When will the children arrive home?
Foster care is maintained in case of inability to ensure child's safety and proper upbringing by biological parents. Putting a child in foster care should follow after exhausting every other mean of helping the parents, unless child's well-being depends on putting him/her in the foster care immediately.
Follow-up judical steps regarding families in crises
When and how a court may interfere with the family and parental authority?
Parental authority is very important and mostly inviolable law of a parent. Guardianship court, however, may react to every signal indicating that child's laws have been violated. Of course its action has to be adequate to the level of said violation and may take place if child's welfare requires it. There is no way to renounce parental authority. Cases linked to parental authority have to be regulated in court!
When does parental authority end?
Before reaching the age of consent, parental authority may cease due to:
• court statement,
• parents' incapacitation,
• adoption by others
• death of both parents
Limitations and authority suspension
Limitation of authority is the mildest form of court interference. Court may use it when child's well-being has been endangered by the abuse of parental authority (e.g. parents are neglecting their child, use violence, do not fulfill education duty, etc.). Parental authority is always limited in a strictly defined scope. Parents maintain rights and duties that are not covered by court's ruling.
Suspension of parental authority is decided upon in case of temporary obstacle that forbids its proper execution. Court may claim the power of one or both parents. Causes may be non-culpable, arising from arbitrary factors such as illness, going abroad, etc. They may also be a consequence of wrongdoings (e.g. parent being in penitentiary)
Deprivation of parental authority
The most severe form of restraining parental authority is abolishing it entirely. If parental authority may not be executed due to permanent impediment, parents abuse their power or neglect their duties in a glaring fashion, guardianship court will deprive them of their power. Deprivation of parental authority may be adjudicated towards one of the parents also.