CPS investigators are responsible for investigating and determining reported allegations of child abuse and neglect. When a child is removed from their family by CPS, the investigator doesn’t stay as the primary worker for long, as there are plenty of other cases that need to be investigated and determined…so who takes over? That person would be the foster care case manager.
Foster care case managers are the primary caseworkers once CPS has removed a child, they’re placed in foster care, kinship care or institutionalized and the case has been determined. While they are occasionally CPS employees, foster care case managers are typically employed by non-profit agencies contracted by CPS to provide such services on their behalf. While the original CPS investigator may still appear in court after transferring the case to the foster care case manager, they rarely interact directly with the family after that point. If the CPS investigator resigns prior to the conclusion of their role in court, the supervisor will likely step in to fill that role. Due to the extremely high turnover of CPS investigators across the country, this is a fairly common occurrence.
Once the foster care case manager takes over, they become the primary contact person for the foster family, the biological family and is responsible for monitoring the child(ren)’s placement. While this does not happen immediately upon removal, it happens upon placement in a foster home, kinship home or institution. They are the one responsible for making visits to the child in their placement to check on their health and welfare. If you’re not getting supervised visitation in accordance with any relevant court orders, visitation you need and your child is placed, it is the foster care case manager’s responsibility. They take over the progress reports submitted to the court before each subsequent hearing and in conjunction with the CPS attorney, are responsible for monitoring, setting and determining the goals of reunification or adoption.
Because of how quickly removals can occur, the rapid transfer of responsibility and the high turnover rate in child welfare, it can be very difficult to pin down liability when cases go awry and therefore, holding the right person accountable becomes extremely difficult for parents. This does not mean CPS is completely blind to what’s going on. The notes are still documented and kept in the same case file and because CPS controls the purse strings, they still control the process from beginning to end.
When your child is in foster care or kinship care, here are a few things you can easily keep an eye on and these can help you both gather evidence and help you work to promote your child’s safety:
- If your child is still on your insurance, keep an eye out for any insurance claims. If you recognize them, it may provide you with additional information. If not, it lets you know your child is getting medical or mental health care without your knowledge.
- If you gave your child a smartphone, turn on the find my phone feature- available for both iPhones and Android phones. This can provide you with location in the event something happens. This does not mean you can violate any court orders, though.
At CPSprotect Consulting Services, we tend to refer to the initial work done by the CPS investigator as the front end of CPS involvement, while the foster care case managers, prevention services providers and court-ordered supervision CPS caseworkers comprise the back end. This division allows for a decrease in liability. As long as the foster care case manager didn’t do the investigation, they can’t be held responsible for any alleged wrongdoing by the CPS investigative team. They’re ‘just doing their job.’ Not only that, the non-profit foster care agencies contracted by CPS may also have more of a financial incentive to terminate parental rights, thus complicating things when personnel at a given foster care agency have less than pure intentions. While this is frustrating for families wronged by CPS to hear, it also happens to be true and this division of responsibility is by design. By separating a CPS case into multiple stages and moving parts, it becomes more difficult for parents to hold the right entities accountable or even identify who is liable. By the time an understanding of what has occurred is gained, it may be too late to change course.
What is important to understand is there are no unilateral decisions made in child protection. Even if the frontline caseworkers aren’t licensed social workers, there’s always someone not too far up the chain. A supervisor or director is more likely to have that degree and is reviewing and approving the work being done. This is true both at government child welfare agencies and private non-profit contractors operating on behalf of CPS. If you try to educate yourself once CPS is involved, sorting through all the confusion is likely to take longer than you have to turn things around when you still have the power to do so. Don’t wait until it’s too late- the more you know, the better prepared you can be.