F.  Custody Hearings for Special Circumstances

C.R.S. § 19-3-103(1)
Sometimes special circumstances exist which are covered by special legal requirements.

1.  Religious Objections to Medical Treatment

Parents may not limit a child’s access to medical care, on religious grounds, in a life-threatening situation, or when the condition of the child will result in serious disability.

C.R.S. § 19-3-103(1)
C.R.S. § 19-1-104(3)
The court may order a medical evaluation of the child to make a determination as to whether the child is in a life-threatening situation or the condition of the child will result in a serious disability.

C.R.S. § 19-3-103(1)
The court may order that medical treatment be provided to a child if it finds, on the basis of any relevant evidence, including a medical evaluation, that the child is in a life-threatening situation or the child’s condition will result in serious disability.A parent may not interfere with the provision of court-ordered medical treatment of a child.

C.R.S. § 19-3-403(4)(a)
2.  Developmentally Disabled or Mentally Ill Child

A developmentally disabled or mentally ill child must be evaluated. The court should refer any child who appears to be developmentally disabled to the nearest community-centered board for an eligibility determination. 


C.R.S. § 19-3-403(4)(b)
The court should order mental health prescreening to be done within twenty-four hours for children who appear to be mentally ill. 

After prescreening, the court should determine if commitment procedures are necessary.

C.R.S. § 19-3-403(5)
3.  Release of Child

The court may release a child at any time. The court can release a child with or without a hearing, and with or without ordering restrictions on the person responsible for the child.

C.R.S. § 19-3-403(3.7)
4.  Out of State Runaways and American Indian Children

Special requirements apply to out-of-state runaways and American Indian children.  Under the Interstate Compact on Juveniles (ICJ), out-of-state runaways may be held in shelter care for up to seven days to arrange transfer to the child’s home state.

25 U.S.C.A. § 1922
For Indian children, the court must expeditiously transfer the case to tribal court or comply with Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) requirements.

C.R.S. § 19-1-104(3)(a)
5.  Orders for Evaluation and Treatment

The court may issue temporary orders if such orders are in the best interests of any child subject to a D&N petition. The orders may be made before adjudication. The child’s parent, guardian or legal custodian must get notice.  In addition to legal custody, these orders may provide for evaluation, treatment, support or protection.

C.R.S. § 19-1-104(3)(b)
C.R.J.P. 2.3
The court may issue ex parte emergency orders if reasonably necessary. The court must find an emergency exists requiring medical evaluation or medical or surgical treatment. Reasonable efforts must be made to notify the child’s parents, guardian, or legal custodian for consent before issuing the order. The emergency circumstances must be included in the order. After business hours, the order may be verbal and reduced to writing the next court day. An ex parte order expires twenty-four hours after it is issued. The child’s parents, guardian or legal custodian may move to set aside the order any time before it expires.

C.R.S. § 19-3-403(6)
The court may authorize non-emergency treatment for children in shelter care. This includes medical, surgical and dental treatment. Reasonable efforts must be made first to get the consent of the parent, guardian or legal custodian. Emergency treatment may be authorized if they are not immediately available. 

C.R.S. § 19-1-103(98)
“Shelter care” is defined as a child’s temporary care in a physically unrestricted facility pending court disposition of a placement order.

C.R.S. § 19-3-312(4)
The court may order an independent mental examination of the child. If the petition alleges only emotional abuse, the court must order a mental examination if any party requests it. The evaluation costs are split between the requesting party and the county, unless the court finds this would be a hardship to the party.

C.R.S. § 19-1-114(1)
6.  Orders of Protection and Support

The court may issue a temporary order to protect the child. The child must be the subject of a D&N petition filed or about to be filed. The order may prescribe reasonable conditions of behavior for the respondent or any special respondents. 


C.R.S. § 19-1-114(3)(b)
Anyone who resides with the child may be included and required to be present at D&N hearings. 

C.R.S. § 19-1-114(4)
The person subject to the order must be afforded notice and an opportunity for a hearing.

C.R.S. § 19-1-114
The following persons are subject to orders of protection:
  • Parent;
  • Guardian;
  • Custodian;
  • Legal custodian;
  • Stepparent;
  • Spousal equivalent;
  • Person to whom parental responsibilities have been allocated;
  • Any party to the D&N proceeding;
  • Anyone who resides with the child.
C.R.S. § 19-1-114(2)
The order of protection may require the person to:
  • Stay away from the child or the child’s residence;
  • Abstain from offensive conduct against the child or the child’s parents, guardian, legal custodian, person to whom parental responsibilities have been allocated or anyone who has legal custody of the child;
  • Give proper care and attention to the home;
  • Refrain from acts of omission and commission that tend to make the home an improper place for the child;
  • Cooperate in good faith with any agency with legal custody, providing protective supervision, or offering court-ordered services to the child;
  • Pay any court-ordered child support;
  • Pay damages recoverable under the victim compensation law.
C.R.S. § 19-1-114(3)
The order may also require a parent or guardian to participate actively in the rehabilitation process. It may permit a parent to visit the child at stated periods.

C.R.S. § 19-1-113(5)(a)
If the child is absent from court-ordered placement, the court may issue an emergency protection order upon a finding that an imminent danger exists.

C.R.S. § 19-1-114(3)(a) and (5)
C.R.C.P. 107
Parents, guardians, or other parties who fail to comply are subject to contempt.  This includes special respondents. They may be held in contempt if they violate any provision of the order of protection or other valid court order without good cause.

C.R.S. § 13-14-103
7.  Temporary Protection Orders

The court may also issue temporary protection orders.  


C.R.S. § 19-1-113(4)
The protection order expires at the close of business the day following its issuance, but may be extended, provided the person subject to the order is given an opportunity to respond with two days. 

C.R.S. § 19-1-113(3)
 C.R.S. § 13-14-103(1)(c)
 C.R.S. § 13-14-103(1)(b)
The order could be to:
  • Restrain a person from threatening, molesting, or injuring the child;
  • Restrain a person from interfering with the supervision of a child;
  • Restrain a person from having contact with the child’s court-ordered residence;
  • Restrain a person from harboring a child who is absent without permission from a court-ordered placement.
  • Prevent unlawful sexual offenses.  There must be reasonable cause to believe that a child is in danger of being a victim of an unlawful sexual offense in the reasonably foreseeable future.
  • Restrain a party from threatening, molesting, injuring, or contacting any other party;
  • Prevent domestic abuse.
C.R.S. § 13-14-103(1)(d) and (e)
A judge must be available at all times to issue emergency protection orders when the courts are closed. The judge may issue a written or verbal ex parte order.

C.R.S. § 13-14-103(2)(a)
A verbal emergency protection order may be issued only if the judge finds that an imminent danger exists in close proximity to the life or health of the minor child in the reasonably foreseeable future. 

C.R.S. § 19-1-113(5)(a)
The order must be reduced to writing and served on the respondent with a copy given to the protected person. 

C.R.S. § 19-1-113(4)
The order expires not later than the close of judicial business on the next day of judicial business following the day of issue unless continued by the court. 

C.R.S. § 13-14-103(3)
The order must be entered into the central registry of protection orders.

C.R.S. § 13-14-103(10)
The court must summon a person receiving three emergency protection orders within a one-year period.

C.R.S. § 13-14-104(1) and (2)
A protection order from another state, Indian tribe, or U.S. Territory or commonwealth must is given full faith and credit; that is, given the same credit as a protection ordered entered in this state, provided the person subject to the order:
  • Had notice and was given opportunity to be heard;
  • The issuing court had personal and subject matter jurisdiction; and
  • Separate grounds exist for the issuance of any mutual protection order.
C.R.S. § 19-1-113(2)
A peace officer may request the restraining order. County DHS or a responsible person may request an order to prevent an unlawful sexual offense. Anyone who supervises a child placed out of home may request an order to protect an absent child.  A victim may request a domestic abuse order. When an order is requested, the court must ask parties and their attorneys to disclose any prior restraining orders.

C.R.S. § 13-14-103(4)
The person being restrained must be served with the order. If the person has not been personally served but has actual notice of the existence of the order from anyone, that person may still be penalized for violating it.

C.R.S. § 13-14-103(5)
Venue for filing a request for a protection order is in the county where the acts constituting unlawful sexual assault or domestic abuse occurred.

C.R.S. § 13-14-103(1)(f)
C.R.S. § 19-1-113(4)
The person being restrained may request the order to be dissolved or modified. The petitioner must get two day’s notice (or less if the court prescribes). The hearing must be held at the earliest opportunity and has precedence over all other matters of a different character. The court must resolve this motion as expeditiously as the ends of justice require.

C.R.S. § 19-1-113(5)(b)
A police officer must use every reasonable means to enforce the restraining order. The police may arrest a restrained person who has notice, if there is probable cause to believe the person violated the order. 

C.R.S. § 18-6-803.5
If the person has not been served, the officer must serve the order. If the order is verbal, the officer must state the substance of it. Police may also protect the alleged victims, including transporting them to a shelter.

Bruce D. Perry, et. al., Childhood Trauma, the Neurobiology of Adaptation and Use-dependent Development of the Brain:  How States Become Traits (1995).
8.  Effects of Domestic Violence

The effects of domestic violence and other forms of trauma on children are frequently understated. Neurobiologist Dr. Bruce Perry and others at the CIVITAS Child Trauma Program at Baylor College of Medicine observe: 

We often hear “Children are resilient,” or “They’ll get over it, they didn’t even know what was happening.” It is not uncommon for adults to relate the traumatic events to clinicians in the presence of the child as if they were invisible. Often, recounting the event, the adults will describe how the traumatic event was terrifying for them but, as they describe the child’s reactions, they frequently misunderstand the child’s unattached, non-reactive behaviors as “not being affected” rather than the “surrender” response. This pervasive, destructive view of caregiving adults in a young child’s life exacerbates the potential negative impact of trauma. Of course, children “get over it”—they have no choice. Children are not resilient, children are malleable. In the process of getting over it, elements of their true emotional, behavioral, cognitive and social potential are diminished—some percentage of capacity is lost, a piece of the child is lost forever . . . Persistence of the destructive myth that ‘children are resilient’ will prevent millions of children, and our society, from meeting their true potential.