Protecting Your Child's Future
Many of the family law cases we handle at Gray, Stefani & Mitvalsky in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, involve the representation of families in crisis. Our lawyers can't change what has happened in your family's past, but we can have an impact on ensuring that your child's future remains as bright as possible.
Child in Need of Assistance
Our lawyers represent parents, grandparents and extended family members in cases involving a child in need of assistance and dependency actions. These cases usually arise from a referral from a mandatory child abuse reporter (such as a teacher, day care provider or medical professional) under the Iowa child abuse statutes.
A number of situations may result in a report that a child under age 18 is in need of assistance. These may include signs of physical or other types of abuse, a lack of parental supervision, or an infant being born with drugs in his or her system.
Once a report is made, the Iowa Department of Human Services will investigate the allegations. If the facts are strong enough, child protection workers will make a report to the child abuse registry and may also make a referral to the district attorney to file a child in need of assistance case.
Termination of Parental Rights Cases
If the court has issued an order that a child must be removed from parental care and placed in foster care or care with relatives for several months, the district attorney may move to terminate parental rights. These cases are also known as permanency actions because the aim is to provide the child a permanent home where he or she will be safe. A termination of parental rights will also have the effect of freeing the child up for legal adoption.
Our lawyers represent all parties in a termination of parental rights cases, including parents, grandparents, extended family members and people who wish to adopt.
Juvenile Delinquency Cases
If your child is accused of underage drinking, assault, robbery, burglary, vandalism or any other criminal offense, our lawyers will protect your child's rights in juvenile court. A finding of juvenile delinquency can have a lasting effect on your child's future and can even result in removal from the home. Our lawyers will ensure that the emphasis in your child's case remains on rehabilitation, not on punishment.
The attorneys at Gray, Stefani & Mitvalsky can be reached at 319-364-1535 or by filling out the contact form on this site.
Attorney Richard Mitvalsky is a member of the Children Iowa Advisory Board, Linn County Juvenile Law Committee, Linn County Family Drug Court Taskforce, State of Iowa Family Drug Court, Iowa Court Improvement Project Child Welfare Stakeholder’s Panel, the Iowa Supreme Court Advisory Committee – Rules of Juvenile Procedure, the Iowa Court Improvement Child Welfare Due Process Task Force and the Iowa Supreme Court Advisory Committee – Juvenile Court Services Best Practices.
