The Basic Need for Education
Child neglect can occur whenever a parent or caregiver fails to provide their child with necessities, such as adequate supervision, food, clothing, shelter, education, or medical care despite being financially able to do so. Public school is free in the U.S., and New Jersey’s compulsory education law requires kids between the ages of 6 and 16 participate in school. Thus, failing to let your child participate in school could be seen as educational neglect. Defending against such allegations can be difficult, so let’s first take a look at what educational neglect is.
Reasons Why You Might Face Allegations
Many parents choose to home school their kids instead of sending them to public school. Home schooling is an acceptable alternative to public or private school, and home schooling parents face relatively few regulations in the State of New Jersey. Despite the lax guidelines for home schooling parents, they can still be investigated by New Jersey’s child welfare agency if they are suspected of educational neglect. You may also be investigated if your child is enrolled in a public or private school but has a truancy record. Truancy records are a common trigger for child welfare investigations. But when it comes to older kids, the parents sometimes aren’t aware of the truancy or don’t feel like they can do anything about it. Your first step in defending yourself is finding out exactly what the allegation is.
Defenses
If you home school, defending against such allegations will involve gaining approval of the program from the Superintendent. If you do not home school your child and the referral was made due to your child’s non-attendance at a private or public school, caseworkers will look into your explanation for the non-attendance, what the school has done to identify the cause, and what the school has done to correct the problem. These types of cases have many moving parts, and involving your child’s school only increases the complexity.
Defending against educational neglect allegations isn’t straightforward. For this reason, you should work with an experienced New Jersey child abuse and neglect defense attorney when facing such allegations. If you are accused of educational neglect, you can face involvement with the Division of Child Protection and Permanency. An attorney can help you parse out what needs to be done to disprove the allegations and help you take steps to defend yourself.
If you are looking for aggressive legal defense in New Jersey, the Williams Law Group, LLC can help you. Our skilled child abuse and neglect defense attorneys will defend your rights every step of the way. Located in Short Hills, New Jersey, Williams Law Group, LLC provides compassionate and dedicated legal services to Union, Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Monmouth, and Middlesex counties, and the surrounding areas. Our knowledgeable attorneys handle divorce and family law, child custody, and child abuse/neglect cases. Call our office at (908) 810-1083, email us at info@awilliamslawgroup.com, or contact us through our confidential online form to schedule a consultation and ultimately get you connected with an experienced New Jersey divorce and child custody attorney.
