In the past few decades, homeschooling has become increasingly popular. Parents who feel that the schools in their areas are not providing a proper education can elect to teach their children at home. However, if the state believes that parents are not lawfully homeschooling their children, the state may choose to litigate. Parents in the Fort Collins area may find one Colorado single parent’s child custody battle with the state to be informative.
A Colorado mother who was homeschooling her children received a visit from a social services worker. The worker was responding to a tip from a neighbor, who alleged that the mother was not fit to teach her children. On the advice of an attorney, the mother reportedly asked the social worker to leave her home.
But the neighbor kept complaining, and the social worker concluded without evidence that the mother was preparing to leave the state with the children. The social worker successfully was granted a court order putting the children in state custody.
The mother was able to show that she was conducting homeschooling in a lawful manner. She received help in court from a leading association of homeschooling advocates. The social worker subsequently made a number of court-ordered visits to the mother’s home and was convinced that the mother was educating her children properly. This led the social worker to encourage the prosecutor to drop the lawsuit.
A child custody dispute is often a complicated affair. In this case, the children were removed from their home by the state, which made the situation all the more confusing. When faced with the prospect of the court-ordered relocation of children, it is important to learn more about parental rights and the rights of the children involved.
Source: Inquisitr.com, “Homeschooling Mother In Colorado Wins Landmark Case: Retains Custody Of Kids,” Wolff Bachner, Jan. 20, 2013
