Rule 3.961.Initiating Child Protective Proceedings

MCR 3.961 is the front door to a child protective case. Absent exigent circumstances, a request for court action to protect a child must take the form of a petition, and subrule (A) sends the form, captioning, signing, and verifying of that document to MCR 1.109(D) and (E).

The case inventory

Subrule (A) adds a companion filing. When any pending or resolved family division or tribal court case exists involving family members of a person named in the petition, the petitioner must complete and file a case inventory listing those cases, so far as they are known. The inventory sits apart from the rest of the file: it is confidential, it is not subject to the service requirements, and only the party that filed it, that party's attorney, the court, and the friend of the court may see it. It must be on a form approved by the State Court Administrative Office.

What the petition must say

Subrule (B) lists the contents, each required if known:

• The child's name, address, and date of birth.
• The names and addresses of the child's mother and father; of the parent, guardian, legal custodian, or person who has custody if that is someone other than a mother or father; and of the nearest known relative if no parent, guardian, or legal custodian can be found.
• The essential facts that constitute an offense against the child under the Juvenile Code, and a citation to the section of the Juvenile Code relied on for jurisdiction.
• The child's membership or eligibility for membership in an Indian tribe, and the identity of that tribe.
• The type of relief requested. A request to remove the child or a parent, or to terminate parental rights at the initial disposition, must be stated specifically rather than left to inference.

Indian children draw an added requirement. If the petition requests removal of an Indian child, or an Indian child was taken into protective custody under MCR 3.963 as the result of an emergency, subrule (B)(6) requires the petition to describe the active efforts, as defined in MCR 3.002, made to provide remedial services and rehabilitative programs designed to prevent the breakup of the Indian family, and to document the attempts made to identify the child's tribe.

Adding a second respondent parent

Subrule (C) sorts the paperwork by where the case stands when a nonrespondent parent is added as a respondent. Under subrule (C)(1), if the petition against the first respondent parent was authorized under MCR 3.962 or MCR 3.965 and that 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 go in an amended petition. Under subrule (C)(2), if the authorized petition has been adjudicated by plea under MCR 3.971 or by trial under MCR 3.972, they go in a supplemental petition.

Subrule (C)(3) then routes the new filing. If the amended or supplemental petition is not accompanied by a request for placement of the child, or the child is not in protective or temporary custody, the court conducts a preliminary inquiry. If it contains a request for removal, the court conducts a preliminary hearing consistent with MCR 3.965(B). Once the amended or supplemental petition is authorized, the court proceeds against each respondent parent under MCR 3.971 or MCR 3.972.