of view, the adherence to standards and protocol when a child is being interviewed during allegations of child sexual abuse can spell the difference between whether a conclusion drawn by the interviewer can be said to be valid or invalid. In order to be certain that the protocol is followed, what could be better (especially since no lawyer and no parent may be present during the interview) than having a videotape that can later be viewed to document the procedure followed?

Protection for Individuals with Profound Disabilities

There are no uniform data at the national level that provide us with a global picture of the prevalence and incidence of abuse and maltreatment of people who are severely disabled. We know these numbers are high. We also know that perpetrators are often the people closest to the disabled person such as guardians, caregivers, neighbors or acquaintances, family members, healthcare providers or other residents. 

In a recent article, Daniel Pollack, MSSA (MSW), JD and professor at the School of Social Work of Yeshiva University, examines the reasons why it is so difficult to quantify these abuses at a national level and what can be done to better protect people with profound disability. 

Download Comprehensive protection needed for individuals with development disabilities at risk of abuse and neglect

Cite as: Pollock, Daniel. "Comprehensive Protection Needed for Individuals with Profound Developmental Disabilities at Risk of Abuse and Neglect." Policy & Practice 72, no. 6 (2014): 36-37.

Penalties for Falsely Reporting Child Abuse

Today's guest author is Professor Daniel Pollack, a professor at Yeshiva University’s School of Social Work in New York City and a frequent expert witness in child welfare case.       _____________

The Jerry Sandusky criminal trial is over; the civil lawsuits are in active settlement mode. Undoubtedly, the entire country is more tuned into child abuse than it ever was. The National Conference of State Legislatures reports that about 105 bills on the reporting of suspected child abuse and neglect have been introduced in 2012 legislative sessions in 30 states and the District of Columbia.[i] All of them include a penalty for failing to report suspected child abuse.

Unsubstantiated CPS Reports Lead to Change in Custody

The court of appeals released an opinion on July 17, 2012 affirming the trial court's decision to award sole legal and sole physical custody to the father and to suspend the parenting time of the mother until further order of the court where the mother had made numerous unsubstantiated CPS reports alleging sexual abuse of the children.

Unsubstantiated allegations were made to CPS in 2009. It was recommended that defendant mother’s parenting time be suspended until further order and until after she engaged in counseling to address her suspected Munchausen syndrome by proxy.

In September 2010, the father moved for a change in custody based largely on the continued and unsubstantiated allegations of sexual abuse. Following four days of hearings on custody, the hearing referee issued a report and recommendation finding that plaintiff should be granted sole legal and sole physical custody of both minor children.

Penn State Tragedy | Who Knew What & When | Failure to Protect

An independent investigation of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal that rocked the university last fall has just been released. According to the 267 page report, for more than a decade, the most senior officials at Penn State University failed  to take any steps to protect the children victimized by Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno's longtime head assistant football coach. 

Louis J. Freeh, the former federal judge and director of the F.B.I. who oversaw the investigation said: “Our most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky’s child victims.”  * * * “The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized.”