Once Connecticut’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) has a substantiated finding after an investigation, you and your family may face serious consequences. DCF treats these findings as an indictment or a guilty charge against you. If you feel that they arrived at those conclusions unfairly, you have a right to contest them.
At the Law Offices of Mark Sherman, our defense attorneys have experience with DCF internal reviews in New Canaan and can provide you with the necessary legal advice and guidance. We have helped hundreds of families fight DCF substantiations and can assist you as well.
Parents who have been accused of abusing, neglecting, or abandoning their child through substantiated DCF findings can file an appeal with the agency. This appeal process is what is known as a DCF internal review.
During this process, you have the opportunity to challenge DCF’s substantiations, including any placement on the Central Registry, by providing counterarguments and evidence. The process is fairly straightforward. Once DCF notifies you of the conclusions, usually via a Notification of Investigation Results, you can request an appeal with the agency.
You typically have 30 days to file the appeal after receiving the notice. A seasoned DCF defense attorney in New Canaan can help file the appeal with the agency’s legal unit. Once received, the legal unit has another 30 days to review the case, including new evidence you can provide. You also have the opportunity within this timeframe to provide information to strengthen your appeal.
Once they complete the internal review, they will either reinforce the substantiation or schedule an appeal hearing where you can challenge their decision. . We strongly advise parents to utilize the services of skilled DCF defense lawyers to increase their chances of a favorable appeal.
Once DCF launches an investigation, a suspected parent faces strict time constraints. What you do and say can either help or hurt your case. Therefore, even when you feel sure you did nothing wrong, it is better to be prepared. This is important because of a combination of factors, including:
The chances of misunderstanding and wrongly identifying a parent as abusive or neglectful are quite high once DCF starts investigating your family. Without effective legal representation from a skilled New Canaan defense attorney, DCF internal reviews can lead to adverse outcomes.
Our experienced defense lawyers at Mark Sherman Law are familiar with DCF internal reviews in New Canaan and will fight to have the substantiated allegations against you dismissed or reversed.
Do not simply assume you are in the right and find yourself unprepared. Due to the very low legal standard of proof, one small mistake can lead to you losing your parental rights. Let us work to prevent that. Read some of the 300+ certified reviews from satisfied past clients on our Avvo.com profile by clicking here. Contact us today to discuss your case.
