MINNESOTA CHiPS PETITIONS OR CHPS PETITIONS
Minnesota Social Services, CHIPS,
Child Neglect, Child Abuse
"Chips," as it is called, stands for a Child in
Need of Help or Protection. It is codified under
Minnesota Statutes Chapter 260C. It
identifies cases where the state's social services
office becomes involved in family matters where
allegations exist related to juvenile delinquency,
truancy, child neglect or child abuse.
Who may file?
A Chips Petition
may be filed by the County Social Services office or it
may be filed privately by any person having knowledge of
a child in the state of Minnesota that appears to be in
need of protection or services or neglected.
Once filed, the social services department is charged
with conducting an investigation and making a
determination as to whether the allegations of the
complaint are substantiated or whether they are not
substantiated.
The stated goal of a CHiPS Petition is to make:
- "reasonable efforts "to reunite the child with
the child's parents or guardians in a home
that is safe and permanent; and
- if the placement with the parents is not
reasonably foreseeable, to secure for the child a
safe an permanent placement, preferably with
adoptive parents or a fit and willing relative
through the transfer of permanent legal and physical
custody
What is a "reasonable effort" often is a significant
point of controversy. All too often the
investigation conducted is limited and may entail little
more than an inquiry with the charging party.
Based on that limited information, a serious and,
potentially, long lasting decision may be made to take
action. That action may be administrative and
involve offering parents or guardians alternatives to
improve conditions from counseling to social worker
intervention in the home.
A child that may be deemed in need or protective
services may include claims that the child is:
- is abandoned or without parent, guardian, or
custodian;
(2)
- (i) has been a victim of physical or sexual
abuse, (ii) resides with or has resided with a
victim of domestic child abuse as defined in
subdivision 5, (iii) resides with or would reside
with a perpetrator of domestic child abuse or child
abuse as defined in subdivision 5, or (iv) is a
victim of emotional maltreatment as defined in
subdivision 8;
- is without necessary food, clothing, shelter,
education, or other required care for the child's
physical or mental health or morals because the
child's parent, guardian, or custodian is unable or
unwilling to provide that care;
- is without the special care made necessary by a
physical, mental, or emotional condition
because the child's parent, guardian, or custodian
is unable or unwilling to provide that care,
including a child in voluntary placement due solely
to the child's developmental disability or emotional
disturbance;
- is medically neglected, which includes, but is
not limited to, the withholding of medically
indicated treatment from a disabled infant with a
life-threatening condition. The term "withholding of
medically indicated treatment" means the failure to
respond to the infant's life-threatening conditions
by providing treatment, including appropriate
nutrition, hydration, and medication which, in
the treating physician's or physicians' reasonable
medical judgment, will be most likely to be
effective in ameliorating or correcting all
conditions, except that the term does not include
the failure to provide treatment other than
appropriate nutrition, hydration, or medication to
an infant when, in the treating physician's or
physicians' reasonable medical judgment:
-
the
infant is chronically and irreversibly comatose;
-
the provision of the treatment would merely
prolong dying, not be effective in ameliorating
or correcting all of the infant's
life-threatening conditions, or otherwise be
futile in terms of the survival of the infant;
or
- the provision of the treatment would be
virtually futile in terms of the survival of the
infant and the treatment itself under the
circumstances would be inhumane;
- is one whose parent, guardian, or other
custodian for good cause desires to be relieved of
the child's care and custody, including a child in
placement according to voluntary release by the
parent under section
260C.212, subdivision 8;
- has been placed for adoption or care in
violation of law;
- is without proper parental care because of the
emotional, mental, or physical disability, or state
of immaturity of the child's parent, guardian, or
other custodian;
- is one whose behavior, condition, or environment
is such as to be injurious or dangerous to the child
or others. An injurious or dangerous environment may
include, but is not limited to, the exposure of a
child to criminal activity in the child's home;
- is experiencing growth delays, which may be
referred to as failure to thrive, that have been
diagnosed by a physician and are due to parental
neglect;
- has engaged in prostitution as defined in
section
609.321, subdivision 9;
- has committed a delinquent act or a juvenile
petty offense before becoming ten years old;
- is a runaway;
- is a habitual truant; or
- has been found incompetent to proceed or has
been found not guilty by reason of mental illness or
mental deficiency in connection with a delinquency
proceeding, a certification under section
260B.125, an extended jurisdiction juvenile
prosecution, or a proceeding involving a juvenile
petty offense.
Once child protection is involved, they may require a
psychological or physical examination of any family
members involved in the investigation.
At a hearing, the minor or the minor's parent's or
guardian may present evidence material to the case and
to cross examine any witnesses.
For a Consultation Call 612.240.8005
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