Child Abuse Defense Attorneys & CYS, CYF & DHS Expungement Lawyers in Northampton & Lehigh County
Children & Youth Services attorneys located in Easton, Serving the Greater Lehigh Valley
Our attorneys are experienced in dealing with all types of cases of alleged child abuse and neglect. The firm handled a custody matter involving Northampton County Children & Youth for custody on behalf of Grandparents. We have also handled numerous indicated status appeals and reunited many parents with their children.
If you are reading this, you likely already know how difficult it can be to deal with a Children and Youth Services Agency. It may feel like the deck is stacked against you, and due to the way most cases are handled, if may very well be.
Contact us early to help. The initial investigation and first few hearings in any dependency case will have a long lasting impact on the development of the case and your custody rights.
2024 Juvenile Dependency Adjudication Outcomes
Latest complete county caseload reports available as of July 31, 2026.
Sources: AOPC Lehigh County 2024 report and AOPC Northampton County 2024 report.
Juvenile Dependency Court Proceedings in Easton, Allentown & Bethlehem
1. Agency Investigation or Referral
The source, scope, and urgency of an agency contact vary.
A county Children & Youth agency may become involved after a ChildLine report, a referral from another professional or agency, a court matter, or information received in another way. Ask for the caseworker’s identity, the purpose of the contact, any written notice, and the next deadline. Preserve messages and documents, make a factual chronology, and seek advice before assuming that every investigation follows the same path.
2. Shelter Care or Other Emergency Hearing
Emergency proceedings can move quickly.
A shelter-care or other emergency hearing may occur when the agency seeks continued out-of-home placement or other immediate relief. The governing petition, removal circumstances, notice, counsel status, and current court order determine the issues and deadlines. Gather the papers promptly and obtain case-specific advice rather than relying on a general timeline.
3. Adjudication Hearing
The court decides whether dependency was proved.
At an adjudication hearing, the court hears evidence on the petition and decides whether the child is dependent. Under 42 Pa.C.S. § 6341(c), a dependency finding requires clear and convincing evidence. Parties may present evidence and challenge the opposing proof under the governing statutes and rules. A waiver, stipulation, or consent can have important consequences and should not be accepted or rejected on the basis of a blanket website rule.
4. Disposition and Permanency Hearings
Later hearings address placement, services, safety, and permanency.
If the court adjudicates a child dependent, disposition and later permanency proceedings may address placement, services, compliance, progress, safety, visitation, and the permanency goal. Section 6341(d) permits the court to consider specified reports and other probative information at disposition while preserving opportunities to examine, controvert, and cross-examine as provided there. Before removing a dependent child from the home at disposition, § 6351(b) requires recorded findings. The actual order and evidence—not a generalized hearsay label—control.
5. Termination of Parental Rights
Last Chance Hearings
If a child has been in placement for at least 15 of the most recent 22 months, the juvenile court must determine at a permanency hearing whether the county agency has filed or sought to join a petition to terminate parental rights and taken steps toward an adoptive placement. That filing expectation does not apply when the child is being cared for by a suitable relative, the agency documents a compelling reason why filing would not serve the child’s needs and welfare, or the family has not received the services necessary to pursue a safe return within the permanency-plan time frames. The threshold does not itself terminate parental rights. Termination requires a separate proceeding and proof of a statutory ground under 23 Pa.C.S. § 2511, together with consideration of the child’s needs and welfare.
CYS Infographic
Our Approach to Juvenile Dependency, CYS, CYF, CPS and Child Abuse & Neglect Cases in the Lehigh Valley
Our Child Abuse Attorneys take a unique and nuanced approach to Juvenile Dependency case. Due to certain stages requiring very different levels of evidence, our tactics and strategies tend to vary between extremes. We aim to help our clients make a clear and accurate initial presentation during initial investigations in the hopes of avoiding court involvement. If there is court involvement we will usually take an aggressive posture in defending the case while at the same time advising our client to be cooperative as possible. As we believe the Dependency Adjudication Hearing to be the most important hearing, that is where we plan our battle. If we are involved in a case after the Adjudication Hearing has already happened, we will help our clients to comply with court recommendations and to assure that those recommendations are reasonable.
CYS, CYF, CPS and Child Abuse & Neglect FAQs
Common questions in Northampton & Lehigh County Children and Youth Services cases