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EmailA Child In Need of Supervision (CINS) is a child who needs guidance, treatment, or rehabilitation, and falls under one of these categories:
- Must legally go to school, but routinely does not;
- Regularly cannot be controlled by the child’s parents, guardians, or custodians,
- Acts in a way that is dangerous to self or others, or
- Has committed an offense applicable only to children (like truancy, run-away, curfew violation, or alcohol violation.).
Read the Law: MD Code Cts. & Jud. Proc. Art. § 3-8A-01(e)
A Child in Need of Supervision (CINS) is not the same as a delinquent child.
The CINS process starts when someone complains to the Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) about a child. Within 25 days of receiving the complaint, an intake officer at DJS decides whether to file a petition with the court.
If the officer files a petition, the court will schedule a hearing to determine whether (a) the child needs formal supervision by DJS, (b) the child needs informal supervision by the DJS for a limited time (called “informal adjustment”), or (c) no action is necessary.
Read the Law: MD Code Cts. & Jud. Proc. §3-8A-10
Pilot Program in Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Cecil County, Montgomery County, or Prince George’s County
Under a pilot program in these locations, when an intake officer decides that a child needs help, the intake officer sends the child to a community provider who assesses the child's school performance, emotional and physical health, family and home life, and relationships with friends and others who are about his or her age. The provider develops a record and a plan for providing services to the child. These services may include counseling, alternative school placement, job training, mediation services, substance abuse counseling, family counseling and other mental health services.
Read the Law: MD Code Cts. & Jud. Proc. §3-8A-10.1
Under the pilot program, the intake officer does not propose filing a petition or peace order with the court, or recommend informal adjustment for a child unless the community provider has filed a report with the intake officer stating that he or she has met with the child and family and that all attempts to provide services have failed.
Read the Law: MD Code Cts. & Jud. Proc. §3-8A-10.1
Petition
If the intake officer files a petition with the court, the petition is filed in the juvenile court. A child alleged to be a Child in Need of Supervision may not be placed in detention or in a state mental health facility. A Child in Need of Supervision may be placed in shelter care (a non-secure community group or foster home).
The juvenile court will hold a hearing to decide if the facts claimed in the petition are true. An appropriate government agency presents the evidence. In Child in Need of Supervision cases, the government agency only needs to prove that it is more likely than not that the facts claimed in the petition are true. (This standard of proof is called the “preponderance of the evidence” standard and is common in civil cases.) The agency does not need to prove the facts “beyond a reasonable doubt” (the usual criminal standard). In a delinquency case, a child can assert the 5th Amendment right to speak or to remain silent, and this silence cannot be held against the child – but in Child in Need of Supervision cases, the 5th Amendment does not apply, and the child can be required to speak.
Read the Law: MD Code Cts. & Jud. Proc. §§3-8A-13; § 3-8A-18
If the court decides that the facts in the petition are true, the court will hold a “disposition hearing” to determine what action the court should take. A Child in Need of Supervision cannot legally be placed in a facility used only for delinquent children. However, a Child in Need of Supervision may be placed in a facility that treats a mixture of children, including delinquent children. Even if a Child in Need of Supervision runs away from a placement or otherwise disobeys a court order, the child cannot be held in a facility used only for delinquent children.
Read the Law: Md. Code Cts. & Jud. Proc. Art. §§ 3-8A-19 and 3-8A-22
Restitution is not available in a Child in Need of Supervision case, but the court may issue an order controlling conduct, i.e., to order parents to participate in counseling; violation of the order may be punishable by contempt.
Read the Law: Md. Code Cts. & Jud. Proc. Art. §§ 3-8A-26 and 3-8A-28
