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.
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Christina Kovats and Kristina Byers previously served time at the Indiana Women’s Prison, and this year they became advocates who worked to draft Indiana legislation aimed at dismantling the black-and-white mentality regarding termination of parental rights for incarcerated mothers. A new law now gives judges discretion in TPR cases involving parents behind bars.
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Children going into the state’s child welfare system end up more broken, attorneys suing the Department of Child Services say, because they are not being provided with therapy and treatment to help them heal. Rather, the lawyers contend, DCS is just finding beds to stick the kids in and forgetting about their other needs.
Read MoreMonroe County parents protesting the adoption of four of their 14 children could not sway the Indiana Court of Appeals that they were acting with the kids’ best interests in mind by seeking to withdraw their consents to adoption.
C.W.’s parental rights were terminated in October 2020. She appealed, but the Court of Appeals has affirmed.
Kids’ Voice of Indiana has signed a contract with the city of Indianapolis to provide guardian ad litem and court appointed special advocate services to Marion Superior Courts through the end of 2023, with the nonprofit set to receive $5.4 million for the remainder of 2021.
Like a couple deciding not to marry, Kids’ Voice of Indiana and Child Advocates were unable to work out a prenuptial agreement after weeks of negotiations and are now focused on who will take care of the children.
With just three weeks before its contract with the city of Indianapolis ends, Child Advocates is trying to negotiate a subcontract with Kids’ Voice so it can continue providing volunteers and staff to advocate for youngsters in Indiana’s child welfare system. Meanwhile, a report questioned longtime contractor Child Advocates’ cost overruns.
Child Advocates is asking the city of Indianapolis to delay plans to switch CASA providers until the end of year, citing questions about the transition, the ability of Kids’ Voice to handle the work and concerns over the risk to children.
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.
The Indiana Supreme Court deadlocked on a petition hear a case in which the termination of a mother’s parental rights was overturned on appeal — the second reversal of the trial court’s termination of the same mother’s parental rights in the case. An appeals court held that affirming the termination in this mother’s case would set “a terrifying precedent.”
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.
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.
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.
The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed on Tuesday the termination of a St. Joseph County father’s parent-child relationship with his daughter after finding no due process violations against him.
A couple’s argument that their drug test results amounted to hearsay and should not have been admitted in court failed to convince the Indiana Supreme Court, which found the drug test reports were admissible under the records of a regularly conducted business activity exception.
A Delaware County mother could not convince the Indiana Court of Appeals on Wednesday that a trial court erred in terminating her parental rights to her minor child with special needs. The appellate court found the termination was in the child’s best interest.
A father who disregarded court-mandated drug screens, left his child with a relative and refused to participate in services lost his termination of parental rights appeal Tuesday. One judge, however, would have reversed based on the facts of a case that began with the child’s removal due to mother’s drug use and what the dissenting judge saw as “an effort to punish Father.”
The Indiana Public Defender Commission last month released an analysis of caseloads in Indiana, showing disparities between actual and ideal workloads. That data has led public defense experts to one conclusion: there’s still work to be done to ensure indigent Hoosiers receive quality defense.
A father who twice was convicted of criminal charges related to domestic violence episodes against the mother of his toddler lost his appeal challenging a child in need of services determination as it relates to him.
Caseload standards imposed by the Indiana Public Defender Commission are likely higher than the caseloads public defenders should carry, meaning current practices do not give public defenders sufficient time to provide effective representation.
The Supreme Court of the United States is siding with two Catholic schools in a ruling that underscores that certain employees of religious schools, hospitals and social service centers can’t sue for employment discrimination. The high court’s ruling on Wednesday was 7-2.
A mother whose parental rights were terminated after she signed a form voluntarily relinquishing them may not have been properly advised, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday, reversing the termination and remanding the case to the trial court.