Reversing a Custody Decision: Signs of Parental Neglect

 Posted on July 31, 2019 in Family Law

Custody decisions can be challenged whenever there is a substantial change in circumstances, or you believe that your child is being harmed by the other parent’s decisions. If your child’s other parent was given full or shared custody rights and you have evidence of parental neglect, you must petition the court for a custody hearing. A Hinsdale child custody attorney can help you get started today.

Child Neglect Can be Just as Harmful as Child Abuse

Neglect is the failure to provide proper clothing, food, shelter, and medical care. It can also involve lack of supervision, failure to provide a clean living space for the child, emotional neglect such as rejecting or ignoring the child, and educational neglect such as not requiring the child to attend school. Child neglect is more prevalent than we think. Over half a million children are maltreated due to neglect each year—and these are only the cases for which an investigation or alternative response is carried out. While child abuse may grab the headlines, it is far less prevalent than neglect. And, neglect can result in some of the same detrimental outcomes as child abuse; it should never be ignored. Long term effects of neglect include the following physical ailments:

• Diabetes
• Obesity
• Brain damage
• Cancer
• Stroke
• Malnutrition
• Functional limitations
• Heart attack
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Lung disease
• Chronic bronchitis
• Arthritis
• Back pain
• High blood pressure

Nonphysical harms include post-traumatic stress disorder, limited cognitive ability, mental and emotional health disorders, alcohol and drug abuse, social limitations, criminal activities, unhealthy sex practices, and poverty.

Signs of Parental Neglect

Some of the signs that parents and others should be on the lookout for if they suspect a parent is neglecting their child include the following:

• Child is frequently absent or late to school
• Child’s grades are on a steady or rapid decline
• Child complains about being hungry all the time or steals or begs for food or money
• Child is frequently dirty or has severe body odor
• Child is abusing drugs or alcohol
• Child is having trouble with the law or gets in trouble at school
• Child mentions that their other parent is never at home
• Child is depressed, has anxiety, or is unusually sullen or withdrawn
• Child lacks medical or dental care

Call a Hinsdale Child Custody Attorney Before It Is Too Late

Child neglect has long term consequences. Whether you are a noncustodial parent, a parent with shared custodial rights, or a grandparent with only visitation, you have the power and responsibility to take legal action and remove your child or grandchild from the neglectful parent that has failed their parental responsibilities. Call our skilled DuPage County child custody attorneys at the Law Office of Martoccio & Martoccio today at 630-920-8855 to set up a free consultation.

Sources:

https://www.acf.hhs.gov/media/press/2019/child-abuse-neglect-data-released

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/conditions/child-neglect

https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubpdfs/long_term_consequences.pdf