Child Protective Services

Failure to Protect and Serve Americans place their lives in the hands of their government. We trust that in doing so, things will inevitably work out in the correct way. However, this is not the case for many children who become lost in the Child Protective Services; or CPS organization. Texas has a separate system of courts that directly handles the cases in which a family’s structure, practices, and techniques come into question called the family courts. However, these courts often become overburdened and make serious mistakes sending children back into circumstances which offer little to no hope for a bright future. Their primary goal is to “reunite children with their families.” Serious consideration needs to be explored as to whom; the
Currently, foster homes are overburdened, and often no better than the homes that the children escaped. There are not enough good options when a child is taken away from their parent’s home. I personally was lucky enough to experience this process first hand when a family member of mine was taken away from her parents. She spent one year in the CPS process. She was initially taken away at the age of nine months after an anonymous call lead police officers into a house that they “did not want to walk into because of the smell.” Trash was thrown everywhere. There was twice as much alcohol as food, and the baby was sitting in what looked like days of filthy diapers and poor hygiene. She was immediately placed in foster care where she stayed for 3 months before being placed with my mother; the child’s aunt. CPS fought with this beautiful little girl’s parents to make the most minimal effort. They asked them to obtain and maintain employment, buy a vehicle, attend classes, and stay drug free. After nearly a year had gone by, not one of these goals had even been attempted. According to CPS rule, however, they still had to wait until the year was up, giving the parents one more chance to get their act together. I eventually did gain permanent custody of the child; however the parent’s rights were never terminated. Even after the state had
CASA is one such organization. They are a separate entity that evaluates the home situation of a family after the reunification process. This is a great idea because they can see things that others may miss. However, they are not a direct employment of CPS. They report back to them, but unless a judge chooses to reopen the case, their findings may not be enough! More research needs to be done to evaluate the specific circumstances of various groups of children that enter the CPS system. Very few studies have been done to date, but many are already seeing patterns with certain races and mental illnesses that continue to enter and reenter the system. The reunification policy is in serious need of reevaluation. The needs and safety of a child need to be placed above the rights of a parent. “The child has a chance when his/her right to physical safety is weighed against the parents’ right to the child. However, when it is the parents’ right to their child pitted against their responsibilities of parenting the child for his/her long-termmental health, and contribution to the community, the parents’ rights usually take precedence.” More worth needs to be placed on the child’s head. Emotional abuse, neglect and physical abuse should be evaluated by professionals and should have equal weight. The bottom line is that more effort needs to be put