My life as a Juvenile Detention Officer.. You Have the Right to Fight Back!! / Legal terms/Preparing for CPS Hearings
Working as a detention officer for over 10 years and sitting in on court case after court case as a security escort for incarcerated youth taught me a lot about the court systems and the importance of "Knowing" who and what you are dealing with when you go to court, especially when it concerns minors. Also, the importance of having legal representation of an attorney that is highly skilled in family law. Therefore, I concluded that giving you a basic road map of what you need to know will give you a headstart on how "the system" works.
If you are a parent involved in a custody battle with CPS, this here are some legal terms you should familiarize yourself with before preparing for your court dates. I have also included some helpful information on Preparing for your cps hearings and a few more links to information that will help you with your case.
If you really want to be more prepared, I suggest you study the "enemies" own playbook to forearm yourself and have the knowledge and ammunition to call the workers on their own mistakes and screwups.
Child and Family Services Reviews
Information Portal
E-Training Platform
The CFSR E-Training Platform is designed to provide federal and state review team members with the information and skills needed to participate successfully in the Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs). It is also designed to provide general background information on the child welfare system as a whole and important, related concepts.
https://training.cfsrportal.acf.hhs.gov/
Forwarned is Forearmed!
Note: These laws and terms apply to the USA but I feel this information will also assist others from other countries.
Legal Terms:
Permanency Hearing
The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) requires that a permanency hearing occur no later than 12 months from the date the child is considered to have entered foster care. The date that the child is considered to have entered foster care is either the date of the first judicial finding that the child has been subject to abuse or neglect (date of the adjudication hearing) or 60 days from the date that the child was placed into foster care, whichever is earlier.
The permanency hearing is the point at which a decision is made about achieving permanency for the child. This decision will involve establishing the child’s permanency plan that will include reunification with the parent or parents, termination of parental rights and adoption, legal guardianship, or another planned permanent living arrangement. For older youth, the permanency hearing also addresses the services and supports needed for the child to make the transition from foster care to independent living.
Permanency hearings are required no less frequently than every 12 months thereafter throughout the child’s stay in foster care until the child achieves permanency.
Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA)
The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) was enacted in 1997 in response to concerns that many children were remaining in foster care for long periods or experiencing multiple placements. This landmark legislation requires timely permanency planning for children and emphasizes that the child's safety is the paramount concern. Specifically, ASFA:
Clarifies the meaning of reasonable efforts to emphasize safety of the child as the paramount concern and to add “safety of the child” to every step of case planning and review processes
Allows for concurrent planning, the simultaneous exploration of family reunification and other permanency options
Requires States to file for termination of parental rights (TPR) once children have been in foster care for 15 of the most recent 22 months, except in certain allowable circumstances, and encourages States to expedite TPR in specific situations of severe harm inflicted on children Mandates States to document efforts to find adoptive or other permanent placements for children, including placements with fit and willing relatives Gives preference when making placement decisions to adult relatives over nonrelative caregivers when relative caregivers meet all relevant State child protection standards Emphasizes adult relatives over nonrelative caregivers when relative caregivers meet all relevant State child protection standards when making placement decisions; the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, P.L. 104-193, was the first law giving legal preference for relatives. It requires criminal background checks for all foster and adoptive parents.
For more information about ASFA, visit the following Web sites.
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-105hr867enr/pdf/BILLS-105hr867enr.pdf
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/cb/pi9802.pdf
Adjudication Hearing
A number of courts use mediation or other non-adversarial dispute resolutions to settle issues in child maltreatment cases. If, however, non-adversarial dispute resolution is not used or is not successful in settling the case by agreement, the case will go to adjudication after the initial hearing. At the adjudication hearing, which is also known as the fact-finding hearing or jurisdictional hearing, the court decides whether the child protective services (CPS) agency can prove the allegations. The CPS attorney presents evidence through the testimony of the CPS caseworker and law enforcement or other witnesses. These other witnesses, if needed, may include expert professional witnesses. Documents such as photographs and medical records may be entered into evidence, and the attorneys for the parents and the child have the right to cross examine any witnesses and to call witnesses and present evidence on their own behalf. The CPS agency needs to present enough evidence to convince the court that the maltreatment alleged in the petition occurred.
If the judge determines that the CPS agency has provided sufficient evidence, he or she will issue a judicial determination that justifies continuing involvement of the CPS agency and the court. If, however, the judge determines that the CPS agency has not provided sufficient evidence, the case may be dismissed and the CPS agency will have no authority to continue its involvement with the family without the family’s voluntary participation.
When the court has determined that child maltreatment has occurred, the judge enters an order finding specific facts regarding the maltreatment and the problems that must be resolved before the child can safely return home. The court will also make determinations as to whether the CPS agency has made reasonable efforts to avoid placement or to achieve reunification, and whether the child’s placement is appropriate given the needs of the child and proximity to the family. The court will also schedule the disposition hearing date and may schedule a permanency hearing to ensure that required time frames are met.
Permanency
The purpose of the permanency goal is to ensure a legally permanent, nurturing family for every child in out-of-home care through family reunification, adoption, guardianship, or another planned permanent living arrangement (APPLA). All children deserve to have permanency and stability in their living situations, whether they remain in the home, are removed from the home and then reunited with their families, or are removed from the home and then live permanently with families other than their birth families.
Generally, when looking at permanency, child welfare practice is concerned with addressing the following questions:
Did the child protective services (CPS) agency make good decisions to return a child to parents and provide services to prevent re-entry?
Is the child in a stable placement now, and how many placement changes did the child experience?
If appropriate, was the child placed in the same foster home as his or her siblings? Was relative placement explored, and did it happen?
Were a permanency goal and all subsequent goals established in a timely manner, and were the goals appropriate?
Did the agency make concerted efforts to achieve the goal?
Was the child placed close enough for parents to have ongoing contact? Did the agency make sure that visits occurred frequently enough?
Achieving permanency means working with the child and family to develop a case plan that provides stability and, once the child returns home or goes to another permanent placement, prevents re-entry into care. A caseworker may use concurrent planning -- that is, working toward more than one permanency goal at a time -- to reunite the family while seeking other options to ensure that the child achieves permanency in a timely manner. This is done by developing permanency goals (reunification, adoption, kinship care, or other planned permanent living arrangements) and then implementing the tasks and providing the services to achieve those goals.
Throughout the permanency process, the caseworker should also work to provide and maintain the child's family connections. This is done by helping the child maintain family relationships and trying to ensure that, if removed from the home, the child is in close proximity to siblings and other family members.
Case Plan
Intervention with abused and neglected children and their families must be planned, purposeful, and directed toward the achievement of safety, permanency, and well-being. An essential element of any planned and purposeful intervention is a complete understanding of the factors and conditions contributing to child maltreatment or other circumstances leading to child welfare involvement. A child protective services (CPS) caseworker, particularly when working with other service providers or community professionals, the family, and the family's support network, employs a family assessment to identify safety threats, risks, and problematic behaviors. The caseworker must then work with the family to identify strategies and interventions to facilitate needed changes.
Once the caseworker has completed this process, he or she must then incorporate this information into an effective, thoughtful case plan. The case plan provides a framework for case decision-making and addresses the following questions.
What are the family outcomes that, when attained, will indicate that safety threats have been addressed, risk has been reduced, and the effects of maltreatment have been successfully mitigated?
What tasks must be undertaken to attain these outcomes?
What intervention approaches or services will facilitate the successful attainment of outcomes and achievement of goals?
How and when will progress in implementing tasks, attaining outcomes, and achieving goals be evaluated?
Many agencies develop case plans that incorporate family strengths and integrate the extended family and others important in the family’s life, such as friends, clergy, or neighbors, to increase the safety of the children and family members. The case plan itself should provide a clear and specific guide for all involved to either strengthen or reduce the behaviors and conditions that affect safety and risk. It will identify the specific outcomes, goals, and tasks that must be achieved to facilitate those changes and will also establish benchmarks for monitoring family progress.
When children have been placed in foster care, the case plan must also meet certain Federal requirements that address the needs of the child. For example, the case plan must be developed jointly with the parent or parents no later than 60 days after the child has been removed from the home. In addition, the case plan must contain the most recent information provided by the child’s educational and health records and meet the educational stability case plan requirement at the time of each placement change. The caseworker should also consult with the child in a manner appropriate to the child's development regarding the child’s goals and needed services.
The caseworker is responsible for updating or developing the plan at specified times, usually at a minimum of every 6 months or whenever significant events occur in the case. Examples of these might include the location of an absent parent, a change in the child’s placement, successful completion of treatment, or a new maltreatment report.
Note that the objective of a case plan is not to create a perfect family or a family that matches a caseworker’s own values and beliefs, but to address safety threats and to reduce or eliminate the risk of maltreatment so that children are safe and have their physical and emotional needs met. Involving the family in planning is vital to secure the family’s investment in and commitment to the plan, empower parents or caregivers to take the necessary action to change behavior, and ensure that the agency and the family are working toward the same end.
Outcomes, Goals, and Tasks
A case plan must include clear outcomes, goals, and tasks designed to facilitate positive changes for the child and family. Positive outcomes indicate that safety and risk threats have been reduced due to changes in the behaviors or conditions that contributed to the child’s maltreatment and the effects of the child maltreatment, and should address issues related to four domains.
Child-level outcomes focus on changes in behavior; development; mental health, including emotional well-being; physical health; peer relationships; and education, including, for example, improved behavior control.
Parent or caregiver outcomes center on many areas, such as improved mental health functioning, problem-solving ability, impulse control, and parenting skills, including, for example, improved child management skills as evidenced by establishing and consistently following through with developmentally appropriate rules and limits for children.
Family outcomes concentrate on issues such as roles and boundaries, communication patterns, and social support, including, for example, enhanced family maintenance and safety as evidenced by the ability to meet members’ basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, and supervision.
Environmental outcomes focus on the environmental factors contributing to the maltreatment, such as social isolation, housing issues, or neighborhood safety (addressed, for example, by using the social support offered by family connections to a church).
Success across each of these domains requires a clear understanding of goals that indicate the specific changes needed to accomplish those outcomes. To be effective, goals should be SMART:
Specific
Measureable
Achievable
Realistic
Time-limited
Additionally, each goal should clearly indicate the positive behaviors or conditions that will result from the change and not merely highlight the negative behaviors to be changed.
To help families understand what is expected of them and what they can expect from the caseworker and other service providers, each goal should be broken down into small, meaningful, and incremental tasks. These tasks should:
Include the specific services and interventions needed to help the family achieve the goals and outcomes
Describe what the children, family, caseworker, and other service providers will do Identify time frames for accomplishing each task
In developing these tasks, caseworkers should also be aware of the availability and accessibility of services, considering issues such as target populations served by a provider, specializations, eligibility criteria, waiting lists, and fees for services. Caseworkers can then determine the most appropriate services available to help the family achieve its tasks.
As an example of how goals and tasks work together to support positive outcomes, consider the example of developing effective child management skills as a positive outcome. A reasonable goal for that outcome might be that the parents will work with the caseworker or a community-based service provider to set specific, age-appropriate expectations for their children. A task supporting that goal might then be to identify those components of the child’s behavior that are most difficult for them to manage and the disciplinary techniques they can use to help him or her control his behavior.
Monitoring Family Progress
When the case plan is developed and an intervention is implemented, the child protective services (CPS) caseworker will, on an ongoing basis, evaluate whether safety threats have been addressed by either being eliminated or controlled with increased protective capacities, and whether risk factors and conditions have changed. This is central to case decisions and to determining next steps. Monitoring change should begin as soon as an intervention is implemented and continue throughout the life of a case until appropriate outcomes have been achieved.
Evaluating family progress helps answer the following questions.
Is the family actively participating in the services agreed to in the case plan?
Is the child safe?
Have the risk and protective factors, strengths, or safety threats changed, warranting a change or elimination of the safety plan or the development of a safety plan?
What changes, if any, have occurred with respect to the conditions and behaviors contributing to the risk of child maltreatment?
What outcomes have been accomplished, and how does the caseworker know that they have been accomplished?
What progress has been made toward achieving case goals?
Have the services been effective in helping clients achieve outcomes and goals and, if not, what adjustments need to be made to improve outcomes?
What is the current level of risk in the family?
Have the protective capacities increased sufficiently so that parents or caregivers can protect their children and meet their developmental needs so the case can be closed?
If the child has been removed from the home, has it been determined that reunification is not likely in the Federal- and/or State-required time frames and there is no significant progress toward outcomes? If so, is a different goal for achieving permanency needed?
Because intervention and service provision to families at risk of maltreatment is a collaborative effort between CPS and other agencies of individual providers, the evaluation of family progress also needs to be collaborative. While the caseworker is responsible for managing the comparison of the family's progress based on information gathered from all service providers, he or she must be sure to actively involve the family throughout the process.
Risk and Protective Factors
There is no single known cause of child abuse and neglect; it occurs across all socioeconomic, religious, cultural, racial, and ethnic groups. However, researchers have identified several factors that may contribute to maltreatment (risk factors) or help prevent it (protective factors). These include environmental supports, such as family income and community organization, as well as personal characteristics, such as temperament, identity development, and genetic and neurobiological influences.
A greater understanding of risk factors can help those working with children and families to identify maltreatment and high-risk situations and to intervene appropriately. Additionally, addressing both risk and protective factors can help to prevent child abuse and neglect or its recurrence. Prevention programs may focus on increasing social supports for families (thereby reducing the risk of social isolation), for example, or on providing parent education to improve parents' expectations that are age-appropriate for their children.
Risk Factors
Children in families and environments with risk factors have a higher likelihood of experiencing maltreatment, but that does not mean that these factors will always result in child abuse and neglect. The factors that contribute to maltreatment in one family may not do so in another. While researchers have noted a relationship between poverty and maltreatment, for example, most people living in poverty do not harm their children. It is important to recognize the multiple, complex causes of the problem and to tailor assessments and interventions for children and their families to their specific needs and circumstances.
Risk factors can be grouped into four domains:
Parent or caregiver, including personality characteristics and psychological well-being, substance abuse, history of maltreatment, and age
Family, such as marital conflict, domestic violence, single parenthood and/or boyfriends in the home, financial stress, and social isolation
Child, such as age, development, and special needs
Environmental, including poverty, unemployment, and community characteristics including, for example, violent neighborhoods
Protective Factors
Protective factors are those that may help protect families from vulnerabilities and help promote resilience. These include:
Nurturing and attachment (developing a bond with a caring adult)
Knowledge of parenting and child development (understanding how children grow and develop)
Parental resilience (having the ability to handle everyday stressors and recover from occasional crises)
Social connections (having trusted and caring family and friends who provide emotional support)
Concrete support for parents (accessing basic resources, such as food, clothing, housing, transportation; services that address family-specific needs, such as child care and health care; and social services, such as for mental health and substance abuse treatment or domestic violence)
Social and emotional competence of children (having the right tools for healthy emotional expression)
Reunification
When children must be removed from their family for their protection, the initial and preferred permanency option is to achieve reunification with their family as quickly and as safely as possible. Reunification is the most common initial permanency goal for children in foster care.
The physical return of the child or youth to parents or caretakers may occur before the return of legal custody. In these circumstances, often referred to as trial home visits, the child protective services (CPS) agency retains custody of the child while the child lives with his or her parent, and continues to supervise the family for some period of time. Reunification is considered achieved when both care and custody are returned to parents or guardians, and the child is discharged from foster care. CPS agencies work to achieve reunifications that are timely but do not result in the child re-entering the foster care system at a later date.
Removed from the Home
When there are safety concerns for the child that cannot be addressed by implementing a safety plan and there is significant risk of child maltreatment, then the child is removed from the home and placed in out-of-home or substitute care. Substitute care, also known as foster care, can range from placement with a relative (sometimes also known as kinship care), to placement with a foster family, to placement in a group setting or in residential treatment. Residential treatment usually occurs when the needs of a child with severe behavioral or mental health issues cannot be addressed in the other settings. The aim, however, is always to place the child in the least restrictive and most family-like setting.
The caseworker must consider numerous factors as well, including the proximity of the placement to the family. Close proximity helps maintain the continuity of family relationships and connections to the community, facilitates visitation between the child and family, and enables the child to remain in his or her school. If the child is removed with his or her siblings, then the goal is to place the siblings together. If siblings cannot be placed together, then the caseworker must arrange for regular sibling visits unless it is contrary to the safety or well-being of any of the siblings to do so.
In many cases where the child has been removed, there are a variety of issues contributing to the maltreatment, such as serious substance abuse, domestic violence, and mental illness, which require that multiple and intensive services be provided. In addition to the services provided to the parents, the child may also need services, including services to help him or her address the trauma arising from the maltreatment and separation from the family.
The caseworker conducts a comprehensive family assessment with the family to determine the services needed to minimize the risk of maltreatment, address the factors that contributed to this risk, and ensure the child’s safety upon return. The caseworker and family then develop the case plan together.
Once the case plan has been developed, the caseworker provides or arranges for services identified in the plan to help family members achieve the case plan's outcomes, goals, and tasks. Selecting and matching interventions and services is a critical step in the casework process. Child maltreatment is caused by multiple contributing factors, so interventions need to address as many of these factors as possible, including the interpersonal needs (such as mental health and/or substance abuse treatment and parent aide and/or other parent support services), and concrete needs (such as housing and child care) of all family members.
While the agency is working with the family, the caseworker will develop a plan for family visitation. The family visitation plan outlines when and how often visitation occurs and under what set of circumstances. The visitation plan addresses the need to develop or improve the parent-child relationship and any child safety or well-being considerations. Initially, visitation may be very structured and occur in a supervised setting. As the family progresses, visits may occur more often, be of longer duration, and become unsupervised.
Safety Plan
A safety plan is a written agreement that the child protective services (CPS) caseworker develops with the family that clearly describes the safety services that will be used to manage threats to a child’s safety. Safety services assist families to engage in actions or activities that may logically eliminate or mitigate threats to the child’s safety. These activities must be planned realistically so that they are feasible and sustainable for the family over time. The safety plan will clearly outline what these actions and activities are, who is responsible for undertaking them, and under what conditions they will take place. It is designed to control threats to the child’s safety using the least intrusive means possible.
In all cases, the safety services outlined in the safety plan must have an immediate effect and be immediately available and accessible. They may be formal or informal: the services can be provided by professionals, such as child care providers, parent/homemaker aides, or public health nurses, or by non-professionals such as neighbors or relatives. The important thing is that everyone who is part of the safety plan understands his or her role and is able and willing to carry out their responsibilities.
A safety plan differs from a case plan in that a safety plan is designed to control safety threats and have an immediate effect, while a case plan seeks to create change over time to reduce risk and increase the family’s capacity to protect the child. The safety plan must stay in effect as long as the threats to child safety exist and the family remains unable to provide for the child’s safety.
Well-Being
While safety and permanency are integral to a child’s well-being, they are not enough. The well-being goal addresses the physical health and behavioral, emotional, and social functioning of children and youth who have experienced maltreatment, trauma, and/or exposure to violence.
Generally, when looking at well-being, child welfare practice is concerned with addressing the following questions:
Did the child protective services agency do a thorough assessment of the needs of the child, family, and foster family, and provide the services necessary to ensure the child’s well-being?
Did the agency make sure that the child’s physical, educational, and mental health needs were met?
Were the child and the family actively involved in developing the case plan?
Did the caseworker meet often enough with the child, parents, and foster family to ensure that the child was safe and that everyone was focused on the case plan's outcomes, goals, and tasks?
Good casework practice in achieving positive well-being outcomes includes thorough and ongoing assessment of children and their caregivers to determine their needs and then meet those needs through written case plans and service provision. Because physical and behavioral health needs and functioning involve more than the affected child, it is important to engage all pertinent parties, such as educators, healthcare providers, and therapists. Regular and attentive caseworker visits are also important to monitor a child’s functioning. The goal is not merely to have the child survive his or her time in child welfare, but to thrive as best as he or she can.
Well-being is often harder to quantify than safety or permanency. To assist agencies, the Children’s Bureau has developed a pair of guides identifying well-being instruments for early childhood and middle childhood/adolescence.
Family Assessment
Once the court has either granted the child protective services (CPS) agency’s petition for custody of the child or decided that the child and family must receive additional services, the caseworker assigned to the family conducts a family assessment. At best, this is a comprehensive process that can expand upon the assessment conducted during the investigation. During this assessment, the caseworker identifies behaviors and conditions about the child, parent, and family that contributed to safety threats and the risk of child maltreatment.
A comprehensive family assessment provides both the caseworker and the family with a greater understanding of how a family's strengths, needs, and resources affect a child's safety, permanency, and well-being. It should be strengths-based, family-centered, culturally sensitive, individualized, and developed in partnership with the family. The strengths identified will provide the foundation upon which the family can make changes.
When possible, this assessment also should involve the extended family and support network. Many CPS agencies use family decision-making meetings where family members come together to make decisions and to develop a plan with the agency for services. These meetings may include a larger, often informal network and usually involve both custodial and non-custodial parents.
A thorough family assessment is an ongoing process throughout the life of the case and addresses the following questions.
What are the family's strengths and needs that affect safety, permanency, or well-being?
What is the child’s current living situation with regard to safety and stability?
Was a safety plan developed, and what has been the family’s response to this plan?
How do family members perceive their conditions, problems, and strengths?
What is the parent’s or caregiver’s level of readiness for change?
What is their motivation and capacity to ensure safety, permanency, and well-being?
What is currently known about the parent or caregiver’s history?
Are there clues that further information about the past will help to explain the parent or caregiver’s current functioning?
What is known about the family’s social support network?
Who else is supporting the family and who will be available on an ongoing basis for the family to rely on?
Are there any behavioral symptoms observed in the child? How has the child functioned in school and in social relationships?
Who else may have information about any behavioral or emotional concerns?
Have problems been identified that may need further examination or evaluation, such as drug or alcohol problems, psychiatric or psychological problems, domestic violence, or health needs?
Has the child experienced any trauma as a result of his or her maltreatment and, if so, what specific services may be required to address it?
What further information about the family will help provide an understanding of the risk and protective factors related to the potential of continued maltreatment?
All of this information will guide the family and caseworker in identifying what must change to mitigate or eliminate the safety threats, address the effects of maltreatment and/or other effects of the child’s removal, and eliminate or reduce the risk of maltreatment recurring. This provides the foundation for providing appropriate services and developing a case plan.
Adoption
When reunification is deemed not possible, adoption is the preferred way to achieve a permanent home for a child or youth. Adoption refers to the legal transfer of parental rights and responsibilities from the original parents or caretakers to new ones.
Note that in most cases (Tribes are an exception), termination of parental rights (TPR) is required before adoption can occur. When the adoptive family adopts a child, adoption assistance may be available. The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act (as amended) provides Federal subsidies to encourage the adoption of children from foster care. These subsidies, known as adoption assistance, help to minimize the financial obstacles to adoption and serve to remove barriers. Adoption assistance also contributes to an increase in adoption of children with special needs. Besides the financial assistance provided, adoption assistance may provide other types of assistance to help with medical care or other services.
Guardianship
Children in foster care can achieve permanency through guardianship, which is also known as legal guardianship or permanent guardianship. In a guardianship, a caregiver can assume legal custody of a child in out-of-home placement without termination of parental rights (TPR) as is required for an adoption. Guardianship is often sought by family relative care givers who want to provide a permanent home for the child and maintain relationships with extended family members. Guardianships may also be appropriate for older youth in foster care who object to being adopted and having their parents’ rights terminated, yet want to remain with their current caregiver.
The Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008 created a new plan option for States and Tribes to provide kinship guardianship assistance payments under title IV-E on behalf of children who have been in a foster care placement in which a relative has assumed legal guardianship. These subsidized guardianships, similar to adoption subsidies, provide financial assistance to caregivers who assume legal guardianship of a child in out-of-home care. A number of States are exploring subsidized guardianship as a means to achieving permanency for children and youth who are not being adopted or reunified with family.
Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement
Another Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (APPLA), also known as Other Planned Permanent Living Arrangement (OPPLA), was established as a permanency option for children by the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA). However, ASFA is clear that APPLA is the least preferred permanency option for children. Prior to establishing APPLA as a permanency plan for a child, the CPS agency must consider the other permanency options and document to the court the compelling reason(s) why a more preferred permanency plan, such as reunification, adoption or guardianship, is not being selected.
The permanency option of APPLA must include a plan for the permanent placement of the child that meets the child’s developmental, educational, and other needs. The plan must be designed to ensure that the living arrangement addresses not only the physical placement of the child but also addresses the quality of care, supervision, and nurturing that the child will receive in the immediate future and beyond the time of case closure. APPLA thereby ensures that adult caregivers or adult parent figures and/or mentors play permanent and important roles in the child’s life.
getting-your-paperwork-ready-family-law download:
Getting Ready for a Court Hearing or Trial Download:
Dependency Court Hearings:
http://www.cps-lawyers.com
The Detention Hearing
The social worker CPS/CFS will write a petition stating allegations of how you neglected or abused your child. Often times, these allegations are overstated, exagerrated, suprising and shocking to the parents. Allegations are statements made by a social worker that he or she believes prove that your children are at risk in your custody and that the state must detain (or take custody) of the children. You have the right to an evidentiary hearing where you can call witnesses and cross examine anyone who has made statements of neglect and abuse by you.
If you have hired a CPS attorney (who actively works in the area of juvenile law) after a petition has been filed, your attorney has the right to request a 24 hour continuance to prepare and gather witnesses, if necessary. At the detention hearing the court can either detain the children, send them home, or social services will (with adequate information) place them with relatives. If the court detains the children, it will likely order conditions to enable the parent to retain custody of the children. In some cases, there is no immediate solution and the court will remove the children from the parents care.
This is an extremely emotional time that takes hard work and dedication with the family and social services. Timelines for the case are in effect, and written rules and regulations must be followed. The attorneys at the Law Offices of Johnson & Johnson are very familiar with the rules and practices at this stage of the court case, and will prove dedicated to resolving the many issues that arise. This stage of the case is where constant contact with the attorney is necessary and imperative.
At the detention hearing you have the right to:
cross examine any witness against you, including the CPS/CFS worker;
present evidence on your own behalf;
subpoena witnesses;
present witnesses on your behalf.
Prima Facie (on its face)
If the county meets their burden of a prima facie case for detention the matter will then proceed to what is called a jurisdictional hearing. A jurisdictional hearing is usually set within 10 days. This is where the county must PROVE the allegations in the petition by a preponderance of the evidence. All of your rights still hold true at this stage of the proceeding. It is also imperative that you have an attorney that is well prepared, has spent time with you and your family, investigated every aspect of the case and has remained in close contact with you.
The Jurisdictional Hearing
At the jurisdictional hearing you have the right to a trial on all of the allegations in the petition. Your juvenile law attorney will fight against the allegations of abuse and neglect – and if your attorney can show that the allegations are false or if the county cannot meet their burden of proof, (which is now a preponderance of the evidence), the petition will be dismissed. At the hearing, just like the detention hearing you have the right to bring witnesses, present evidence on your behalf, and cross examine anyone who who claims you have abused your child. It is important to find a juvenile law attorney that will take the time to meet with you, explain your case to you, and prepare diligently to present your case in a manner of utmost detail and professionalism. If, however, the allegations are found to be true, or any revised portion "sustained."
At this point, if jurisdiction is taken upon your children, your children may or may not be placed with you while you engage in services, otherwise known as a case plan. It is imperative that details in representation are worked on before a case plan is assembled for your children to be returned to you. Sometimes, a case plan that is not carefully crafted to address your life and your situation will end up being a plan for eventual failure. By law, case plans must be carefully crafted to address the specific needs of the family. You deserve more than a standard case plan. This stage is important to the eventual outcome of your case. You will want a juvenile law attorney to advocate for you to have your children in your custody while you engage in a case plan. If your children are not in your custody you are entitled, by right, to a visitation
Again, a good advocate may be able to argue for a more liberal visitation plan thorough the juvenile dependency system. Other avenues are a possibility as opposed to jurisdiction, by way of negotiation or settlement, such as:
DISMISSAL
INFORMAL SUPERVISION
VOLUNTARY LEGAL GUARDIANSHIP
Dispositional Hearing
If the County convinces the court the petition is "true," then jurisdiction is taken by the Court over your children and family. The next stage is a dispositional hearing. The social worker at CPS/DFS prepares a case plan (mentioned above) and outlines the services that you will need to undergo in order to regain custody of your children and eventually close the case. You have the right to another trial at the dispositional stage. Even though dependency jurisdiction was taken by the Court, you still may argue for dismissal of the action or an informal supervision plan (see above). If the court disagrees, an effective advocate can still argue for a case plan that doesn’t overwhelm the parent – for example, combining two goals or intentions of dispositional plan into just one service.
If the matter proceeds to a disposition trial, otherwise known as a contest, all of the same procedural rights are afforded to the parents. The county must show by clear and convincing evidence that the children are at a substantial danger to the child’s physical health, safety, protection, or physical and emotional well-being and there is no reasonable way to protect the child from these dangers ’s home.
The burden upon social services CPS/CFS is much greater at the dispositional stage. It jumps from preponderance of the evidence to clear and convincing evidence. Your juvenile law attorney can strongly advocate for the return of the children or the continued placement of the children in the care of the parents at this dependency stage.
YOUR ATTORNEY SHOULD ADVOCATE FOR THE RETURN OF
YOUR CHILDREN WHENEVER APPROPRIATE.
At every stage of the proceeding, placement of the children is an issue. Your attorney can ask for return of the children at every single court hearing because placement is always relevant. Extended visitation is always at issue, and when appropriate, your lawyer will argue for more visitations along with less restrictions.
At every stage (detention hearing, jurisdictional hearing and dispositional hearing) of the proceedings, settlement negotiations will take place. This isn't the same as a civil trial, since the family is at stake. A good lawyer can negotiate less severe restrictions on visitation or other elements of the case plan. There may be advantages to settling the matter instead of moving forward to a trial where witnesses are called. Your experienced juvenile dependency attorney will advise what is best for your case and on these very important decisions.
How to Sue CPS in Federal Court
December 3, 2010 - By Linda Martin -
Many CPS victims choose to file a federal lawsuit, to sue for violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983:
42 U.S.C. § 1983 – Civil action for deprivation of rights
Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress, except that in any action brought against a judicial officer for an act or omission taken in such officer’s judicial capacity, injunctive relief shall not be granted unless a declaratory decree was violated or declaratory relief was unavailable. For the purposes of this section, any Act of Congress applicable exclusively to the District of Columbia shall be considered to be a statute of the District of Columbia.
See entire post Here:
http://fightcps.com/how-to-sue-cps-in-federal-court/
Your Case Notebook – Is It Up To Date?
http://fightcps.com/your-case-notebook-is-it-up-to-date/
How to Sue CPS in Federal Court
http://fightcps.com/how-to-sue-cps-in-federal-court/
What to Do If Child Protective Services Social Workers Are Investigating You
http://fightcps.com/what-to-do-if-child-protective-services-social-workers-are-investigating-you/
For Those Looking For a CPS Defense Lawyer
http://fightcps.com/need-lawyer-cps-dhs/
You Can File For a State Administrative Hearing
http://fightcps.com/filing-for-an-state-administrative-hearing/
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@familyprotection was started approximately 3 months ago. If you are concerned about where these funds are going, please take the time to read this post:
We are Family Protection, Keeping Families Safe, Together.
@markwhittam grew up in the care of CPS and then many years later he and his family had to flee their country under threats from the state to take their child because they home schooled.
Linda, @canadian-coconut, started @familyprotection because she has helped several families who have been torn apart at the hands of the legal kidnappers aka. Child Protection Services.
We are Family Protection, Keeping Families Safe, Together.
...
It is up to us as a Community to uncover the truth and spread this truth worldwide!
If you or someone you know have children that are now wards of the state and/or government, we encourage you to share your story. If you are an underage youth caught up in this insane cycle of abuse and control..Please share your story..If you have friends in abusive situations..Please have them share their story. We here at steemit.com have caring people that that are willing to help you in anyway we can.
If you wish to donate in support of this project, please do so by sending your donations in the form of Steem, Steem Power and or SBD to @familyprotection
Show your support for @familyprotection, @markwhittam, and @canadian-coconut by visiting their blogs, leaving comments revelent to this most worthy cause, upvoting and resteeming as many of these posts as you feel drawn to do. Please read this post prior to using the @familyprotection tag on any of your posts!
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"Let the things break your heart that break the heart of God!"
...steemit posts in support of @familyprotection by @thethreehugs...
My life as a Juvenile Detention Officer..BECCA BILL..Rebecca Hedman 's Story
My life as a Juvenile Detention Officer.."Keep em Calm - Keep em Drugged!" .. Rebecca's Story..
My life as a Juvenile Detention Officer .. Pregnant Teens in Prison .. Janet's Story
Mandatory-dna-testing-for-all-youth-in-the-system
Coming to Terms with Alcohol, Drugs and Sex
https://steemit.com/family/@thethreehugs/coming-to-terms-with-alcohol-drugs-and-sex
My Wish for You! In Support of the "Victims"
My life as a Juvenile Detention Officer...A series of True Stories of Abuse of Children (Introduction)
My life as a Juvenile Detention Officer...A series of True Stories of Abuse of Children - Maria (Part 1)
My life as a Juvenile Detention Officer...A series of True Stories of Abuse of Children - Maria (Part 2)
My life as a Juvenile Detention Officer...A series of True Stories of Abuse of Children - Tanisha - From The Cradle to The Grave
What are the three things that cannot remain hidden?
photos from pixabay.com
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MAHALO FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!
This post has been Resteemed and Upvoted by @familyprotection
are using "Child Protection Agencies"
to take children away from loving families
and place them in foster care or group homes
or put up for adoption.
THESE FAMILIES NEED PROTECTING.
UPVOTE This Comment .. & .. DONATE a Portion of the Liquid Rewards from this post,
TO HELP US HELP FAMILIES IN CRISIS. *** { How Do I Donate? } **
Thanks my friends! Just made another donation from last payoff. Let me know if there is more I can personally do to help.
Please read my post about my sons cause
Will do my friend.
Awesome ... much respect ....
Thank you @navala and thank you for your support
This post is very cool, I hope you will always post such things, Thanks.
Thank you @dwancina..I try to post things that are helpful to the community.
it's a great post
@sakib-khan
Thanks @sakib-khan and thank you for your support!
Really good post my dear friend...
Thanks @niharikalove and thank you for your support
friend really post is good.
Thanks
That is a whole ton of information, I'm going to have to bookmark this post and refer to it sections - no way I could ever take that much in during one sitting. An incredible insight into the great work you do, and I'm sure anyone with a family such as myself will fully appreciate the hard work that goes into the process. Fantastic post.
#thealliance
Lol yes it's a lot of info but I felt it necessary to show people how to prearm themselves for court. In order to fight the laws, you need to know the laws.. you also need to know the workers guidelines.
this post give us to care about their child.We should also careful about our child and family members.
@oliviaalexa
Thanks you for your support.
I want more post in this type .this is nice information.
I'm glad I could help!