Interactions with Child Protective Services (CPS) can be stressful and frightening for any family. While CPS agencies are intended to protect the well-being of children, visits from their agents can sometimes unfairly represent your situation.
If you have found yourself involved in a California CPS case and would like to resolve the matter as efficiently, you should consider working with our reputable Redding CPS lawyer.
When you become the subject of a CPS investigation, feelings of stress, uncertainty, and regret about past choices can overwhelm you. However, you mustn’t allow other parties to make a scapegoat of you unfairly. Instead, you need to enlist the services of a knowledgeable Redding CPS lawyer, like one of our team members at Eric Alan Berg & Associates.
Our team works hand in hand with our clients, leveraging open communication and close collaboration to gain an in-depth understanding of their situation and their needs. You can trust that we can equip you for upcoming proceedings while safeguarding your family’s privacy. We can work to implement cutting-edge legal strategies to help expedite proceedings, uphold parental rights, and set your family on the path to a more peaceful tomorrow.
CPS cases can originate in a variety of ways, but they usually begin with a concerned party reporting suspected abuse, negligence, or illegal treatment of a child. The person filing the initial report could be a family member, a teacher, a neighbor, or even another state agency that has business with the family. Once the initial report has been filed, a formal case may be opened if there is sufficient evidence to support it.
In general, CPS is looking to verify that the children in the home are safe. This process may involve interviews with the involved parties (including children), home visits by CPS agents, and various assessments by CPS and other authorities. If they are unable to confirm the safety of the child or if they determine that the child is actively at risk with their parents, proceedings to remove the child from the home may begin.
While it can be easy to harbor resentment against those who reported your home, it is crucial that you focus on finding a resolution as soon as possible. The correct strategy for navigating each CPS case will be informed by the nature of the allegations being made, as well as by the available evidence at hand. This can look quite different from case to case, as CPS may get involved with families for a variety of reasons, such as:
When a legal case involves a minor in California, the state requires their best interests to be considered at all times. The term “minor’s counsel” refers to a court-appointed attorney who represents the interests of a minor child. You can think of a minor’s counsel as being somewhat similar to a public defender, except they are appointed by the state to serve children who have no legal authority to act for themselves, not to defend criminal offenses.
A minor’s counsel provides an independent voice for a child, backed by legal training and knowledge of the system. They advocate for the child’s well-being and ensure their needs are considered in every court decision, ranging from medical choices to custody. A minor’s counsel can either be a powerful ally for parents or a roadblock to reunification, depending on whether your ideas of the child’s “best interests” align or clash with theirs.
Even if it initially seems like you and the minor’s counsel are on the same page, it is highly advisable to retain your own legal counsel who can uphold your parental rights. This way, in case things become contentious between you and the minor’s counsel, you will also have a skilled negotiator on your side who can advocate for your interests.
CPS has a broad authority to remove children from their parents in a variety of scenarios. These agencies and systems are designed to protect children from danger–be it physical, emotional, material, or sexual–and they do indeed help young people escape harmful and abusive situations regularly. However, with millions of reports filed every year, some will inevitably be erroneous, exaggerated, or downright fraudulent.
Our family law team is prepared to serve as your ally and advisor throughout CPS investigations and related proceedings, offering comprehensive legal aid along the way. From the day you first contact us for a evaluation, we can begin analyzing the nuances of your case so that we can build a well-tailored strategy that fits your unique needs. Thanks to our years of success in California courts, we can confidently represent you and fight to keep your family intact.
An unexpected visit from CPS can be unnerving, upsetting, or even insulting. Leaving this sensitive and detail-oriented process in the hands of a trusted attorney from Eric Alan Berg & Associates of Redding allows you to cut through the emotional noise and stay focused on practical legal solutions.
Contact Eric Alan Berg & Associates today to learn more about what you can do while being investigated by CPS in Redding, California.
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