Adding Nonrespondent Parent to Child Protective Proceedings

7.2Adding Nonrespondent Parent to Child Protective Proceedings

Although child protective proceedings may be initiated against one parent, the nonrespondent parent must receive an adjudication hearing before the court can interfere with his or her parental rights. See In re Sanders, 495 Mich 394, 407, 412-413 n 8, 415, 422 (2014) (finding unconstitutional the one-parent doctrine, which permitted the court to “enter dispositional orders affecting parental rights of both parents” once “jurisdiction [was] established by adjudication of only one parent” and holding that procedural “due process requires that every parent receive an adjudication hearing before the state can interfere with his or her parental rights[]”).¹ For purposes of child protective proceedings, a nonrespondent parent is “a parent who is not named as a respondent in a petition filed under MCL 712A.2(b).” MCR 3.903(C)(8).

MCR 3.961(C)(1)-(2) sets out the procedures for initiating child protective proceedings against a nonrespondent parent:

•“If a nonrespondent parent is being added as an additional respondent to a petition that has been authorized by the court under MCR 3.962 or MCR 3.965 against the first respondent parent, and the first respondent parent has not made a plea under MCR 3.971 or a trial has not been conducted under MCR 3.972, the allegations against the second respondent shall be filed in an amended petition.”² MCR 3.961(C)(1).

Note: For purposes of child protective proceedings, an amended petition is “a petition filed to correct or add information to an original petition, as defined in [MCR 3.903](A)(20)³ before it is adjudicated.” MCR 3.903(C)(2).

•“If a nonrespondent parent is being added as an additional respondent in a case in which a petition has been authorized under MCR 3.962 or MCR 3.965, and adjudicated by plea under MCR 3.971 or by trial under MCR 3.972, the allegations against the second respondent shall be filed in a supplemental petition.” MCR 3.961(C)(2).

Note: For purposes of child protective proceedings, a supplemental petition is:

“(a) a written allegation, verified in the manner provided in MCR 1.109(D)(3), that a parent, for whom a petition was authorized, has committed an additional offense since the adjudication of the petition, or

(b) a written allegation, verified in the manner provided in MCR 1.109(D)(3), that a nonrespondent parent is being added as an additional respondent in a case in which an original petition has been authorized and adjudicated against the other parent under MCR 3.971 or MCR 3.972, or

(c) a written allegation, verified in the manner provided in MCR 1.109(D)(3), that requests the court terminate parental rights of a parent or parents under MCR 3.977(F) or MCR 3.977(H).” MCR 3.903(C)(13).

¹ Where “a minor faces an imminent threat of harm, . . . the state may take the child into custody without prior court authorization or parental consent[;] . . . [s]imilarly, upon the authorization of a child protective petition, the trial court may order temporary placement of the child into foster care pending adjudication if the court finds that placement in the family home would be contrary to the welfare of the child.” In re Sanders, 495 Mich at 416-17 n 12 (limiting the requirement for adjudication over each parent to “the court’s exercise of its postadjudication dispositional authority”). See Chapter 3 for additional information on taking temporary protective custody over a child, and Chapter 8 for additional information on temporary placements pending adjudication.

³ MCR 3.903(A)(20) defines petition as “a complaint or other written allegation, verified in the manner provided in MCR 1.109(D)(3), that a parent, guardian, nonparent adult, or legal custodian has harmed or failed to properly care for a child, or that a juvenile has committed an offense.”