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Addiction court intervenes in cases of child abuse or neglect, making decisions about custody and foster care. Social workers assess the family, recommending services or removal if necessary. The goal is to rehabilitate families, but in extreme cases, the court may permanently remove the child.
Cases of child abuse, neglect or neglect are heard in addiction court. The primary function of this division of family law is to intervene in situations where a minor has suffered serious harm which was intentionally inflicted by a parent or legal guardian, or where harm is imminent as a result of unwillingness of the parent or guardian to provide basic services needs of the child. In this court, important decisions are made regarding whether a parent maintains custody of the child or places a child in the foster care system.
Addiction court may assume jurisdiction over the care and custody of a minor child when a social worker files a court petition. Before this happens, a social worker will usually assess the family’s home environment. This often occurs after an initial complaint has been made by the child victim, an affected individual or an institution such as a hospital or the child’s school.
If, after the social worker’s assessment of the home, she feels that the parent is willing to cooperate, the social worker takes on a supervisory role and visits the home regularly. Depending on the family’s situation, appropriate recommendations can be made. Counseling services and emergency financial or housing services may be recommended. If the parents are uncooperative and the social worker deems judicial intervention necessary to protect the child from serious physical or emotional harm, the child may be removed from the home. The child’s care would then be supervised by the Addiction Court.
A combination of lawyers, social workers, investigators and child advocates work in unison to assist the judge in making appropriate decisions regarding a child’s welfare. Ideally, the goal of the addiction court is to keep the family together, not to punish the parents or impose criminal penalties. As long as the child’s parents are willing to cooperate with the court’s recommendations, a comprehensive plan to rehabilitate the family unit is usually ordered.
The stipulations of a rehabilitation plan might include drug and alcohol treatment, family counseling, or the creation and maintenance of housing to ensure a suitable home environment. During the implementation phase of a court-ordered plan, the court may allow the child to go home. Alternatively, the court could appoint a guardian for the child, and parents could be allowed supervised visits until the issues are resolved.
The addiction court would usually much prefer to see a child return to his or her home, but there are situations where the court-ordered plan is not followed in good faith and it would be considered unsafe for the child to return home. In extreme cases, the addiction court judge is responsible for deciding on the permanent removal of the child from the family home. This could result in the loss of parental rights and physical custody of the parents.
Not all cases that are referred to addiction court are the result of physical abuse. In cases of neglect, such as when a parent or guardian chooses to waive parental rights or when a parent is jailed, the child could become a court dependent. The decision to place the child in foster care until adoption can be arranged or to allow a family member to assume custody would be made by the addiction court.
