New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated
(related to child abuse and neglect)
Generally just called the RSAs, these are the laws of New Hampshire.
Where the state Constitution provides the framework, these provide the
details.
The full set of RSAs are at
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/indexes and may be more current than the
local copies kept here. Pages here are the referenced by other pages at
this site so this local collection exists to provide handy printable
reference and protect the site from reorganizations at the state site.
This defines the state's "Right to Know" laws, the state counterpart of
the federal "Freedom of Information Act". Do not expect the state to honor
this without extra prodding.
Just the Table of Contents, no sections. The whole chapter is referenced in
a couple of the WWW pages here.
This is the big one, it defines abuse and neglect and all the procedures for
dealing with it.
TPR means your child is put up for adoption. The RSAs limit TPR
proceeding until all reasonable attempts to reunite the family have
failed. In practice, you need to worry about TPR as soon as you
become involved with DCYF.
The only section included is one about the procedures for submitting job
applicants to a check against the state registry of
founded abuse and neglect reports.
This mostly defines the structure of DCYF, it makes very little reference, if
any, to what services the state will offer to children, youth and families.
The parts I include define what DCYF will disclose to parents and the
procedures for getting them.
A very large chapter. Only section 14, Records and Certification, is
referenced. My van used to display the vanity plate H8DCYF. The saga of its forced
recall references motor vehicle law.
An even larger chapter. Only section 89, Vanity Number Plates, is referenced.
Again, it pertains to H8DCYF.
Laws related to the practice of law.
Just the Table of Contents, no sections. The whole chapter is referenced in
one of the WWW pages here.
It is legal for NH citizens to surreptitiously tape government employees at work,
but it's a legal fine line. You need to
understand the laws and the Constitution before you tape!
While this says "criminal cases," it's also used for civil cases such as
child abuse and neglect.
Contact Paula Werme, Esq. or
return to Law Practice home page.
Last updated 2001 December 30.