Legal Question in Family Law in Michigan

No help for abuse

I have to start out by saying that I don't practice in Michigan. I am an Ohio attorney and was unable to find the Michigan statutes on-line. However, I spent eight years prosecuting child abuse cases so I have some familiarity with the general area.

I don't know how Michigan handles its different types of juvenile cases. In Ohio, there is a Court of Domestic Relations that handles divorce and child custody disputes as an adjunct to divorce. Juvenile Court, on the other hand, handles abuse cases and custody for children who are born outside of marriage. Lot's of people play games with the system by forum shopping. This means, if they don't get the result they like in one court they go to another. It's not really kosher. But there is a circumstance where I think it is necessary. And that's if a child is abused.

Domestic Relations courts don't generally have the expertise or the procedures set up, to handle child abuse. In Hamilton County (Cincinnati) the juvenile court has its magistrates (referees) specializing to some extent. The part of the court handling abuse cases is a separate operation.

The reason I'm clogging your head with all this is because you may have an option, if you have a well-founded belief that your children are being neglected or abused by the father, of getting the matter before the judge or magistrate who handles these cases. You can also make a report to the children's services board for them to investigate and file a case themselves if their investigation substantiates abuse. I obviously don't know the facts here. But I will tell you, depending on how old the children are, failing to send them to school can be neglect. Neglect can also be failure to supervise and failure to supply necessities, ie; food or clothing. Spanking is iffy. In most places parents can spank their children. When it crosses the line to abuse may vary according to where you are. The local Children's Hospital in Cincinnati will generally notify childrens services intake if a child presents marks or bruises resulting from corporal punishment. But again, it's difficult for me to know what you mean by a "hard spanking." If you are really concerned I would make a child abuse report (it is supposed to be confidential, but often the person reported can figure it out anyway) and take it from there.

If you need any more info, feel free to contact me. At this point I can't do much more than ramble on about generalities not having adequate facts before me or sufficient knowledge of the jurisdiction.

Abused child, etc.

In my state (NC) there are basically two ways to go after custody of a child, one is through the regular court system (which it sounds like you have tried) and the other is by reporting neglect/abuse to the Dept. of Social Services. In the latter instance (again, in MY state) DSS will investigate and, if they find that there is a problem, will take the children out of the home and attempt to place them with relatives. In NC you would be the first choice, probably, unless they feel that you still have problems. If so, they would try to put them with another relative, otherwise in foster care or a group home. I would like to go into my "lecture mode" and explain to you why all of this has happened to you and your children, but you've probably had enough lectures already. One further note - to take away custody from a parent in my state (NC), it may have to be proved that the custodial parent is "unfit." That is exceedingly hard to prove, as you have found out. Also, it looks like you need to examine yourself to see how in the long run you can be a good mother to these children. In the short run, in NC, I would guess that there wouldn't be a lot you can do besides call DSS.