It will be very difficult for a judge to move the children from the current home, school, and friends IMO.
Child Protective Services (CPS) in CA will use the following as guidelines for emergency removal of children from a home. This is just the beginning of the process.
IMO, the children might be better placed in a neutral foster home. Maricris spends her weekends looking for Maya. She has two teens to parent.
LM's parents are obviously (IMO) biased against Maya and the rest of her family.
Children cannot thrive with this type of continuous anxiety (see Maslow's Hierachy of Human Needs). Don't know what the answer could/should be. However, I think their very home could be threatened without any income from either parent....who is paying the mortgage? How is the attorney being paid? What a mess!
This is from the courts on the beginning of removing children from a home. Many steps follow the initial removal.
Child abuse and neglect case starts when someone reports a concern that:
- You are abusing your child or not taking care of your child properly,
- Someone else is abusing your child or not taking care of him or her properly and you are not protecting your child from that, or
- Your child is in danger of being abused or not taken care of properly by you or someone else.
Reports that a child is being abused or neglected are usually made to the police or to social workers. When a child abuse and neglect report is made, the social worker or police officer is required to investigate. If a police officer gets notified first, he or she will usually turn it over to the social worker for investigation.
A social worker investigates by talking to you, your child, people who know you and your family, and by looking at where you live. The social worker can talk to your child at school without you being present. The social worker does not need a court order to talk to your child at school, as long as there is not a police officer present when the social worker talks to your child. After the social worker talks to your child at school, he or she has to tell you that s/he interviewed your child at school.
After investigating the social worker will do one of the following:
- Not take any action. The social worker will do this if he does not find evidence of abuse or neglect that requires court involvement.
- Offer you what are called voluntary services. These are free services that the social worker will help you connect to that are designed to help you learn how to parent your child more safely.
- Leave your child in your care and file a petition with the court that asks to the court to open a case to protect your child.
- Take your child from your care and file a paper with the court, called a petition, that asks the court to open a case to protect your child. The social worker must file the petition within two court days of removing your child. The social worker will take your child from you if he thinks the child is in immediate danger in your care. If the social worker takes your child from your care he can place the child with the other parent (if you are separated), with a relative, or in a foster home. Guide to Dependency Court – For Parents - child_abuse_famlaw_selfhelp
Incarerated Parents Manual:
https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/BTB_23_4K_4.pdf
Maslow's Hieracrchy of Human Needs:
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Explained