Child Protection Dispute

by Anonymous Sister from USA

My sister in-law left her husband. They have a minor child together. She moved to the state of Florida and the father is still in the state of Mississippi.

The mother has gone through the state of Florida and child is now under protective service through the state stating that the father is abusive, which he is not.

How does he have it removed. They are still married, and he is filing for divorce.

They can't get him visitation because child is under the protection from the state. How does this get removed?

He has been told he can't even come to the State of Florida and visit his child. Since the mother has left, she can't keep a job, she's been arrested and is unfit. What can he do?

Answer to Florida Court Forms Question

Dear Anonymous Sister,

In theory the goal of Child Protective Services is family reunification.

When there are allegations of abuse, there must be an investigation.

If the allegations are that the father was abusive towards the mother, but not the child, he should still be able to get supervised visitation at least.

Is the child already in foster care?

And, I'm not sure from your question where he is getting his information. Is he in contact with DCF or Child Protective Services? If the allegations are not true, then he needs to be proactive and continue to explain that these are false allegations.

He needs to cooperate fully with the investigators; and stay in contact with them. He may also be entitled to a free attorney; or a case worker.

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