What If Child Protective Services Comes To My Door
What to Practise if CPS is at Your Door
If your family is contacted by Child Protective Services (CPS), we propose the following:
-
- Practise not let the CPS workers into your habitation. The only legal ways into your home are:
- In emergency situations (immediate and obvious danger to life or limb)
- With your permission
- With a search warrant.
- Stay at-home. Be polite and friendly. Smile. Become the caseworker'south business card.
- Alibi yourself briefly and get a phone or other device to record your conversation. This recording could be used as proof should the investigation escalate. When you begin recording, state your proper name, the date and enquire each person to give their name and championship as well.
- Practise not permit CPS workers to interview your children.
- Tell CPS workers you are willing to cooperate if they will tell you what the charges are. If there are allegations of physical corruption or neglect, tell the caseworkers you volition have your kid(ren) to your doctor who volition then write a report to CPS.
- Stand up your ground. Practise non be afraid of silence.
- Afterward the caseworkers leave:
- Write downwards everything that occurred
- Call THSC at 806-744-4441.
- Practise not let the CPS workers into your habitation. The only legal ways into your home are:
Join THSC
Read Authorities Agency Directives from CPS
Benefits for THSC Members
How Can THSC Assistance Y'all During a CPS Investigation?
If you get a call from CPS, beingness a THSC fellow member might be the greatest asset in your arsenal.
- THSC members are provided with a 24-hour CPS hotline to telephone call in emergencies.
- If CPS knocks on your door, a THSC representative will walk you through every step of the procedure and connect you to our CPS Family Abet and legal team for legal assistance.
Bring together THSC
It Happened: CPS Knocked at My Door
Past An Anonymous THSC Member
Afterwards first reading about the Tutt family'south CPS instance, I recall imagining how simply I could be reported to CPS for child corruption. Like the Tutts, we take a child with special needs who tin hands find herself in interesting and unusual situations and left to her own explanation, that situation could really make me wait like a neglectful or abusive parent.
Y'all encounter, she seems to speak wonderful English and has a charming personality, only after arriving for the first time in America only four years ago as a seven-year-sometime newly adopted girl with no English-speaking skills whatsoever, her vocabulary and cultural astuteness are quite defective today. Don't get me wrong, she doesn't hateful to confuse you, just she does.
For example, she'll draw all vehicles every bit cars: the 18-wheeler is a car, the Texas truck is a car, the convertible is a car. And so, if yous've been in a disciplinary state of affairs with a guilty child, y'all can imagine predicting her explanation to an authority without understanding the whole situation could be of business organisation. Hitting, slammed, poked, smacked, touched, amused, patted, spanked, punched, bonked, banged … information technology's even so to her.
But it wasn't withal to the nurse counselor at her special needs military camp the week before the man with the Department of Family and Protective Services badge showed upwardly at my door. I had just finished communicable up with social media, which only so happened to include the well-nigh contempo viral commodity about a "CPS nightmare," when our doorbell rang.
The house had not quite recovered from the weekend and with my bedhead, morning breath, and comfy sweats-clad self, I answered the door expecting to tell the human that we did not need pest control, weed-eating, etc. Yet, I immediately recognized the badge. I had only read that acronym in the CPS nightmare article. I'k sure I looked dazed and confused.
Honestly, I don't remember much of what he said. I tried to retrieve everything that THSC instructed on their website for these verbal situations (past the way, one of the things is to write down everything that was said).
Fifty-fifty though I had imagined this scenario, I didn't have the instructions memorized. I did call up to not let him in, not to volunteer information, that I needed a lawyer, to not let him alone with the kids—all this was going through my caput when I asked dumbfounded, "What? Who? Huh … ?"
He told me very politely and courteously (he didn't quite fit my nightmare scenario) that I had been reported for child abuse and that he would need to interview all of my children individually. At this point the kitten started to escape and my oldest came to me maxim something–probably something about his math problem or his little blood brother leaving his underwear on the flooring.
I calmly (even though I was beginning to rage and tremble inside) handed the kitten to my son and looked back at the immature man who at present represented a threat to my family unit. I took command of my voice and asked if I could contact my attorney showtime and he said aye and that my attorney could phone call him dorsum to gear up the interviews. "Here'southward my carte du jour … ."
I shut the door, biting my lip to go along my composure as I walked quickly back to my room to become some privacy and retrieve.
My first thoughts: I'm a THSC member right? They offer legal assistance for this exact state of affairs right? What was that number I'one thousand supposed to call? Should I phone call them first or should I call my married man?
I chose to call my husband first. He didn't answer. He texted back: "What's up? In a coming together."
I texted back: "CPS knocked at the door. I've been accused of child abuse."
He called pretty quickly after that. Fortunately, he'due south a very calm and level-headed homo who knew just what to say to me: "I support you. We will get through this together." That's when I lost information technology. I told him the state of affairs and said I thought we should call THSC correct away. He agreed and I chosen THSC.
I spoke with a woman (probably a good thing so she could sympathise the talking while crying thing) who said she'd give my bulletin to the attorney, who was in court at the moment, and he'd return the call by the terminate of the mean solar day.
Then, beingness a homeschooling mom, I had to somehow become dorsum to my kids and return the house to some sort of order (you lot know what happens when mom disappears for a while with no indication of returning).
I found a moment solitary with my girl and asked her some questions about camp. I asked her about her counselors and what they talked about. That's when I figured information technology out. The week before she left for campsite, in that location had been an incident with an upset mom and a disobedient child at 4 in the morning time. Nothing abusive had happened.
After hearing her retelling of that early on morning, coupled with her limited vocabulary—remember, a "spank" is the same as a "hit" to my daughter—it could sound calumniating with a poor selection of wording. We tried to become about our twenty-four hours—just let's just say, non much schooling happened that day.
When THSC's attorney chosen back a couple of hours later, I had gathered myself enough to explain the situation without crying over again (thank goodness!). He knew exactly what to do.
I immediately felt relief and comfort. This man knew how to handle the situation and knew how to protect my family. I immediately felt like I had a team and the coach knew exactly how to play the game. He told me the game plan.
Before he hung up, I had to ask him: "Based on what I told you, am I guilty of child abuse?"
You see, that was the worst part of the whole experience. I began questioning everything near myself. I even began to wonder if it would be all-time for the children if they were taken from me. If I sounded at all similar I abused my children, then possibly I shouldn't exist their mother. Thinking back on it, the thoughts all sound absurd now.
Thank God THSC offered me the legal assistance I needed, considering it took all of my energy and attention just to cope with the spiritual and emotional part of this situation. My power and adequacy every bit a female parent had been called into question. If you've ever dealt with feeling inadequate as a mom before, the addition of being defendant of child abuse tin seem overwhelming.
Knowing that I had a lawyer handling everything with CPS, I felt the freedom to hash some problems out with God. Don't get me wrong, we gave the legal stuff to God on that offset telephone conversation with my husband. But being able to let get of the legal mumbo jumbo and but focus on my family served our family unit immensely.
THSC is not kidding when they say they are Keeping Texas Families Free. They freed me to search my heart and make me a better mom.
Today, nosotros received find that I am in fact not guilty of child corruption. It took some fourth dimension and some interviews of each individual in our family in the presence of the lawyer THSC provided, simply it is done now. And I am relieved. I did cry once again: tears of joy.
I am rejoicing that God used THSC to protect my family unit. I am grateful that we are members of THSC. Presently, THSC will be receiving our cheque for a lifetime membership.
I implore y'all to protect your family and join THSC. Or, only support the funding that provided the attorney for my family. I will exist forever grateful to you. Give thanks you! And thanks, THSC, for Keeping Texas Families Free.
THSC's CPS Work
You can read more near the Tutt family unit and their battle with CPS hither.
Since 2014, THSC has helped resolve 41 CPS cases for homeschooling families. As of the terminate of the 2d quarter of 2018, THSC has eight ongoing cases where we are representing families during CPS involvement. Like the Tutts, these families have been targeted wrongly. Whether because of a false report made to CPS or because CPS or a judge overstepped their potency, these families have been forced into the traumatic scenario of having to defend their right to raise their children.
THSC's mission is to ensure that these families receive justice.
In improver to fighting in the courts to defend family rights, THSC works hard in the Texas legislature to resolve problems with Texas police force that accept contributed to many of these situations.
In 2017, THSC and the THSC Watchmen team succeeded in passing nine CPS reforms which fixed several loopholes or problems with Texas law to ensure that families are given proper procedural protections during a CPS investigation or lawsuit. You tin can read a detailed account of these reforms at our 2017 Legislative Victories folio.
Why is THSC Involved in CPS Problems?
THSC was founded in order to protect the right of Texas families to homeschool their children. Our motto is Keeping Texas Families Costless. In the last few decades, nosotros accept succeeded in establishing a potent precedent for homeschooling in Texas.
In recent years, nonetheless, the boxing for homeschooling has begun to change. No longer do nosotros meet major, direct attacks upon the right of parents to homeschool in Texas. Instead, the attacks are coming through the family courts.
Judges and caseworkers (often with a strong bias against homeschool families) claiming the basic presumption that parents have the God-given correct to enhance their children or to educate their children at dwelling house.
The right to enhance our children in the first identify is the foundation of our right to homeschool. For this reason, THSC expanded our mission statement to include the protection of each family's right to raise their children.
We believe that the best place for children is in a abode with a loving family. If yous do as well, delight stay informed and be prepared to contact your legislators in support of CPS reform legislation by signing up for THSC legislative, advocacy and political updates.
Bring together THSC
Empowering families to raise their kids.
Assist Support Texas Families!
Source: https://thsc.org/child-protective-services/
Posted by: williamswifigh75.blogspot.com
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