STATE OF LOUISIANA IN * NO. 2025-C-0223 THE INTEREST OF B.J. * COURT OF APPEAL * FOURTH CIRCUIT * STATE OF LOUISIANA * * *******

JCL LOBRANO, J., CONCURS AND ASSIGNS REASONS I concur and write to underscore the child protection concerns that arise when the required steps of a Child in Need of Care (CINC) proceeding are not followed.

In the case sub judice, the child was removed on an instanter order, but no CINC petition was ever filed as required by law. Without that petition, the procedural safeguards designed to protect the child’s long-term stability, such as adjudication, oversight, and permanency planning, were never activated. As a result, the child was placed out of state based on a finding made outside the formal statutory process. This creates uncertainty and denies the child the structured protections necessary to ensure safety and well-being over time.

While immediate action may have been warranted, long-term decisions affecting a child’s placement must rest on the foundation of proper legal process.

The CINC framework is in place not just to respond to crisis, but to provide the stability and accountability essential for a child’s future. This is not what child protection was meant to be. The statutory framework is there to protect children from exactly this kind of uncertainty.