Parent Must Be Given Opportunity to Be Heard Before Child Is Labeled CHINS
General
September 28, 2011
In my practice, I do not interact much with the Department of Child Services in CHINS cases. Therefore, I was surprised that the Indiana Court of Appeals had to reach the decision it did today in In re T.N., ___ N.E.2d ___ (Ind. Ct. App. 2011), Cause No. 49A05-1101-JC-15. In that case, the Court had to say that a parent was denied due process if his child was labeled CHINS (a child in need of services) before he was given the opportunity to be heard on this issue.
I thought that one of the basic tenets of our legal system is that a judge cannot make a judgment adverse to someone without giving that person the opportunity to be heard. Happily, the Court of Appeals agreed.
In my practice, I do not interact much with the Department of Child Services in CHINS cases. Therefore, I was surprised that the Indiana Court of Appeals had to reach the decision it did today in In re T.N., ___ N.E.2d ___ (Ind. Ct. App. 2011), Cause No. 49A05-1101-JC-15. In that case, the Court had to say that a parent was denied due process if his child was labeled CHINS (a child in need of services) before he was given the opportunity to be heard on this issue.
I thought that one of the basic tenets of our legal system is that a judge cannot make a judgment adverse to someone without giving that person the opportunity to be heard. Happily, the Court of Appeals agreed.
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