Court Of Appeals Reverses Trial Court’s Finding Of Aggravated Circumstances Based On Anticipatory Child Abuse
The Court reversed the trial court’s finding of aggravated circumstances because under MCL 722.638(1)(a), a court may bypass reunification and consider termination of parental rights at the outset only when a parent has already abused the child or the child’s sibling, not when there is anticipatory abuse or where the sibling is not biological.
Federal Appeals Court: Michigan’s Newborn Blood Screening Program Is Constitutional
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services was wrongly ordered to return or destroy the plaintiffs’ stored blood spots and data that had been collected under Michigan’s newborn health screening program, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.
Michigan Supreme Court Finds DHHS Did Not Make Reasonable Efforts at Reunification
The Michigan Supreme Court determined that DHHS “has an affirmative duty to make reasonable efforts to reunify a family before seeking termination of parental rights.”
Circuit Court Abused Its Discretion by Declining Petitioner To Permit Discovery Of Information in Adoption Case
Petitioner was deprived of meaningful discovery related to a hearing where she was to establish that the decision to withhold consent for adoption was arbitrary and capricious.
U.S. Court of Appeals Says CPS Workers Have Qualified Immunity
In a suit regarding temporary removal of custody, the U.S. Court of Appeals found that CPS workers have qualified immunity where no clearly established statutory or constitutional rights exist.