Laws pertaining to 'non supervision of a child'

[cyndipage]

I am in Washington state. My daughter who is 24 was recently found guilty of non supervision of her then 4 year old son. (he managed to escape outside and was found by neighbors, this happened two times in a 2 week period, so the police charged her). When the police gave the information to the judge at the hearing they also entered pictures of her residence which was unsafe and very unclean. She pleaded guilty but has no previous record so they gave her 2 years probation. 6 months later I see no progress in her housekeeping and feel strongly that the boys (she has 2 under 5yrs)need to be removed before there is more serious consequences. This is not a decision made lightly. She has more than ample time to get her life on course. I have been told by a local family attorney that I can have the boys placed in my temporary custody while they investigate to decide whether the boys should be removed from the home on a more permanent basis. I was told that I would be the likely person to get custody since I am the maternal grandmother and the boys's fathers dont seem to be very involved at all.

My question is this, when they go to investigate her home and the potential dangers of the environment to the boys, will that infraction cause her to then be sent to jail for the two years she is on probation for?

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

My response:

What were the conditions of her probation ? You never told us. What were the EXACT conditions of her probation ?

Was she also convicted of "lousy housekeeping" ? Was her housekeeping a part of her probation ?

IAAL

 

[cyndipage]

Non supervision of a child

Thanks for the quick response. Unfortunately I was not privy to the court proceedings and the Exact terms of probation. However I was told this morning that whatever the exact terms are they do not include her house cleaning abilities. But do include 'any' form of infraction that may involve the kids such as 'leaving them in a car alone', not putting them in their appropriate car restraints, etc. Would it be a good 'guess' then that they will not arrest her if they view the home and it is still filthy even though the pictures were obviously used in the original court trial as a sort of prove of child negligence?
thanks for your help!
C

[Edited by cyndipage on 07-06-2001 at 02:37 PM]

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

My response:

The pictures may have been used to give the judge an "overall" sense of what was going on, and that the Defendant mother's lack of care of the house is in direct relation to her poor care of the children.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a recent decision, said that as long as the domicile is not a vermin and insect breeding ground, and that the children are not being bitten, stung, having rodents crawl on them, or otherwise injured by the conditions, there's nothing that can be done about someone's housecleaning abilities, or lack thereof, in relation to maintaining custody of their children.

The Court also noted, with extreme trepidation, but keeping the Constitution in mind (as they are supposed to do), that we are not all born with Silver Spoons in our mouths, and that domicile and life conditions in general are, at best, a matter of fate and a draw of the cards in life, as to whom you're born to. Some of us are born to "privilege", and still others are born to "poverty" and are all products of our environment.

Now, I'm drawing from memory, and the Court didn't phrase their decision in those words - - I'm paraphrasing their decision. Suffice it to say, even though we may abhore the conditions we see, and the environs a child is subjected to, that's not enough to "wisk away" a child from it's parent(s). There must be a modicum of endangerment and safety issues placing the child in peril.

As long as she's keeping her children safe when driving, and is feeding them, and otherwise caring for them as best she can, it's not enough to take her child(ren) away from her if she doesn't do the dishes, or fails to vacuum the house, or lets clothes pile up in every room, or doesn't mow the lawns, etc., etc.

Basically, the living conditions must create an immediate and intolerable health risk or a safety hazard before Authorities can, or will, take any action.

IAAL

[Edited by I AM ALWAYS LIABLE on 07-06-2001 at 03:04 PM]