Appeals Court Puts Day Care Custody Case on Hold

The Michigan Court of Appeals on Monday delayed the transfer of a 3-year-old girl from her mother to her father, who had won custody because her mother puts the child in day care.

A lower court had ruled that Steve Smith could provide a more stable home for his daughter because Smith’s mother, a full-time homemaker, would look after her.

The child’s 19-year-old mother, Jennifer Ireland, would send the girl to day care while attending the University of Michigan. Smith, 20, also plans to go to college but lives with his mother.

The custody battle over Maranda Ireland-Smith has set off debate about day care and working parents, with the split often falling along gender lines. The National Organization for Women has backed Ireland; the National Congress for Men and Children has set up a legal defense fund for Smith.

Ireland was supposed to turn Maranda over to Smith by Thursday, but the appellate court action means that the girl will stay with her mother until Ireland’s appeal of the lower court ruling is decided.

Attorneys on both sides said a decision is not expected until late this year. No hearing has been scheduled yet.

Smith, who has accused Ireland of neglecting their daughter, said he was disappointed.

Ireland said she takes good care of the girl. The pair never married.

“I am not a neglectful mother,” she told WDIV-TV outside her Harrison Township home. “Granted I probably wasn’t the best mother when I brought her home when I was 16. I have grown up tremendously.”

Phillip J. Holman of the National Congress for Men and Children said the case is “a good illustration of how we misconstrue the importance of fathers.”

But Howard Simon of the American Civil Liberties Union, which supports Ireland, said a ruling in favor of Smith could hurt both working men and working women.

“It’s not pro-male. It’s anti-parents who are dependent on day care,” Simon said.