A judge in Lenawee County Probate & Juvenile Court suspended a respondent mother’s parenting time and ordered a judicial subpoena for Michigan Department of Health and Human Services records after a pretrial hearing that included testimony from the guardian ad litem and service providers.

The presiding judge said she found evidence that visits were causing harm and granted the therapeutic-supervised parenting-time coordinator, Renee Moore, authority to guide parenting-time decisions. "I'm suspending parenting time," the judge said after hearing observations from the guardian ad litem and therapists and reviewing prior case history. The court scheduled a follow-up pretrial for December 1 at 3:00 p.m. and set jury-trial dates the judge said would proceed as follows: Mr. Patterson’s jury trial to begin at 8:30 a.m. on Jan. 16, 2026, and a separate jury trial on Feb. 13, 2026, at 8:30 a.m.

Why the court acted: the guardian ad litem reported that therapeutic visits over the past month had shown escalating, dysregulated behavior—particularly from one middle child—and recommended suspending parenting time until trauma assessments and therapeutic recommendations could be implemented. "I do believe that this visitation is harmful to the children even if it is supervised," the guardian ad litem told the court.

A witness who observed therapeutic visitation described a recent telehealth autism evaluation that became dysregulated after the mother discussed adult matters in the child’s presence and said therapists recommended stabilizing the children and building rapport with their service providers before reintroducing parenting time.

The respondent mother urged the court to allow separated or individual visits rather than a complete suspension, saying she was engaged in voluntary services and that some children had been identified for autism evaluations. She told the court that one child told her, "he told me that he loved me," and said she would accept individual visits to work toward reunification.

Discovery and records: counsel discussed access to MDHHS records and redaction. DHS counsel told the court that Lansing’s redaction unit can take about three months for many reports but that a judicial subpoena can produce unredacted records within weeks. The court accepted a proposed subpoena requesting unredacted MDHHS investigation reports related to the respondent parents named in the petition (as read in court) from January 2017 to the present and indicated it would sign the subpoena once provided.

Mediation and logistics: defense counsel requested mediation to explore plea or case-resolution options. The judge agreed to refer the case to mediation and said the court would offer its standard mediation fee; the court named Southeastern Resolution Services Center and mediator Phil Schaeffer as available options while allowing parties to select and fund a different mediator if they prefer.

Next steps: the court issued a written pretrial order reflecting today’s decisions, including scheduling, the subpoena direction, and the suspension of parenting time. The judge asked parties and service providers—specifically Renee Moore and Erin Abbott of Catholic Charities, who are completing trauma assessments—to circulate records and provide updates at the next pretrial on Dec. 1 at 3:00 p.m. The court said removal of the children will continue pending further proceedings.

Reporting note: the transcript records some names and spellings as they were read aloud in court; the court-ordered subpoena language and the judge’s orders are the controlling instructions recorded in the court’s upcoming written order.