When the Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCPP) receives an allegation of abuse or neglect, they are mandated by law to investigate it. The investigation will end in one of four findings: Substantiated, Established, Not Established or Unfounded. “Established” and “Substantiated” are both considered findings of abuse or neglect and allow the accused party…
Readers of this blog may remember our successful published decision earlier this year in DCF v. R.R. in which the Appellate Decision reversed DCPP’s administrative finding of Not Established of a parent we represented. In what we hope is a trend, the Appellate Division reversed another Not Established decision recently in the unpublished case of…
In E.S. v. H.A. were parents of a minor child. The parties separated in December 2008 following an contentious series of proceedings, including a domestic violence action. The parties’ marriage ultimately came to a conclusion by way of a consent judgment of divorce entered in September 2009. The only issues which remained open at the…
As attorneys that handle DCPP cases, by the time we get asked this question, often the door has already been opened both literally and legally. This is because when DCPP investigates, most parents comply because they do not know their rights, they think they have nothing to hide, they are worried that DCPP will take…
Our client, Hank – the names within this blog have been changed to maintain client privacy – was accused of abusing his seven-year-old daughter, Caroline. As he explained to the Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCF), Caroline was throwing a wild tantrum when he grabbed her arms to try to stop her from throwing…
In the recent published decision, E.S. v. H.A., the Appellate Division struck down a trial court’s prohibition on a father’s reunification therapy until he “admitted wrongdoing.” E.S. involved a highly contentious custody battle between two parents and their now 13-year old son, “Richard”. At the heart of that battle was the plaintiff-mother E.S.’s allegation that…