Accidents Happen: Exposing Fallacies in Child Protection Abuse Cases and Reuniting Families Through Aggressive Litigation

The mere existence of a fracture, head trauma, or other serious injury in a young child or infant that cannot be explained, even without additional evidence of an intentional act, can trigger civil child abuse allegations, tear apart a family, and stigmatize a parent as an “abuser.” This article explores litigation strategies within serious physical abuse cases, the proportionally smaller category of child protective cases in which ACS is often seen to be most justified in removing and separating children from their families. Though these cases often seem daunting, effective litigation exposes that even unexplained serious injuries are often not caused by abuse, and that the prosecution of physical abuse cases fall prey to overreach, misinformation, and racial disproportionality. This article shares strategies that can be used to win cases, reunify families more quickly, and expose the fallacy that a young child’s “unexplained” injury in some communities is necessarily abusive. In the authors’ experience in The Bronx Defenders Family Defense Practice, employing aggressive and early litigation in abuse cases, in conjunction with holistic client advocacy support by parent advocates and social workers, has led to quicker family reunification and better case outcomes