if a pregant woman used cocaine during pregancy and baby was born negitive how can dfacs take the baby?

Answer 1

Then point is if the woman was doing drugs it doesn't matter if the baby is born with risidual or not, she has endangered that child and that is grounds enough for DFACS to take that child away.

Answer 2

I suspect they can't! Though there are plenty of crack and cocaine addicted babies born who must suffer withdrawal! I never removed a child from a mother who used during pregnancy unless there was other circumstances involved! That alone is not enough under the Child Protection Act, and almost every states Act is similar as they were all written under the same federal guidelines!

In the case of a child who WAS NOT born damaged because of what happened during the pregnancy, like smoking, the law cannot apply as a fetus is not recognized as a person until birth! If there is nothing physically wrong with the child (Though we won't often know that for a few years), unless you have already been deemed to have harmed another child, I don't think your protective agency has a case unless you are unable to care for your child due to an addiction!

I tried filing a case similar once because the mother (this was her 1st child) had been on the streets and abusing drugs! I wanted custody when the child was born! My petition was thrown out on the basis that a fetus is nor recognized under the law!

In some states, like California, which is County run and overseen by the state, there is an incentive for removing children! Counties are paid on the basis of how many children that are removed, as are many other states!

In my state DCYF is state run and therefore there is no incentive!

I suspect there is more to this story!

It also amazes me how physicians report crack babies, but they almost NEVER report a child with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, which in the long run is far more debilitating! I think class has something to do with it!

A lot of pediatricians are not very smart either! A mother will bring in a child who refuses to move an arm or leg, The physician will take an X-ray, see no break, and send the kid on it's way! As periostal reaction (Laying down of new bone) does not occur for 10 days, and physicians NEVER reschedule the kids for another X-ray, a chip or other fracture is missed as this would then show up on an X-ray! These are almost always caused by a parent jerking or twisting an arm while angry!

Posterior rib fractures, along with other signs (Retinal hemorhages, comatose) are classic for Shaken Baby Sydrome, but they will never show on an traditional x-ray!

This is America Joe! Most parents today were taught parenting from their parents, both the good and the bad! Unfortunately many parents don't know the difference between coroporal punishment and abuse! Corporal punishment teaches little except external controls on behaviour and circumvents a child's development of a conscience and internal control! It also teaches big people can hit little, or weaker people, which is why we have so many child deaths, abuse, and spousal abuse! I would like a dime for every parent who abused their child and told me their parent did the same and look at them, they turned out fine! Yea Right!

Parenting should be a required course in High School, but that is seldom the case! Hell, they don't even teach it in college! There are Parenting courses one can take and are usually free or done on a sliding scale by Child and Family Services or a local Mental Health Center!

Answer 3

Because the mother has already shown a lack of control and disregard that could put her kids life at risk...That's why.

Now that she's not pregnant, whats to stop her from doing worse?

Getting pregnant should be a privilege, not a right. Every one should pass a background check and pass an extensive parenting test before they start popping out kids.

But until then, the rest of us are stuck paying for the mistakes of others that have no ethical right having kids.

Answer 4

Bcuz she endangered her unborn child by doing it in the first place. So they probably claimed her unfit and charged her with child endangering.

Answer 5

because regardless of the baby testing negative she is still guilty of child endangerment.