What is CPS and Its Purpose
According to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, there are eight divisions within the agency, one of which is the Child Protective Services (CPS). As the name implies, this division is responsible for protecting children in danger. They investigate allegations of neglect and abuse and make recommendations to the state on how to deal with the situation. When a teacher, neighbor, or relative – anyone who has direct contact with the child – believes that a child is being abused or neglected, they are tasked with making a report to Texas Child Protective Services (CPS). The Child Protective Services are provided with a pre-defined process to follow once a report has been submitted . CPS must take any and all allegations seriously and has to respond accordingly. In most cases, a caseworker or investigator will be in communication with the family within 24 hours. Investigators from CPS can visit the home during school hours to take the child out of class, and might ask to interview the child without the parents present. Common allegations that CPS is involved with may include sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, physical abuse, and abandonment. CPS is not held responsible for criminal investigations; they have the expertise to determine if an allegation is true or false. Many CPS investigators do have a law enforcement background, and some counties in Texas have a CPS division in their law enforcements offices.
When Does CPS Actually Take the Case to Court
With the understanding that their time is limited, Child Protective Services staff does not rush to take a case to court. To say that a case was taken to court does not mean that the case was justified or even well-founded. It simply means that the evidence was sufficient to justify the filing of papers with the district attorney’s office to begin the process of taking the family into the legal system to obtain certain relief, such as requiring the parents to take certain actions or prohibiting them from taking certain actions.
Whether to take a case to court really depends on the political nature of the case. If the most serious allegation is sexual abuse, and there are the physical findings to substantiate such a claim, then it is more likely that CPS will take the case into court. As mentioned above, the political nature of the case really depends on the severity of the claim. That can be a double-edged sword for the agency. If the agency was not able to substantiate the claim at the investigation level, then they would have no other option than to send the case to court as an unsupported CPS case.
Oral evidence of sexual abuse does not rise to the level of evidence that will be necessary to take a case to court and can become the basis for seeking to expunge records from the agency in the future.
Court Alternatives: Resolve and Settle Before Lawsuit
While most people think of court as the only place where disputes are resolved in a CPS case, it is not the reality that every issue must be litigated at trial. Particularly in the context of a parent’s obligation to cooperate with an investigatory interview, Texas Family Code Section 161.001(b)(1)(g) provides for orders "for the possession of a child pending trial." This means that before the end of the trial, orders can be made without a hearing or prior notice to the parent of the allegation, and the children can be removed if the court believes that there is an immediate danger for the child.
Beyond issues that warrant emergency hearings, CPS prefers to resolve cases before heading to trial. Family Meetings are one way CPS may attempt to resolve matters before proceeding to court. During a family meeting, the CPS caseworker will meet with the family and their attorney ad litem (if staged), as well as service providers like a counselor, the grandparents, etc., to discuss how to resolve the case. The caseworker may propose a non-offending relative as a placement for the children, even though that person has not had previous involvement with the child and may not even live in close geographic proximity. Whether this meeting is useful largely depends on the folks who are met.
Another alternative to trial are mediations, wherein the family and their attorney ad litem meet with a third party mediator to discuss the case. The goal of the mediator is to help the parties reach a resolution to all issues in the case. The mediator will help work out a visitation schedule, placement issues, and other common questions. While mediations can be useful for some CPS cases, it is hard to mediate a case where there has been a severe injury to a child or a long history of uncooperative behaviors.
If issues remain after meetings and mediations, Family Service Safety Plans are implemented that allow for some level of parental involvement with the child. Families are required to comply with all terms and conditions of the safety plans, or the plan will be deemed ineffective and the child will likely be removed from the home. The plan usually involves some degree of oversight of the parent, such as supervised control of the child. Other CPS remedies include a Supervisor Safety Plan, In-Home Safety Plan, and a Temporary Managing Conservatorship Plan.
Court Proceedings in CPS Matters
In the previous section, we covered some of the options that you will be offered by Child Protective Services (CPS). One thing not stated is the option of settling your case with the Department of Family and Protective Service (DFPS). This is because these settlements are so rare that I thought it worth to mention it here.
DFPS and the attorneys that represent them come from DFPS as well. As such their entire career has been about taking away children from parents. So it is unlikely that they will have an open mind when you make them the offer of sharing custody. The only time they will consider it is if your case is very obvious that you are no threat to the child at all, and they just made a mistake taking your child from you.
The usual procedure for a CPS case is a family-based services meeting, preliminary hearing, and a final trial. DFPS will meet with you hopefully before, but not always, a lawyer, about your lies being reported to them in a petition. In the meeting they will tell you what they want you to do, the type of allegations against you, and how long you have to complete them.
A few days before the preliminary hearing, DFPS will file a written petition with the court making allegations against you. The hearing itself is usually scheduled in front of the magistrate judge assigned to your division.
The judge (the magistrate) will read the DFPS petition and ask you some basic questions regarding the status of your child. Most questions will be yes or no answers, and the most common are:
Even at this point of the CPS case, most people show that they are guilty by just answering these questions without hiring an experienced CPS attorney. You need to be careful what you say and how you act towards the magistrate or you will be removing any chance of winning your trial. It is best to advise your attorney on what you believe to be the facts of the case so that he or she can prepare a winning response for the judge in advance.
Most preliminary hearings are very short, around 15 minutes or less. The judge will then make one of four possible rulings:
Rulings 1, 2, and 4 allow DFPS to continue having your child for at least several more weeks until the next hearing. This is due to the time needed to prepare for the court hearing. As such parents should take this opportunity to get an attorney to help them in the custody battle.
A Final Trial is set in the case and your case is back in front of the Family District Court that has jurisdiction over CPS cases. A DPS attorney will present evidence about actions that have occurred, violations that the parent has committed, and other testimony related to the safety of the child.
Commonly at trial a parent is found guilty of the allegations brought to the magistrate in the preliminary hearing. If there were any new allegations don’t worry, there is a good chance that you can prevail at trial with the assistance of an attorney.
Parents’ Rights and CPS Court Cases
Because your mind is already reeling from going through this family law legal case with the Child Protective Services (CPS), I’m going to be very clear that from the very beginning of this CPS case you have rights and you can fight for those rights. If you feel like you have been accused of child abuse or your child has been taken from you, I urge you to contact a skilled lawyer in your area that can help you navigate through the process of getting them back.
You do have the right to legal representation in CPS court cases, and even though the court will appoint you an attorney, it’s always better if you can afford to hire an attorney on your own. The appointment of a lawyer does extend through trial, so you will not receive a bill from the court for attorney’s fees. That being said, the parent usually has to reimburse the state for the cost of the appointed attorney should the case be won. Should a case be lost, the client is not forced to pay the bill .
Parents do have the right to contest the allegations that are being made by the CPS and the social worker, and those allegations usually come out when there’s a meeting at the courthouse that involves the judge, the attorneys, the social worker, parents and any other family members that are interested in being a part of the case. That meeting is known as the "plea hearing" and takes place 10 days after the petition to take the baby was filed by the CPS.
A judge will go through the complaints made by the social worker, usually with the social worker on hand in court to explain the complaints that were made. You have the right to stand up for yourself and your child, but keep in mind that if your child is old enough, they can speak for themselves in court. You cannot release any confidential medical information to anyone without the permission of the minor, who must be at least 12 years old, so they are able to handle that themselves.
What Can Happen in a CPS Court Case
So what happens to families after the case goes to court? As with the administrative proceedings, there are a variety of outcomes for families who go to court. The child protection agency may make a "no services needed" determination and reinstate a family to unsupervised status. Or the family and agency may agree to a service plan or the court may order a plan of services, and parents may be fully in accord with following through on the plan. And, as described above, sometimes the agency or parent gets a little "wiggle" room to allow for voluntary services, at least for a period of time, which can prove to be a successful solution for some families.
But other outcomes between the service plan provision stage and termination can include a finding that the agency should take the child away from the family, again for a period of time, because the child is still at risk of harm. The disposition can also result in a return to the family home, but under supervised circumstances-a finding that returns families to "situations." A successful reunification occurs when the child is returned to the parents’ custody with less or no monitoring.
The ultimate family outcome is termination of the rights of a parent to the care, custody and control of the child. Termination can occur in two ways: voluntary or involuntary, also referred to as "default" or "subsidiary" termination. Voluntary termination is the result of a parent’s own action, where either due to clear inability to get on track with the plan or a willingness to legally end parental rights, the parent files a motion looking for a termination of their own rights.
Sometimes this groundswell for termination comes from parents with substance abuse issues who recognize they are not able to reach that level of sobriety and stability necessary for a return of the child. Involuntary terminations are brought by the child protection agency and are often the result of failure to follow through on a service plan. If a child’s safety can be ensured in the custody of others and a case has persisted for some time, the state will often bring a motion to terminate the parent’s rights. Involuntary terminations may also occur if a court finds that, despite a parent’s efforts, the core parental responsibility has not been met. So, for example, in a situation where the parent has not followed through on a plan within the first twelve months, the court may find that the parent has not responded to the steps necessary for reunification.
The end result of all of the scenarios discussed above is almost never to the detriment of the child. When there is success, when family situations improve and stability is reached, it is not uncommon for a cooperative agency to work in concert with the family to provide the "normalcy" for a child, notwithstanding the fact that the agency continues to have legal custody. When there is a court finding terminating the rights of the parent, the agency is directed to work with the child’s attorney to either bring the child home to extended family, or find alternative adoption placements. The result is a finding in the best interest of a child to ensure the short- or long-term stability.
Preparing For A CPS Case At Court
Preparing for a Child Protective Services case in court can be intimidating, but with the right preparation, you can navigate it successfully. There are a few key steps that can make the process go as smoothly as possible.
The first step is to gather evidence to support your claim. This might include documents like medical records, school records, or police reports. You’ll also want to collect any other relevant evidence, such as witness statements. Be sure to keep copies of all your documents in a safe place.
Next, make sure you understand your legal rights. This will help you to navigate the process more effectively. For example , you have the right to representation. You’ll also want to know the court’s procedures and rules in order to be ready for court. It’s important to understand the allegations against you or your child so that you can begin to prepare a defense. It’s also essential to know your rights regarding visitation and contact with your child. This will help you to understand what options are available to you.
Finally, seek legal counsel. A family attorney can provide invaluable support and guidance throughout the process. They can help you to understand the law, as well as your options. They can also prepare you for court. They can also ensure that your rights are protected in the meantime.