Child Protective Services (CPS): Money vs. Child Well-Being
Easily Weaponized, CPS Becomes Culpable & Complicit in Child Abuse & Trafficking
The Disturbing Truth About CPS
CPS was established for the right reasons, but because of perverse federal financial incentives and lack of accountability, it has become a primary weapon parents use in their custody battles. When parents weaponize CPS, they abuse their children. All it takes is a single false allegation made by a parent or their proxy (a mandatory reporter), and the damage is done. Add in a case manager with their own emotional baggage, opinions, and biases, and your life and family can be quickly destroyed.
CPS fails in many ways, but at the top of the list is not realizing that the greatest risk to a child in the middle of a custody battle is the risk of losing a relationship with a parent. When parents contest custody, they are naturally motivated to lie about the other parent as a strategy to gain a court advantage. CPS culture, despite all the evidence to the contrary, continues to believe the vast majority of hotline calls are made in a good faith attempt to report a child safety concern. CPS is WRONG!
Core Problem: Lack of Oversight & Accountability
Colorado’s Child Protection Ombudsman (CPO) was established as an independent oversight body to ensure child safety and strengthen/improve child welfare (CPS). Sadly, that’s government lip service instead of true purpose. CPO’s primary objective is to protect the state from liability and CPS from accountability.
CPO is where parents and others can file their complaints about CPS. By statute, CPO has the authority to investigate these complaints to determine whether a caseworker is acting improperly or if a systemic issue needs addressing. Also, CPO has no authority to hold CPS accountable and, this is the big one, cannot share written findings of their investigation with a parent who filed the complaint. CPO says this maintains its independence and prevents CPO from being used as a litigation tool. That’s BS.
CPO won’t put their findings in writing, even if its findings completely exonerated the complainant (parent) for fear that the parent will use those findings to sue the state and hold CPS accountable.
Weaponizing Children & Systems MUST Be Stopped!!
Parents in CPS and family court are motivated to lie about each other as a strategy to gain an advantage in their custody battle. Parents or, through their proxy (mandatory reporter), make false allegations to cause the other harm. Because there is no accountability for making knowingly false reports of child abuse, false reporting is standard practice and effective. Each year, false reports cause more harm to child well-being than any other form of child abuse. PERIOD.
FALSE ALLEGATIONS ARE:
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Do Not Trust CPS!
Perhaps no event is more upsetting than an unannounced visit to your home from CPS. Unless CPS has a court order, warrant, or there is an emergency situation where there is immediate danger to a child, you are not legally obligated to let them in. Be cooperative and polite and explain that you want to consult with an attorney first. Then contact HeartWorkDefense.com.
Parental Rights Defense
Nothing feels more destructive than the bond between a parent and his or her child(ren) forcibly severed by CPS, the family court, or the juvenile court. When something so important is at stake, losing is not an option. At Heartwork Defense™, we know these situations better than anyone else- the team and tools that comprise our bespoke Proactive Defense System is the culmination of this expertise. We’ve made these decisions for families, and we know the nuances that can be the difference between a quick and easy negotiation and termination of parental rights. Don’t lose- win!
The Harmful Effects of Ignoring Parental Alienation
The dismissal of parental alienation by Colorado’s lawmakers and CDHS has serious consequences. Misleading information has influenced policies that fail to protect children from emotional abuse, leaving many at risk of long-term emotional and psychological damage.
The fight against parental alienation requires accurate information and a commitment to protecting families in all custody cases.
- Parental alienation is a form of child abuse and domestic violence.
- It is a significant issue in contested custody battles.
- Legal changes are needed to protect children from harm caused by alienation.
System Solutions
Family Risk Assessments
A primary CPS failure is the reluctance to recognize the single most significant risk to a child who is in the middle of a contested custody battle: the risk of losing their relationship with a fit and willing parent. Instead of assessing the risk of losing a parent, CPS focuses solely on the reported child safety concern, assuming that the report was made in good faith. However, the majority of hotline calls are made with the ill intent to harm a parent-child relationship.
The solution is to assess the reported concern and both parents simultaneously. This involves evaluating both parents to determine if either has the motivation to lie about the other, as well as assessing each parent’s history. Is there a history of abuse prior to the divorce? Are there any other concerns, such as mental health issues or addictions? If there is no history and the reports began when the relationship started to sour, that could be a significant red flag for false allegations. Early assessment of a parent’s motivation to lie is critical to preventing emotional and psychological abuse of the child.
Family Advocates
CPS caseworkers are notorious for being inadequately trained and qualified, often making decisions based on opinions and biases, and trampling upon parental rights and due process protections. This happens thousands of times daily across every child protection jurisdiction in the country. Unfortunately, CPS caseworkers resemble judges in that they possess broad discretion and authority to act as they see fit and are rarely held accountable for their failures. This has led to a national movement to abolish or reform CPS.
The solution is to ensure that every parent who is the subject of a CPS case, investigation, or removal has an advocate in their corner to uphold and enforce their rights, liberties, and due process protections. Family Advocates will ensure that CPS treats everyone, regardless of race, economic status, or gender, with honesty, dignity, and respect by holding case managers and others to a higher standard of transparency and communication. For every dollar CPS spends on Family Advocates up front, it would likely save $20 to $30 downstream by preventing wasted resources, wrongful investigations, and unjust removals, all of which are tremendously harmful to children and families.
Resources for Parents Who Interact with CPS
CPS is a necessary but untrustworthy agency. CPS has an incredibly important job but often causes far more harm than good to children and their parents.
The Law Center videos strip away the mystery of the legal system and empower you to make confident, informed decisions for the best possible outcome.
Tool for the parent who has been silenced, blamed, and distanced from their children.
