How many chances with Child Protective Services?

Question

Only answer if you have experience or have worked for CPS:
My ex friend had his child taken away from by CPS, but he did his services and passed the last drug test, so he got the child back.
But he is using again. If he gets turned in again to CPS, will they finally terminate his rights, or do they keep giving people chance after chance??

Answer 1

How many other times has the child been removed? Termination of parental rights is extremely serious and if the child was only removed once before there is no way CPS would jump to that. Also, there are regulations (such as the child must have been in care for 15 of the last 22 months). There are families that have the children removed numerous times but meet their goals and the children are returned (over and over). All of this varies by state and even by county; even though CPS/DHS/CYS/ACS/DYFS/etc. are supposed to do the same thing, the actual workings of every Agency vary dramatically. For example, in my county if a parent is using drugs and the other parent is clean and can assure the child's safety, the child is not removed. Also, if a family member like an aunt or grandmother is willing to live in the home and assure safety the child would not be removed. Of course this is provided that the father/mother is not unsupervised with the child at any time. Bottom line is that he needs to get to rehab and kick his habit. While he is doing that, the child needs someone sober that can provide him with appropriate care. Talk to your friend about letting the child stay with a family member until he has this under control. If he refuses and is turned in, chances are the child would be removed and he would have to do more services and prove himself for a longer time period before CPS would return the children. His best bet is to be proactive and seek treatment, showing the judge that he is trying to kick the habit and do what is best for his child. But the short answer is that parents do usually get many tries because the goal of CPS is to maintain the children safely in the home or within their own family if their parents are unable to care for them.

Answer 2

It depends, and it usually isn't up to CPS. They cannot take away a child or terminate rights without a judge. They can do emergency removals if there is imminent danger but beyond that they need the judge's approval. You need to let CPS know what your ex friend is doing to protect the child.

Answer 3

CPS has a primary goal of protecting children. In addition, they have a secondary goal of reuniting children with families whenever possible.

The exact circumstances of his drug use will determine what CPS will do in your ex-friend's circumstance.

Answer 4

While I agree that he should lose custody, it doesn't always happen. It should be turned in though. You would feel really bad if you didn't and something bad happened.