NJ DYFS Attorney

Most people have heard of shaken baby syndrome.  Few people really know what it is.  To put it simply,  it is the name given to a collection of symptoms thought to be caused by shaking a baby often out of anger and frustration.  Its more art than science and the diagnosis may depend on who the suspects are and who is making the allegation.  An infant really doesn’t have a medical history.  Thus, unexplained injuries need an explanation.  If neither parent admits to dropping the child, than the hospital staff will look to bone disease or shaken baby syndrome.  Bone diseases or other ailments that could cause the injuries could be difficult to diagnose especially right away.  If one of the parents seem like suspects, they will likely be branded suspects be hospital staff.  As a result, when DYFS and law enforcement are called, they will often accept the suspect label that hospital staff has been given to one or both parents.  Of course, an independent investigation would be expected in a perfect world, but this is New Jersey.

What you will see in these cases quite often is DYFS and law enforcement attempting to alienate one parent against the other.  When this doesn’t happen, both parents may become the target.  In one SBS case I was involved with, my client was prevented from having visitation simply because she said she wasn’t sure if her husband was guilty.  Makes a lot of sense right?  In that case, it eventually turned out that the father did nothing wrong. 

Another thing you will see in these cases is law enforcement trying to break down the key suspect.  They may give the suspect a stuffed animal and get him/her to show them how the child was dropped, shaken, carried, etc.  As the pressure mounts, the suspect may eventually break and wind up admitting to something they didn’t even do.  Research has born out time and time again that innocent people can be made to admit to something they didn’t do when they are subject to this type of pressure.  Now that are facing criminal charges in addition to possibly losing your rights to your child, you will see that talking could be the worst thing that you ever did. 

If you are under investigation for shaken baby syndrome, child abuse or any DFYS investigation, call our team of tough, smart attorneys right away.

When Mother’s give birth in the hospital, the staff will run a number of checks on the Mother and baby.  If either shows signs of substance abuse, you can be sure that DYFS will be called right away.  Besides blood and urine tests, evidence of substance abuse can be found in the baby’s meconium.  Meconium can be tested for various drugs, to check for in utero exposure.  Using meconium, hospital staff measuring a by-product of alcohol (FAEE) could detect the baby’s exposure to excessive maternal drinking of alcohol in pregnancy.  At the first sign of trouble from either hospital staff, DYFS or law enforcement, it is vital that you contact an attorney right away.  Not only does the attorney need to help you shut down the DYFS investigation, but a plan to combat the investigation needs to be put in place right away.  If you wait, key evidence can be lost.

If you are involved in a DYFS case as a result of a hospital visit, call the team of tough, smart attorneys today.

When DYFS is involved in your life, you risk criminal charges and/or losing your rights to your children.  Thus, everything may be on the line.  This is not the time to be cheap.  While this might seem like common sense, too many people don’t want to spend a little bit of money for the safety and security that a great New Jersey DFYS attorney can bring.  Going cheap or not even spending the money could cost you.  Getting a great attorney and getting one right away, could not only help you end your DYFS sooner, it may also save you money. 

If you are facing a DYFS investigation in any county, including Monmouth County or Ocean County, call the team of tough, smart DYFS attorneys today.

When DYFS wants you to undergo drug treatment or a substance abuse evaluation, they will be more than happy to set you up with “their people”.  While DYFS does use some good people, I really just don’t trust most of them at all.  I have had way too many cases where the provider that DYFS chose wants to keep my client on a seemingly never-ending course of drug treatment.  It just so happens that they make more money when this happens.  Funny huh?  Compare this to the providers I send my clients to who often have a much different opinion.  Also, keep in mind that I rarely have any contact with the providers that I send my clients to.  They don’t owe me anything and they might not even know who I am.   I trust that they are giving me a 100% honest opinion which is not motivated on getting more money out of the government to keep someone in treatment. 

The earlier you get a New Jersey DYFS attorney involved in your case, the better your chances will be in being able to choose your own drug treatment provider.  If you let the case go for too long, you may lose your chance to select your own provider.

Too many people make the mistake of thinking that DYFS is not a law enforcement organization.  While it is true that they are not in a technical sense, they more or less function like one.  Don’t get me wrong, not every single case worker is bad.  However, some are clearly out to get you.  Moreover, anything you say can be used against you or the other parent of your child.  In fact, there are some cases where DYFS seems to be only interested in making a criminal case against you.

Consider this example.  Clients are two parents and their adult child.  There is an allegation that the adult child abused a relative that is a minor child.  This relative does not live with them so it is not as if they supervise this child or anything.  Why would DYFS even be involved here?  Shouldn’t this be investigated by the police.  Well, after months of trying to get in contact with someone at DYFS, we were finally able to speak to a DAG.  He was about to file a court action against my clients in attempt to force the adult child to talk.  Not on my watch.

I advised him that we would walk the clients into the DYFS office so that they can all “take the 5th” in person.  My associate walked them in there and we did.  They still indicated that they would file something against my clients but almost a month later, they haven’t.  I think this was all a scam.  Had my client sad anything, it could have been given to the prosecutor’s office and they could have prosecuted any or all of the clients.  Because my client kept quiet and we kept the case out of court, we may never wind up there. 

If you are facing a DYFS investigation in Hudson County or anywhere else in New Jersey, call the team of tough, smart DYFS lawyers that can help you put an end to the harassment and abuse.  In addition and more importantly, we can help you avoid child abuse charges.

I am very happy to announce that we have been able to shut down two DYFS cases in less than two weeks.  In one case, the clients were dealing with the Middlesex County DYFS offices.  Both clients had some past drug use and it seems that you can never run from your past when it comes to DYFS.  Even though there was no evidence that either client had been using drugs, the DYFS workers in Middlesex County wanted my clients to undergo drug treatment.  I wasn’t about to stand for that so I advised DYFS that we would fight back.  11 days later, I got a call that the case was closed.

In the second case, the clients had two children where one made a bad comment to the other.  The case became so serious that the prosecutor’s office got involved.  The Burlington County DYFS office wanted the children to undergo thearpy and additional evaluations.  I advised DYFS that the case should be closed right away.  Within less than a week, the case was in fact closed!

Words is that Dr. Sigafoos had his contract canceled by DYFS.  If this is true, it looks like we won’t have to deal with him anymore.

Dr. Chester Sigafoos is one of DYFS’ go-t0 “experts”.   After having him involved in one of my recent cases, I really had to question his credibility and veracity.  He seems to be hell bent on helping DYFS rip children away from their parents.  So, what I’d like to find is any case where he has given a positive report that worked out well for the defense.  My guess is that these reports don’t exist.  I would also like to find transcripts whereby he was impeached in any way or at least cross examined with great skill.  I don’t think I’m going to have to deal with him anymore in my current case, but I want to be prepared in case I run into him again.

I just found out that DYFS closed their case about two weeks ago and that a letter regarding this is in the mail.  My clients hired me two months ago after having a run-in with DYFS.  This was not their first either.  The caseworker wanted the husband and wife to undergo a number of treatments and evaluations which the family thought was very unnecessary.  I was able to quickly set the terms for what would be done.  My clients only had to get a quick evaluation from one provider of their choice.  We then sent in a letter from our evaluator which indicated that my clients were fine.  As a result, the entire case was shut down and closed.  Even better for my clients, it didn’t cost them much either as DYFS never filed a court case against them.

DYFS may try to tell you otherwise, but you have the right to seek your own evaluations and services and not accept someone who will just rubber-stamp whatever DYFS wants.  However, finding quality medical professionals who want to even get involved in anything associated with DYFS can be tough.  If you have used anyone for a drug and alcohol evaluation and treatment, psychological evaluation, anger management, marital counseling or any other service that was used in a DYFS case or related proceeding, please let me know.  I have a state-wide practice so the more professionals I can put on my list, the better.