An important case out of Michigan
.....and other child welfare news for July, 2025.
Kudos to folks over at The Imprint for focusing on the issue of children abandoned to the foster care system by parents of children with complex behavioral needs who simply cannot keep their children or themselves safe. The article references a recent decision by the full bench of the Michigan Supreme Court, In re Lange. The case involved a situation I’ve seen much too often. A parent of a child with a significant trauma, mental health, and/or autism history goes through the agony of seeing that child lose control and act violently toward property, people, or pets. After multiple visits by police and multiple mental health crisis placements, the family reaches a limit and refuses to bring the child home from his or her latest inpatient commitment. The child protection agency files civil or criminal abandonment or neglect proceedings against the family.
In the Lange case, a child with a long history of behavioral issues was kept for some time at a local hospital after trying to burn down his family’s home. Neither the child welfare agency nor the hospital ever provided inpatient treatment for the child, as they were apparently unable to find a suitable residential treatment facility; rather, after a period of time they “cleared” him to return home. Afraid for their own safety and his, the parents refused to come get him, and the child welfare agency began dependency proceedings based on parental neglect of the child’s needs.
The Supreme Court held that the parents’ refusal to bring home in such a situation did not constitute neglect because they were not able to do so without endangering themselves and others in the home. A concurring justice decried the fact that Michigan has no law allowing parents who are caught in such a situation to obtain residential care without being charged with abandoning their child.
As the Imprint story notes, the holding has spurred calls for such a law.
In other news:
Japanese research suggests the ability to identify children who have suffered maltreatment by observing their behaviors.
The recent federal budget bill appears to cut off Headstart participation for undocumented children. I wonder if this will end up being a Supreme Court case that tests the ongoing validity of Plyler v. Doe (1982), which prohibited states from refusing to educate undocumented children in public schools. Is the state vs. federal funding difference a reason to distinguish?
In our work with mandated reporters, the question often arises as to whether it’s necessary to report historic child abuse by a victim who is now an adult. My gut feeling has always been that the reporting statute is designed to protect children from ongoing threats. As my law partner Debbie Ausburn recently discussed in her blog, the Minnesota Supreme Court says my gut is wrong. In that state, the Court held, a therapist is required to report that an adult disclosed to her that she had suffered sexual abuse as a minor.
In Kansas, the defense attorney in a capital child murder case says the state’s child protection agency failed the victim.
A UK Parliamentary committee worries that proposed legislation to mandate reporting of child abuse may be too weak.
Boulder County, Colorado, is ending its “public” foster care program, noting a 47% decline since 2021 in the number of children in care. Foster services will continue to be provided by CPAs.
Michigan continues to struggle with children sleeping in offices due to a lack of proper foster placements.
As of this writing, it’s expected that a federal judge will enjoin enforcement of a new Washington law requiring clergy to divulge information about child abuse learned by the priest or pastor in the confessional or in the course of spiritual counseling.
Advocates are concerned that federal officials who are doing “wellness checks” on unaccompanied minors released to sponsors are using it as a pretext for immigration enforcement. Before they start trying to shut these efforts down, they might consider the well-documented problem of these young people having been placed with unvetted sex and labor traffickers.
NPR interviews an author who contends in a new book that the foster care system harms young people.
Finally, a bizarre story out of California — 21 children from surrogate mothers, most of them under age 3, were removed from a couple that had apparently taken guardianship of them.
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Tom