Modern Family - Child Services Officials Agree Actress Ariel Winter Should Be Kept Away From Mum

Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services bosses have told the judge overseeing the teenage actress' guardianship case to let her stay with her older sister indefinitely after concluding that the girls' mother, Chrystal Workman, committed emotional abuse.

Dcfs investigators are so determined to keep mother and daughter apart, they have offered to make Winter a ward of the state if the judge rules against awarding Shanelle Gray a permanent guardianship.

In court on Tuesday (20Nov12), Gray's lawyer told the judge his client is keen for her parents and her little sister to undergo family therapy sessions to resolve their issues, according to Tmz.com.

A trial date to determine guardianship has yet to be set.

Gray was granted temporary custody of her sister at the beginning of October (12).

The siblings' mother and other members of the Workman family previously insisted Winter left home to be with Gray after an altercation over a boyfriend.

She denied her daughter's claims that she subjected the actress to ongoing physical and emotional abuse including "vile name-calling" and "slapping, hitting and pushing".