I recently read an article entitled What You Should Know if CPS Targets You or Your Family. It was very eye opening. I think most people do not believe that CPS (Child Protective Services) is out to remove their children, but instead is there to help them. The truth, however, is sometimes hard to swallow. Case workers for CPS cannot be trusted and the lawyer who wrote this article makes that very clear.
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The author points out ten actions to take should CPS show up on your doorstep demanding to take or even just talk to your children. Most of the points I have heard, but there were a few I had never considered before. This article was written in 2010, but I believe it is still applicable today. As a matter of fact, it is probably more important to know the information in this article than it was eight years ago!
The first point the author makes is to “take the accusation seriously.” It is important to understand that they are not joking even if what they are accusing you of is completely absurd. They believe that you are guilty of whatever they say you have done and they are there to prove it. They do not assume that you are innocent (this is also common for juries these days – long gone are the days of “innocent until proven guilty”).
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Next she encourages parents to expect answers to the questions they have. The CPS worker does not want to let you know what you are accused of, but according to the author, “they are required by federal and state law to tell you the nature of the accusation at the first contact.” I had never heard this before. She also states that you need to ask what specifically they are accusing you of doing, not just broad categories. For example, “neglect” is the category, but how have you specifically neglected your children? Ask for specifics and expect an answer!
I have heard the next piece of advice time and time again. She says that you must not talk to them. They are not your best friend. They want you to keep talking to them because the more you talk, the more they have that they can use against you. Do not explain the situation around what you are accused of. They believe that you are guilty and their goal is to get you to confess that. She suggests that you only talk to your attorney. Of course you will want to explain to them what happened, but, as the author said, “CPS agents are not reasonable” so explaining like you would to a reasonable person is not going to help. It will actually harm you, so stay as quiet as possible.
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Finding an attorney who is experienced is not as important as finding an attorney who knows how to fight CPS. She believes that this is very important as most attorneys believe you should follow whatever CPS tells you to do. That does not help you keep your children, as their goal is to get them away from you. I believe it would even be important to figure this out before you start having problems with CPS. Search for an attorney in your area who has fought CPS and won. Have their number ready in case you, a friend or family member needs it.
Her next advice is to be polite because if you act angry, it makes you look guilty. They can also use that against you in court by saying you have an “abusive personality.” I find that it might be difficult to react politely if someone is on your doorstep accusing you of something you did not do and threatening to take away your children. Your inner Michelle Duggar would definitely have to come out!
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The next point I have heard before, but the quote that comes along with it sends chills up my spine. A warrant of court issued order is needed for any government official to enter your home. If you let them in without one, you can no longer claim your Fourth Amendment right. More than likely, the worker will tell you that a warrant is not necessary, but to enter your home, the worker must have one or you invite them in. If you allow them to enter, they are only looking for things to use against you. The author states that even if a police officer shows up with the agent, you are not required to open the door unless they have a warrant. Stand firm and politely tell them they may not enter. However, if an officer does force his way in, do not get physical but stand aside.
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Listen to the words of an ex-CPS investigator:
“I wish I could shout from the highest mountain to parents to vigilantly learn their rights! If they knew what their legal rights were there would be significantly lower numbers of child removals. Social workers, unlike policemen making an arrest, are not required to inform the parents of their legal rights. All we had to do to remove a child was to show up at the home and tell the parents we came to remove the kids. Often times we would take a police officer with us (never telling the parents he was there for MY protection, not to enforce an order or warrant). 99% of the time we never had to get a warrant or court order to remove kids because the parents would be so intimidated by the officer that they would just hand their kids over and show up for court the next day. But if they had legally known their parental rights, they could simply have told me that I could not take the children unless I had a court order signed by the judge or had a warrant to remove the kids. … the majority of times parents were just intimidated and gave consent for the whole process to begin; completely unknowing of what rights they just waived.”
I had never considered the next advice she gives which is to tape any and all interrogations your child receives. I figure if they show up at your door, you might as well tape that as well! She says you have the right to bring your own recording device to each meeting and they are required by (Texas) law to record meetings with the child. It makes sense on their side, but having your own back up recording is a great idea.
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Physical exams with your trusted doctor is the next step if they are accusing you of physical abuse. Do not go to a doctor they recommend. You need to make sure it is a doctor you trust and ask that he write a report stating there were no marks or health issues that would lead him to believe the child was being abused. Of course this is a smart thing to do, but in the heat of the accusation, I am not sure how many parents actually consider doing this.
The author suggests having ready a list of names of friends and family who can take care of the children if CPS takes them. I had heard this before, but I am not sure how likely they are to use your list or if their first inclination is to get them with a foster family immediately. I recently wrote an article about how the foster system needs an overhaul, so this is definitely not something you want for your child. If they leave your home, request they be sent to someone on your list.
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Lastly, she says to never admit your guilt. CPS is not above lying to get you confess that you are guilty, so they may offer to return your children if you confess. This tactic will only get you time in jail while your children find homes elsewhere. Do not believe that they will return your children even if you just confess to part of what they say happened.
It is amazing to me how many of the suggested items could and should be done before CPS shows up at your door. Are we prepared for that though? No, definitely not. People believe that this is not really happening to “good” families. My friend shared this article on her Facebook and a friend of hers told her she had “nothing to worry about since you are such a good mom.”
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Sadly, my homeschooling, homebirthing, non-vaccinating, crunchy, government questioning, religious friend is just the kind of person they often go after.
Be prepared and know that CPS is not on your side.
Please support @familyprotection and the work they are doing to bring light into the dark world of Child Protective Services. They want to see the truth exposed and justice brought to those who are destroying lives.
Thank you sweet Panama Mama I just quickly scanned your article here and this is exactly what I needed at this moment for others. Resteeming of course. I am going to do my best to get some of these wonderful enriching and informative posts on some other platforms (like some of my blogs) This will also help the Steemit platform as a whole getting more search engine exposure ;) There are many dedicated steemians here and you are one! This is DEFINITELY information the public is in need of.
Here in the US there was a recent law passed that is supposed to "intentionally" change the focus of CPS from making foster care placements their priority to one of "keeping the family together without foster care" Now as with any government interaction with families rights it will be wise for us to watch how this law unfolds but seems to be a step in the right direction. Their current procedures only create abuse for those they purport to "protect"by ripping these children from their familiar life and family. That in itself is mental abuse.
Add to that the ever growing percent of children being harmed and dying while in the foster care system. There is certainly no doubt about that.
https://steemit.com/fullyinformedpublic/@vickiebarker/u-s-president-signs-buchanan-bill-aimed-at-keeping-families-together
There will take a lot of eyes on how this law begins to play out. Rich @richq11 is taking the bill apart piece by piece and finding lurking areas that will need some light shining on them. Here is where he is now with this:
https://steemit.com/familyprotection/@richq11/beware-of-greeks-bearing-gifts-family-first-prevention-services-act-of-2017
Wow, thanks for letting me know about this new bill! If it really is something good and profitable for kids, I sure hope it works out. I'll have to read the articles you posted. When I read the article, I knew there were a lot of people who needed to see it. People are just too trusting and most don't know that they have to have a warrant. I didn't! Thanks for stopping by and a most excellent and educational comment. :)
Here in Canada, when cps "stepped in to help" when my husband had a mental health episode from the syress of becoming a young new father, they let me keep my newborn but I wasn't allowed to live at home with him, baby and I had to stay at my parent's home. And my husband could visit us there.
Hopefully the bill in the US will help canada remedy their system too...
Oh wow, that is so crazy and sad. I'm glad you were able to keep your baby though.
Yeah it was a harsh couple of months for everyone involved, pretty traumatic! We're okay now though <3
Something like this happened to my brother many years ago. I was actually there when it happened. I was visiting from out of state and we went to dinner with my dad and my brother's daughter. During dinner, my niece (who was two) spit on my father. Intentionally. My father spanked her right there on the spot and we left the restaurant. Some "do gooder" (read that "nosy nellie) took down my brother's license plate and reported the incident to CPS.
They showed up at his house in the middle of the night, got his daughter out of bed, undressed her to look for bruises and left. Luckily they did not take her out of the house. She was not bruised. She was spanked appropriately on her bottom.
I was not there when CPS showed up, but they called me. I told them the only reason they were investigating my father and not me was that he was closer to my niece when she required immediate correction. The correction was not abusive or unwarranted.
I was shocked to say the least. The "investigation" was worse than the spanking. She was not hit hard. At all. But she was awoken in the middle of the night by strangers and forced to disrobe for an inspection. That is insane.
Wow, that is insane and so sad for the family to have gone through that! Had they told CPS in the middle of the night that they couldn't enter without a warrant, I bet it would have kept the case open longer. Who knows though. It's insane what people will call CPS for because they think they're doing the right thing. Insane.
True. I was a bit edgy when I spoke with CPS. I was not happy with the way they treated my niece.
I can imagine. Definitely not cool. I would be not a happy camper, that's for sure.
Great post @apanamamama! There were definitely some new insights in here for me that I didn’t know about. I appreciate the quote you shared from the ex-CPS investigator. That really frails my heart knowing 99% of the time that kids are taken are only because parents are unfamiliar with their rights. I know we have heard that expressed many of times but he was really urging us to know our rights and stop waiving them. It’s also good knowing that those police officers that come with the workers are their for “their” protection and not to enforce taking our kids away. This information will help parents not be so intimidated by them.
I really need to start searching for a lawyer in our area who is an expert when dealing with the CPS! Thanks again for sharing more valuable and crucial information with us. Resteeming to help spread this information ~
Thanks for stopping by and the comment. Yes, it is good to know why the officers are there! Having a lawyer's number handy is a good idea, although I'm not sure how to find that out without asking around or calling and asking them. A database needs to be made. I suggested it to Mark when he was asking what specifically the family protection account should be doing. It would be a major task.
Yea I was thinking about trying to call some in my area and asking them how familiar they are with the CPS or somehow finding out if they are experts when dealing with these types of cases. Yes a database would be really nice but definitely lots of work to put together.
When I first saw CPS, I thought it was a disease!!!
After reading your post now I know what you have been referring to. As you pointed out, it is important to take everything seriously as CPS don't think we are innocent beings until the trial is over.
Lol - Thanks for stopping by. I edited the first paragraph to say what CPS is. ;) Yes, to CPS, you're never innocent. Your child should always be given to someone "more" qualified (or compliant).
Oh my goodness. I have seen several articles about CPS services around the world, and this is quite eye-opening. It will most certainly help with cases where CPS goes overboard, though I also suspect that bad actors can also use this against CPS as well. But they are probably already doing that anyway...
Yes, I'm sure there are some decent CPS workers out there and some bad parents who act like they are good. It is crazy the power they think they have though.
This scares me because we do plan to homeschool our kid ...I'll definitely take a look at your first article as well!!
You should homeschool. It's the best! Depending on where you live, it shouldn't be an issue. We homeschool here in Panama and homeschooled in Texas. Homeschooling itself isn't exactly the issue (although CPS can make anything you do an issue).
People think CPS does great things until they actually have an interaction with them, this is all very good advice and worth reading several times until you can recite it forwards and backwards if you have minor children.
That is so true. A few of these were new to me. Even having a list somewhere reminding you of a few points would be good. :)
While I have never dealt with CPS personally, I have heard good experiences with them too. I don't think all of them are bad and untrustworthy.
My best friend is a divorced single mom of 3 and recently had to deal with the local CPS office here, thanks to her ex-husband (also the kids' father) making claims of neglect and some other things. Her case worker was very kind to her and her kids, because she never really suspected any wrongdoing. But, it was her job to follow up on the claims the ex was making.
Still, I think the tips in this article are very helpful, such as recording all conversations and not allowing a CPS officer into your home without a warrant. There was lots of information I didn't know but it could help to protect you and your family, for sure!
I think there can be some decent CPS workers out there as well. Some people who actually want to change the system or help children. But I think the majority think that the parent is guilty from the start and they'll try to get the parent to confess to whatever it is. Anyway, there is a lot of information to keep your family protected out there. Hopefully we don't any of us have to use it.
I was thinking about CPS and @familyprotection a lot last night and came to this article in the morning. All the advice and tips you explained are really helpful and I agree a lot with 'not talking a lot to the CPS agents and lawyers' because yeah they want to have more info on you to use it against you. I just wish CPS was really in favor of the people and not working for their ulterior motives. All of this is so saddening.
Yes, when it's a government run agency, there will be corruption. It's sad.
Thank you for this post. I think, this is a real instruction on how parents should behave with CPS. I 100% agree with the fact, that many parents do not believe that CPS takes children, although fractional to help the families. And when trouble comes, people don't know what to do.
It is true. They're not prepared and have no idea what to do.
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