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They can also ruin your reputation in your community by spreading their version of events to you neighbors, your kids' teachers, your health care providers and family members.

As I said in my first post, "going up the command chain" could involve taking the matter to the judge, who ultimately can override whatever DHS does. All things being equal, close relatives should have priority over foster parents for placement purposes. This is a legal requirement.

Yes it could take up to 6 months, but mine was done in less than two. It's not just a quick visit to your home. They also evaluate your finances to ensure that you are able to support the children. They do criminal and CPS background checks on you and your household. They evaluate the safety of your...

I believe you (or preferably a MO attorney that you retain) should file a motion with the court to order DFS to conduct a home study of your home in VA. This is the first step in the ICPC process. (Do a Google search on Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children.) MO DHS will send a request to...

I don't think there is a legal limit. My case remained open for 3.5 years. My guess is that the statement you quoted is in compliance with the Adoptions and Safe Families Act of 1997. When they talk about "providing a family-like living arrangement" to a child who "cannot be returned ...

So I guess the state has assumed temporary custody of the oldest child, but not the younger two, is that true? Usually, when the state does this, the judge's order will contain language about visitation. If a substantial amount of time elapses and there still is no visitation, it could be argued tha...

I don't have any experience with TPR trials, since my case never got that far. However, once you stipulated that abuse or neglect has occurred, it will be very difficult to argue that the state was unjustified in taking custody of your children in the first place. Thus your trial will center around ...

If CPS opens an investigation into your family and discovers the guardianship agreement, they will naturally investigate the guardian, to ensure that the child is "safe" there. If CPS finds something they don't like with the guardian, they could ask a judge to assign temporary custody to C...

I think it might make a difference because the CPS staff might not see a need to place your child somewhere else while the investigation is taking place. Of course it's no guarantee, since CPS could still ask the judge to do whatever CPS wants done, and the judge might agree.

If your parental rights are involuntarily terminated from your first child, this will be grounds for the state to request the court to terminate your rights to your baby.

I'm glad they're letting you stay with your baby while living with your parents. However, to be more precise, technically you CAN take her anywhere you want alone, since you still have custody and no court has ordered otherwise. CPS has no legal authority to order anything. However, if you fail to c...

Hopefully by the time you read this you will have had your visit with your social worker and will have more answers. Basically you still have custody over your baby, since there has been no court involvement so far. You made a mistake, but you are showing you care for your baby's welfare by letting ...

Yes, but I think it would be unwise to do so.

There is no way any attorney could get up to speed with your case so he could properly defend you in three days. You have two shots at keeping your children. Either the judge refuses to terminate your parental rights, or he refuses to terminate the father's rights. Your interests in this case are no...

After forensic interview with her WITHOUT special needs therapist involved it blew in full sex molesting over last 5 years of our lives together There are two ways to interpret this. Either they were investigating your husband over the five years OR they accused your husband of sex abuse, which all...

A few years ago I compiled a list of state CPS web sites and handbooks. Check it out, and if some link no longer works, please let me know.

http://forum.fightcps.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=10360

Probably a good thing. If the new prosecutor who steps in doesn't know the case very well, and isn't prepared, it will be to your advantage.

It sounds reasonable to me. It's better if agreement could be achieved outside of court if possible. If that is not possible, your attorney can then unilaterally file a motion with the court to overrule the other parties and grant you extra visitation. Is your current visitation supervised? How much...

If you pay for your own counseling, you have the advantage of choosing someone who is sympathetic to your cause. A counselor chosen and paid by CPS is more likely to find fault with you. This might prolong your service plan or cause CPS to take more aggressive actions against you.

You're looking in the wrong section of the Handbook. A "safety plan" may be put in place to ensure the children are safe while an investigation is ongoing. Your investigation is closed, hence there no longer is a safety plan. Instead, you've been referred to Family-Based Safety Services, w...

Parental consent must be obtained for any ongoing "services" by State and Federal Law UNLESS a judge assigns CPS to be the child's "medical approver," in which case they can drug your child up all they want without your consent.

Thank goodness, at least, that you don't have any criminal convictions, which would severely limit your employment possibilities. As it stands, you can still get any job that does not involve child care or the teaching of children. If you leave state, you might still be able to get a job in these ca...

We're all rooting for you!

CPS cannot require you to divorce OR legally separate. They can only require your wife to "protect" her children from you. Any way you can convince CPS that she is doing that should be fine. In my case, I stated that I was morally opposed to divorce because of my religious preferences. (I'...

Other Public Health Activities. The Privacy Rule recognizes the important role that persons or entities other than public health authorities play in certain essential public health activities. Accordingly, the Rule permits covered entities to disclose protected health information, without authoriza...