Posted Wednesday, October 16th, 2024 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Of Interest to General Public, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific
The October 16, 2024, Court of Appeals opinion in SCDSS v.Caldwell, held that a juvenile cannot be ordered into confinement for an evaluation without first
Court of Appeals holds results of a penile plethysmograph (PPG) test are inadmissible as unreliable
Posted Monday, September 9th, 2024 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Child Custody, Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific
I typically don’t blog about criminal cases and In the Matter of Shawn T. Daily may still get altered by the Court of Appeals or
Posted Tuesday, January 17th, 2023 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific
The January 4, 2023, Court of Appeals opinion in SCDSS v. Scott, 438 S.C. 400, 883 S.E.2d 229 (Ct. App. 2023), granted a new trial
Pitfalls in cooperating with DSS child abuse investigations
Posted Friday, November 5th, 2021 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, South Carolina Specific
Parents routinely contact me when they are in the midst of a DSS investigation into their potential abuse or neglect of their child. Typically, they
The interactions of abuse and neglect placement plans with return of the child
Posted Wednesday, July 29th, 2020 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Attorney-Client Relations, Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific
Any time a family court finds a parent has abused or neglected his or her child, it will offer that parent a placement plan (sometimes
The Folly of Fighting Child Protective Services after a Merits Finding
Posted Thursday, July 2nd, 2020 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Litigation Strategy, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Specific
Early in my career, when family court attorneys were still being court appointed to represent indigent parents in abuse and neglect proceedings, I developed a
Posted Wednesday, November 6th, 2019 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Adoption/Termination of Parental Rights, Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Family Court Procedure, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific
In the November 6, 2019, case of Cooper v. SCDSS, 428 S.C. 402, 835 S.E.2d 516 (2019), the South Carolina Supreme Court found that the
Court of Appeals reverses family court’s finding of child abandonment
Posted Wednesday, February 13th, 2019 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific
On February 13, 2019, the Court of Appeals reversed a family court’s finding that adoptive parents abandoned their teenage child in the case of SCDSS
Court of Appeals vacates removal and TPR orders due to lack of subject matter jurisdiction
Posted Tuesday, October 18th, 2016 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Jurisdiction, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific
In the October 10, 2016 opinion in SCDSS v. Tran, 418 S.C. 308, 792 S.E.2d 254 (Ct.App. 2016), the South Carolina Court of Appeals vacated
It just became a little easier (although still not very easy) to sue DSS in tort
Posted Sunday, December 6th, 2015 by Gregory Forman
Filed under Department of Social Services/Child Abuse and Neglect, Of Interest to Family Court Litigants, Of Interest to Family Law Attorneys, South Carolina Appellate Decisions, South Carolina Specific
There is a common complaint among attorneys who do appeals that they do not recognize the fact pattern described in their appellate decisions. The belief
