PINS - Person in Need of Supervision Petitions

A Person In Need of Supervision (PINS) petition is filed to ask a court to order treatment or supervision of a child who has a history of behaving inappropriately.

Before you can start a PINS case in court, you MUST first work with the Family Assessment Program (FAP). You can only start a PINS case when FAP informs you that they cannot help any more. At that point, to start a case, you must file a PINS petition in the Petition Room in Family Court.

A PINS petition may be filed by a parent or guardian’s school district, or social service agency with whom a child is placed. Before a PINS petition is filed in court, the child and his family must meet with a probation officer of a representative of another social service agency, who attempts to resolve the problems and keep the case out of court. This process is called “diversion” and can last for up to 90 days. If diversion fails, a PINS petition may be filed asking the court to order treatment or supervision of the child.

Although a PINS petition is intended to help your child, you are of course in reality also “prosecuting” your child in Court and seeking to potentially have your child placed on probation or ordered to live in a group home for some time. Filing a PINS petition is not something to be taken lightly and the Perlmutter Law Firm cannot stress enough how important it is that you consult with an experienced family law attorney prior to making any decision regarding initiating a PINS petition. CONTACT US NOW FOR MORE INFO.