protective custody

Noun

protective custody (uncountable)

1. Lawful confinement of a person or close supervision of his or her movements, on a voluntary or involuntary basis, by authorities in order to safeguard that person from attack or other dangers.
   • A so‐called star witness in the Brooklyn grand jury inquiry of alleged links between the police and gamblers sought unsuccessfully yesterday to free himself from protective custody.1964 July 25, Alfred E. Clark, “Gambling Witness Under Guard Fails in Move to Gain Freedom”, in New York Times, retrieved 03 Jun 2014
   • The government has earmarked a paltry $1.2 million . . ., not enough to properly fund even the state-run counseling centers—the only institutions with the authority to put battered children into protective custody.1999 June 7, Donald MacIntyre, Hiroko Tashiro, “Hearing Their Cries”, in Time, retrieved 03 Jun 2014
2. The custody that CPS sometimes takes of children when those children are being abused or neglected and no other corrective action is successful or feasible.