For example, the parents drop the baby off to daycare in the morning. During the day, the parents get into a horrible car crash and die. What happens to the baby if there are no other relatives? Is she sent to an orphanage?
2007-03-06 14:41:18 · 39 answers · asked by fez 4 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
Don't worry, I only want to know so I conclude a story I'm writing...
2007-03-06 14:44:01 · update #1
I believe the child is put into temporary Foster care and an emergency case is introduced in orphans court to make the child a ward of the state,(since the child would be deturmined to be "a child in need of assistance") until a search for any surviving family is completed. If there is no family found, the child is either left in the foster home until an adoption is arranged, or the child might be moved into an orphans home until an adoption is arranged.
Different states have slightly differing laws concerning the care of minor children in need though.
2007-03-06 14:48:44 · answer #1 · answered by ralahinn1 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
fez,
No, the child wouldn't be sent to an orphanage...not immediately.
The scenario you describe is one of the many reasons why folks, especially parents, should have a will...age notwithstanding. Life is quite precarious, and questions like "Who'll take care of little Johnny if something happens to us?" are things that should be worked out ahead of time and planned for. You can always change what's on paper...can't make papers appear once dead.
Hopefully, the cops and investigators on the scene would find a planner or maybe a cell phone with the number to the daycare on it, along with those of next of kin. From there, police and/or social services would make the appropriate notifications. It's unclear what would happen to the child if arrangements weren't made...I suppose if the next of kin would agree to rear the child, they would be allowed to do so, but that's not written in stone...that would depend on the laws governing that municipality/state.
2007-03-06 14:53:23 · answer #2 · answered by Wolfsburgh 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If there was an "in case of emergency" number listed perhaps that number might be called first and a relative or next of kin could take the baby provided they were on the allow list for pick-up. If not, the child would be considered abandoned and the police would be contacted and child welfare and social services would be brought in to take custody. CPS would take steps to locate family members of the deceased parents, if none could be located the child would be placed in foster care. Also, depends on if the parents made provisions through a will to appoint legal guardianship for the child in the event of their death.
2007-03-06 14:57:22 · answer #3 · answered by The Ministry of Common Sense 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Part of that depends on what arrangements their parents made for the future of their minor child in their will. They may have arranged with aunts or uncles to care for the kids. If the parents die without a will the kids may end up being adopted by other relatives or family friends. Or they may be put up for adoption by an adoption service agency.
I know for sure the kids are not auctioned off by the daycare centers.
2007-03-06 14:45:55 · answer #4 · answered by Rich Z 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The baby will be handed over to the authorities if there is no next of kin or if the parents didn't list any other people to call in place of them.
My parents own a day care, they required to have a list of 5 people who are entrusted with their child in the event that the parents don't show up to pick up the child.
Once all efforts have failed to contact any of the 5 people, the children are handed over to the authorities, and they decide what to do from there.
2007-03-06 14:49:13 · answer #5 · answered by Deu 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeas, unfortunatley the baby becomes a ward of the state and the baby will go to a foster home or orphanage. The best thing to prevent this is for parents to always have a Last Will & Testament outlining what their desire is for thier child once they pass.
2007-03-06 14:46:08 · answer #6 · answered by Shareen 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
who ever is on their emergency contacts gets called. when you sign a child up for daycare you generally have to have at least two emergency contacts as a requirment. if there are no living relatives (which is very rare) then a close friend of the family can go for custody if they care to (same as the case with living relatives) if they do not want to go for custody the baby will then go into foster care. or could possibly go directly to foster care. a lot depends on the state you're in.
2007-03-06 14:45:11 · answer #7 · answered by butter_cream1981 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It seems to me that when you put your child in daycare you have to fill out emergency contact info giving the name of people to call if you are unavilable to pick up your baby. If for some reason the emergency information were missing then Social Services would be called in and baby/child would go into foster care until someone could be found.
2007-03-06 15:13:16 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The DSS would take the child and place her in temporary foster care until it is determined there are no other living relatives. If none are found and there is not a will with provisions for the little girl she would then be permanently placed in the system, until she reaches legal age or is fortunate to find adoptive parents.
Actually I should rephrase that..or until a fortunate person is lucky enough to adopt her!!
2007-03-06 14:49:17 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
the police usually search for the nearest living relative (sometimes longer than others) and social services decides whether or not the person is fit/suitable to care for the child. If none is found, then they leave them in foster care until proper arrangements can be made. These usually end up going to court, because a relative shows up to fight the foster care system.
2007-03-06 14:47:43 · answer #10 · answered by Smurfette 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋