Divorce rates remain high and when children are in the picture, custody battles can get brutal- not to mention the potential for parental alienation if the divorce is a particularly messy one. In fact, you don’t even have to get divorced to end up in such a predicament- you just have to have had child(ren) with another human being.
It’s not often said out loud, but Child Protective Services (CPS) can and is used as a weapon in child custody battles between divorcing parents. There’s a reason for it: it works!
This is especially true for women in certain states, where the family court may outsource the custody evaluation to CPS directly and the aspects of what makes a good parent and a good home CPS is most concerned with are statistically more likely to favor the mother over the father. These include the time a parent is available to spend with the child(ren), how much of parenting responsibilities must be outsourced, minimum income to safely care for the child(ren) and household responsibilities. The most important, however, is time available to spend with the child(ren).
Statistically, fathers tend to work longer hours and take on less childcare responsibilities than mothers overall, which tends to work against them as a prospective primary custodial parent (while there are plenty of exceptions where the opposite is the case, that is not the majority). This can be the difference between being able to pick up the child(ren) from school, attend unexpected meetings or doctor’s appointments and more. Because CPS weighs direct child caring responsibilities (such as supervision, cooking and transportation) more heavily than indirect child caring responsibilities, the mother is often assumed by CPS to be the primary caregiver (and the father a secondary caregiver). Kentucky (starting in 2018) and Arkansas in (starting in 2021) are the only states where a presumption of 50-50 joint custody is enshrined in law; the other 48 states have a bias toward awarding primary custody to the mother.
It’s no secret that there are also spouses who make reports to CPS in order to get a leg up in custody battles and no one is excluded here: mothers, fathers and even extended family members do this! All reports accepted by child abuse hotlines are assumed to be made in good faith, are required by law to be investigated and the evidence required to prove a report is made in bad faith is an enormous burden to overcome. Therefore, a CPS investigation can look very badly upon a spouse from the family court’s point of view- even with no prior history of CPS involvement. While some CPS investigators take into account whether someone is going through a divorce and acknowledge the motive might not be pure, they will more often than not treat it like any other report they receive. This means that even minor safety concerns that have not actually resulted in negative consequences may result in a substantiated allegation, which can be enough on its own to tip the scales in favor of one parent filing for sole custody
At CPSprotect Consulting Services, we condemn so much as attempting to use CPS as leverage in custody disputes. While CPS also frowns upon this, they do not typically investigate whether or not the motive for a report is in bad faith. We do, however, recommend that either prior to initiating divorce proceedings (or separation of any kind) or as soon as divorce proceedings start, that you make your case for custody under the assumption CPS is looking into you. Make sure your home and parenting are exceeding the minimum standard of care and demonstrate that you can be there for your children. Redundant collateral supports to ensure continuity of supervision are absolutely crucial.
If there is history of domestic violence, make sure you obtain copies of the domestic incident reports and always have collateral contacts who can defend your parenting character and actions. If you feel you have been the victim of a bad faith CPS report due to a custody battle, gather all of the concrete evidence you have (audio recordings, video recordings, text messages, e-mails, witnesses, etc.) and confer with your family law attorney. If s/he advises you that it is appropriate to file a police report alleging a CPS report was made in bad faith, do so. If you do not have a family law attorney and are representing yourself pro se, we recommended you confer with someone you know who has knowledge and experience in the legal profession.
Separation of any kind is a painful process- especially when it requires some degree of long-term cooperation. Parents typically place high value on the relationships they have with their child(ren), so what’s at stake is typically substantial. It’s not something you want to leave to chance if you can help it. To put yourself in the best strategic position, we recommend inquiring about a consultation with us. That way, if your spouse (or their extended family) calls CPS, you’re ready.