Michigan Child Protective Services is an agency charged with keeping children safe from abuse and neglect. Its goal is to protect children and ensure they grow up in a healthy and safe environment. CPS works with families, law enforcement, and the Michigan legal system to identify and treat child abuse and neglect while giving families the resources and help they need to keep them together.
At the Law Office of Jodi L. Hemingway, PLLC, our family law legal team wants to help you understand what CPS case workers look for when investigating allegations of child neglect in Michigan.
The Four Types of Neglect that CPS Looks for in Michigan
Neglect is a form of abuse. Child neglect is typically defined as the failure to meet a child’s basic needs. Neglect remains one of the most common forms of child abuse. Generally, four types of neglect impact children’s growth and development. These four types of neglect include:
Physical Neglect
Physical neglect is the failure to provide a child with food, shelter, and clothing necessary to sustain life and good health. Examples of physical neglect can also include lack of supervision, inadequate nutrition, improper or inadequate hygiene, and unsafe living conditions.
Educational Neglect
Educational neglect occurs when a child’s educational needs are not met, which can severely impact their development and future. Chronic truancy, failure to enroll a child in school, or ignoring a child’s special educational needs are signs of educational neglect.
Emotional Neglect
The failure to meet a child’s emotional needs and to provide psychological support can rise to the level of emotional neglect. Psychological neglect can significantly impact a child’s health and development. This type of neglect can include not addressing a child’s substance abuse issues, offering inadequate affection, and ignoring a child’s mental health needs or conditions.
Medical Neglect
Medical neglect is the failure to obtain medical care for a child to the point of disfigurement, bodily harm, impairment to mental or physical growth, or death. Ignoring a child’s medical needs, not administering prescribed medications, failing to obtain medical care in emergencies, or failing to follow medical advice can be considered medical neglect.
CPS in Michigan is vigilant about identifying and addressing these types of neglectful situations to ensure the safety and well-being of children. If CPS finds evidence of neglect, it can assign the case to a numbered category based on the seriousness of the neglect. In Michigan, these categories are numbered one through five. A category five assignment means that no evidence of neglect was found. Category one means CPS found that a preponderance of the evidence revealed that the child is not safe and the neglect is significant enough to warrant a court petition asking the court to remove the child from the home.
Contact a Michigan CPS Defense Attorney for Help
Talk to the compassionate legal team at Hemingway Legal if you face a CPS investigation for child neglect and need help protecting your family. We commit ourselves to protecting your rights and helping you deal with the Michigan CPS and court systems.
Contact our office today to request a confidential legal consultation.
