Need Advice About CPS

Hi S.,

I haven't had personal experience with CPS but I have 2 ladies that I know have. One I go to church with. She was a foster parent and has now adopted 2 babies that she fostered. I know she had a very difficult time adopting one of the little girls so she might be helpful. The other lady I know works for the DA in my county and has a lot of dealings with CPS. If you would like to send me your email address or phone number, I would be happy to pass it on to the either one of them and have them contact you.

I wish you luck and hope that things turn out well for you!

K.

I haven't had dealings with CPS on adoption--however, I have adopted two boys and our attorney is fantastic! He has worked with CPS adoptions, as well as private ones. He handled everything with both of our adoptions (one easy, one difficult) very ethically and with great compassion. His name is David Cole, he's in Dallas, and his website is www.littlefloweradoptions.com

Good luck!

I have no advice for you because I've never been in the situation but I just wanted to say good luck and bless you for helping such a needy child. I'm sure you'll give him a wonderful and loving home he would have otherwise had.

My dealings with CPS were regarding another situation---my husband & I became guardians for our grandchildren because my stepdaughter had made some very bad decisions.....CPS SAID they were on the side of the children but it seemed to me they were just on the side of buracracy! Everything CPS had committed to me, they did not deliver. Sorry, I'm not trying to be negative....but I guess the bottom line is, don't blindly take what CPS says at face value.....don't hesitate to go up the ladder and push your issue. God bless you for rescuing this baby!!!!

OK, so I logged on and let my sister (she works for CPS as a case worker and just got promoted to Investigator in Travis Co/Austin area) read your plea so she could give you some insight/helpful ideas. She knows the system (since all CPS in TX work under TX govt).

This is basicly what she said.

1-The CPS worker is required to contact you only oncer per month to dicuss/update herself on your case unless you contact her. Then she must get back to you. If she is not contacting you at least 1 time per mos, she is not doing her job.
2-The father issue is no biggie - if no father can be found, what happens is they issue a public announcement basicly saying "If you are the father of "so-&-so", you have XXX days to come forward or your parental rights will be deliquished." They publish this in local paper(s) and put a notice in the court house for a minimum of 30 days. No one ever comes forward that my sister knows of but this is the final step before decairing the father as unable to be the legal guardian/parent if they have no other way of finding/contacting him.
3-You can really do nothing further for adoption process until the mother's rights are terminated as parent. However, if you want to obtain legal services for advice, anyone practicing Family Law can do it and can handle adoptions. Just look in the yellow pages under lawyers or family law or ask around. Your CPS worker can NOT recomend anyone 'cause legally that is giving "legal advise" and CPS workers can NOT do that. They can, however, tell you firms or lawyers that they have dealt in the past, they just can't recomend one over another.
4-She said your request was kind of vague as to what exactly your question was, but if she was you, she would go ahead and obtain a family lawyer now, at least for guidance through the CPS/State processes of adopting a foster child.
5-She said to just be patient. Since the mother's rights have not been delinquished yet, the process will still take some time since the true job of a CPS worker is to support/help the biological family first and then the foster/hopeful adoptive family until the mother's rights are terminated. YOU MUST BE PATIENT!! IT TAKES TIME!

This is my input from knowing my sister's job:
Please remember that the big majority of CPS workers are in that job position because they want to, not because it is simply a job. Despite long hours, little pay, and emotional tugs, they chose to work for CPS. It is the system that is corrupt, not your case worker. THEY ARE EXTREMELY OVER-WORKED and though it looks good on paper when they sign up, their "flex-hour" work system never works in their favor (and though every single one works over-time, they do not get paid over-time). Burn out-rate is high (avg employee stays only 1 year or so) because of the demands, making the situation even worse on new workers coming in, 'cause they have to pick-up someone else's work load as well as their own. The recomended case load is around 9. When my sister got promoted, she had around 30. You may ask your case worker how many cases she currently has, and when you have to deal with CPS, try to do so directly with her supervisor since your case-worker is probably over-worked and everything most-likely has to go through her supervisor anyway.

Hope I helped. Like I said, this is all hints from my CPS-worker Sis and me watching her stuggle with her job. AND TO CLEAR COMMENTS UP FROM BELOW, I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT CPS's PRIORITY IN THEIR JOB DESCRIPTION IS TO WORK WITH THE NATURAL FAMILY UNIT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE FOR A SATISFIABLE OUTCOME AND THEN WHEN THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE, OPT FOR EXTERNAL CARE OR ADOPTION. THIS MAY SEEM CRUEL OR HARD ON FOSTERS/ADOPTING PARENTS (and I really feel for you/them-what a difficult and emotional position), BUT IT IS TO PROTECT THE CHILDREN BECAUSE, DESPITE SHORT-COMMINGS, TIME AND STUDEIS HAVE PROVEN THAT CHILDREN MOST-OF-THE-TIME DO BEST IF THE SITUATION WITH THEIR NATURAL PARENTS IS A RESOLVABLE ONE. Their goal is to work with the family unit for the best outcome of the kids.

Best of luck and I will pray for you, that innocent child having to deal with all of this, and all involved.

T.

I had personal dealings with CPS but on a completely diffrent issue. I finally had to contact an attorny who specilized in CPS cases. There is a good one out of Gun Barrell / Athens. Look your attorny up the BAR, and use your gut on choosing one. I would also contact her supervisor and have a face to face visit and request that the file not the case worker be present. Record every conversation you have with them, in person or over the phone. When you speak with her suprivsor record that conversation and let her know that you would be recording all dealing with the case worker from there on out. Good Luck! Your in our prayers!!

S.,

I used to work for CPS, and the first thing I would do is contact the worker's supervisor. The worker should be visiting the child in your home on a regular basis, so there is no reason that there is only contact every 3 months. If I recall correctly I had to have monthly contact. I would also contact the foster parent's association as they should be able to give you good advice as well. Feel free to e-mail me with any questions. It has been 6 years since I worked for them but I will answer any questions to the best of my recollections.

I have some experiance with CPS but over a different issue. They never follwowed through and it took months to get help for the family and abused children. Don't be afraid to come down on them and contact your workers' supervisor.

My friend adopted from CPS and didn't have too much trouble, although it was an easy case, but it still took about a year.