OCS can take you away from your home without a court order if you are a child in danger.  This is called emergency protective custody.  The law allows OCS to take emergency protective custody of a child who has been:

• abandoned;
• neglected or physically harmed, when protective custody is necessary to protect the child’s life, or to provide immediate medical attention;
• sexually abused by a parent or by someone else because of the parent’s action or neglect; this also applies if the sexual abuse happened to a

When the OCS takes emergency protective custody, OCS must file an emergency petition with the court and notify your parents within 24 hours.  The court must hold a temporary custody hearing on the emergency petition within 48 hours.  At the temporary custody hearing, the court will decide if you are probably in need of aid and if it is contrary to your welfare to remain in the home.  This means the court will decide if you need to be away from your parents to be safe.