Originating proceeding to determine abuse or neglect

§ 1031. Originating proceeding to determine abuse or neglect. (a) A
proceeding under this article is originated by the filing of a petition
in which facts sufficient to establish that a child is an abused or
neglected child under this article are alleged.

(b) Allegations of abuse and neglect may be contained in the same
petition. Where more than one child is the legal responsibility of the
respondent, it may be alleged in the same petition that one or more
children are abused children, or that one or more children are neglected
children, or both.

(c) On its own motion and at any time in the proceedings, the court
may substitute for a petition to determine abuse a petition to determine
neglect if the facts established are not sufficient to make a finding of
abuse, as defined by this article.

(d) A proceeding under this article may be originated by a child
protective agency pursuant to section one thousand thirty-two,
notwithstanding that the child is in the care and custody of such
agency. In such event, the petition shall allege facts sufficient to
establish that the return of the child to the care and custody of his
parent or other person legally responsible for his care would place the
child in imminent danger of becoming an abused or neglected child.

(e) In any case where a child has been removed prior to the filing of
a petition, the petition alleging abuse or neglect of said child shall
state the date and time of the removal, the circumstances necessitating
such removal, whether the removal occurred pursuant to section ten
hundred twenty-one, ten hundred twenty-two or ten hundred twenty-four of
this act, and if the removal occurred without court order, the reason
there was not sufficient time to obtain a court order pursuant to
section ten hundred twenty-two of this act.

(f) A petition alleging abuse shall contain a notice in conspicuous
print that a fact-finding that a child is severely or repeatedly abused
as defined in subdivision eight of section three hundred eighty-four-b
of the social services law, by clear and convincing evidence, could
constitute a basis to terminate parental rights in a proceeding pursuant
to section three hundred eighty-four-b of the social services law.

(g) Where a petition under this article contains an allegation of a
failure by the respondent to provide education to the child in
accordance with article sixty-five of the education law, regardless of
whether such allegation is the sole allegation of the petition, the
petition shall recite the efforts undertaken by the petitioner and the
school district or local educational agency to remediate such alleged
failure prior to the filing of the petition and the grounds for
concluding that the education-related allegations could not be resolved
absent the filing of a petition under this article.