family law question re: NJ

September 29, 2009 8:49 PM

What happens when a baby is born in jail in New Jersey? What departments/agencies are automatically involved? We are looking to get legal guardianship of a sister's soon-to-be-born child while she is in jail and need to know what agencies we should be dealing with beforehand.
posted by infostud to Law & Government (8 answers total)

Probably an important point is... does your sister want you to have the baby? In Australia, and maybe even in the States, mums can keep their babies with them for a few years. This is something you should clarify so the metafilter folk can help you more.
posted by taff at 9:10 PM on September 29, 2009

A competent guardianship lawyer will know what agencies to talk to. You will almost certainly need one eventually so you might as well contact one now.
posted by nestor_makhno at 10:13 PM on September 29, 2009

Yeah what taff said. I think it hinges on whether you are in min/max security but you're even allowed to have two of your little ones in there with you. (.au)

If it were me I would contact her prison directly. They'll know exactly how this is handled :)
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 11:07 PM on September 29, 2009

Perhaps they have a program as robust as Washington State's Prison Nursery?
posted by mmdei at 12:26 AM on September 30, 2009

Best answer: New Jersey Department of Corrections and Division of Youth and Family Services, known as DYFS, are two agencies that will most likely be involved.
posted by crankylex at 7:13 AM on September 30, 2009

You might want to read this article to give you some background on American prison policies vis a vis pregnancy and childbirth. IMHO- barbaric!
posted by mareli at 8:08 AM on September 30, 2009

Response by poster: @taff: Yes, she does want us to have the child.
@nestor: we can't afford a lawyer, and don't think we'll need one as this was the mother's idea, not ours.
posted by infostud at 8:28 AM on September 30, 2009

If DYFS is involved, they may need to do a background check on everyone who lives in your home.
posted by onhazier at 9:07 AM on September 30, 2009