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Child Care Not a Proper Basis for Custody Charge - A Report on the Jennifer Ireland Case

by Elissa Gershon
March/April 1996
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Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/child-care-not-a-proper-basis-for-custody-charge-a-report-on-the-jennifer-ireland-case/5010817/

A mother's use of child care while she attends college classes is not a basis for removing the toddler from her mother's custody, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in November in the case of Ireland v. Smith. The Court's ruling reversed the widely publicized decision last summer in which Jennifer Ireland lost custody of three year old Maranda, solely because she placed her daughter in family day care while she attended college classes at the University of Michigan.

In April 1991, Jennifer Ireland, a junior in high school, gave birth to Maranda. Maranda and Jennifer lived with Jennifer's mother until Jennifer began college with a full scholarship to the University of Michigan, at which time they moved into family housing on campus. She enrolled Maranda in a university recommended family child care program near campus for about 35 hours a week. In December 1993, when Jennifer went to court seeking child support (which was eventually awarded at $12 per week), Maranda's father, Steve Smith, petitioned for custody of Maranda, whom he did not see until she was one year old. Smith lived with his parents and worked part time while he attended community college.

At trial, despite ...

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