§ 30:4C-11 — Application for care and custody; verification, investigation.

11. Whenever it shall appear that any child within this State is of such circumstances that the child's safety or welfare will be endangered unless proper care or custody is provided, an application setting forth the facts in the case may be filed with the Division of Child Protection and Permanency by a parent or other relative of the child, by a person standing in loco parentis to the child, by a person or association or agency or public official having a special interest in the child, or by the child himself or herself, seeking that the division accept and provide care or custody of the child as the circumstances may require. The application shall be in writing, and shall contain a statement of the relationship to or special interest in the child which justifies the filing of the application. The provisions of this section shall be deemed to include an application on behalf of an unborn child when the prospective mother is within this State at the time of application for services. Upon receipt of an application as provided in this section, the division shall verify the statements set forth in the application and shall investigate all the matters pertaining to the circumstances of the child. If upon such verification and investigation it shall appear (a) that the safety or welfare of the child will be endangered unless proper care or custody is provided; (b) that the needs of the child cannot properly be provided for by financial assistance as made available by the laws of this State; (c) that there is no person legally responsible for the support of the child whose identity and whereabouts are known and who is willing and able to provide for the care and support required by the child; and (d) that the child, if the child has a mental or physical disability requiring institutional care, is not immediately admissible to any public institution providing care; then the division may accept and provide care or custody as the circumstances of the child may require. L.1951, c.138, s.11; amended 1962, c.197, s.14; 1991, c.275, s.1; 1999, c.53, s.22; 2012, c.16, s.61; 2017, c.131, s.116.