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Children’s Ombudsman work group recommends keeping lower evidentiary standard for temporary relief of custody, outlines 'good cause' factors
Summary
A work group convened by the Office of the Children’s Ombudsman recommended keeping the evidentiary standard for temporary relief of custody at preponderance of the evidence and proposed statutory 'good cause' factors for judges to consider. Updated court data show a modest decline in filings and dispositions.
The Office of the Children’s Ombudsman presented findings Oct. 21 from a work group that studied petitions seeking relief of care and custody of children. The group recommended keeping the current evidentiary standard for temporary relief of custody at preponderance of the evidence, and proposed a set of 'good cause' factors judges should consider when evaluating petitions.
Mr. Reynolds said the work group met three times (June 5, Aug. 14 and Oct. 14) and included judges and a range of stakeholders. After discussion, the group concluded that raising the temporary standard to clear and convincing evidence would diverge from standards used in comparable removal proceedings and could create inconsistency with later standards that apply to termination of parental rights.
The work group proposed 'good cause' factors to guide judges; they include (1) any safety concerns for the child or other household members, (2) the petitioner’s relationship to the child (parent or non‑parent), (3) the services the petitioner has already tried or is receiving, (4) the extent to which alternatives to relief of custody were considered (voluntary placements, CSA, local DSS), and (5) a catch‑all allowing judicial discretion for other relevant circumstances. Mr. Reynolds said the Office received updated Supreme Court data indicating an 11% decrease in filings and a 14% decrease in dispositions statewide since last October, with local variances.
Members discussed potential statutory language to require judges to consider whether petitioners cooperated with the local Department of Social Services and other services before granting relief. Reynolds said staff are still refining language and will deliver a full report to the commission by Nov. 1; commissioners suggested they may act on statutory recommendations at the December meeting.
No formal commission vote was recorded on the relief‑of‑custody proposals during the Oct. 21 meeting; Mr. Reynolds said the report and any proposed statutory drafts would return to the commission for further action.
