Parents and Child Protective Services

It is a knock to the door that a parent never wants to receive.  Standing in the door is a representative, a social worker, from your state’s social services agency and perhaps even one or two uniformed police officers. 




Such a visit may come as a surprise or it may have been anticipated.  However, the net result is that the social worker will leave your house with your child or your children.  For the parent to be reunited with their child, a long and frustrating process awaits. 

One of the realities of life is that children are abused, many times by those close to them, sometimes by their parents.  To combat this, state legislatures across the country have enacted laws to protect children.  These same legislatures have also created state agencies, usually referred to as the Department of Social Services or Child Welfare, to enforce and implement the laws designed to protect children. 

Perhaps an overview of how the system works would be beneficial.  I should point out that this will be a general overview and some states will likely have policies that vary from this description.  I am basing this summary on my involvement in scores of such cases as an attorney who has represented numerous parents who have had children removed from their care and also on my other work representing other individuals such as Guardians ad Litem and others who have had some involvement with these types of cases.

The general way in which a case comes to the attention of a social services agency is that a report will be made.  Most states have even enacted laws that require certain individuals to make mandatory reports of suspected instances of child abuse or face penalties themselves.  These “mandatory reporters” generally include people such as police officers, day care operators, doctors, guardians, teachers and other individuals who have involvement with children.  However, most states have laws that require the department of social services to investigate any report of child abuse or neglect.