Mental health conditions are extremely common (as far as chronic conditions go). Data suggests the prevalence of mental illness is as high as 1 in 5. When you or your child has a diagnosed mental health condition, it immediately factors into both parental fitness and the ‘best interests’ of the child. This can be good news, but due to confirmation bias, it’s usually not- at least in the child welfare system and family and juvenile courts.

Mental health conditions by themselves are not safety concerns, but as soon as some aspect of its management falls outside the ideal, it enters a murky area in assessment of parental fitness that tends to favor the more obsessive approach to treatment (or more involved parent). As a parent with mental illness, parental fitness must be proven and with a child with mental illness, sufficient actions to satisfy either the court or CPS must be made to address the mental health condition. Whether in CPS assessment or in the court system, this is often a highly subjective decision and one with potentially severe consequences if the judge is wrong.

When it comes to a parent or other caregiver with a mental health conditions, CPS and the courts are looking for:

  • How well your symptoms are managed
  • Whether or not your child(ren) have witnessed your mental health symptoms
  • Whether or not your child(ren)’s care has ever been negatively impacted by your mental health symptoms
  • Whether or not your child(ren) could (in theory) be at risk of psychological trauma due to your mental health condition
  • Treatment you are receiving or treatment-seeking behavior (e.g. psychotherapy and medication)
  • How your medication (if you take any) is securely stored and made inaccessible to your child(ren)

When it comes to your child(ren) with a mental health condition, CPS and the courts are looking for:

  • How well your child(ren)’s symptoms are managed
  • How high your tolerance (patience) is for your child (and whether or not you lose your temper)
  • Treatment you have enrolled your child in (e.g. psychotherapy or medication)
  • How you store the medication securely to ensure it is used responsibly
  • How you work with the child(ren)’s school to ensure their mental health condition is addressed (if applicable)

When CPS either suspects or finds out a household member has a mental health condition, they will typically have a meeting with one of their mental health consultants, with whom they discuss the case and recommendations are provided to them. You will not be privy to this meeting, nor do you have the right to be present. You will not meet this consultant and your CPS investigator will not likely mention it to you. The purpose of meeting with the consultant is so the CPS investigator doesn’t have to claim to be an expert and can say in testimony a mental health expert has been consulted in the event CPS takes invasive action such as removal or seeks a court order to force your compliance with services.

The courts will tend to request a mental health evaluation if there are any concerns and recommend services, such as parenting classes and counseling. If you’re not already enrolled, beating the courts to those enrollments allows you to maintain control. Getting the courts to see it as an impractical concern due to treatment often requires expert testimony from a clinician and proof of treatment (the longer the track record, the better). Mental health conditions are often used as a weapon to gain leverage in child custody battles.

When you or your child have a diagnosed mental health condition, Heartwork Defense recommends you do the following:

  • Enroll the diagnosed household member(s) in psychotherapy and if needed, medication with providers you trust.
  • Refuse to provide consent for CPS to access your or your child’s medical or mental health records (in most cases)
  • Refusing to provide consent for CPS to speak with any of your or your child’s medical or mental health providers (in most cases)
  • Request a signed letter from your or your child(ren)’s medical or mental health provider on their letter head detailing the last time your or your child(ren) were seen for an appointment and that they have observed no signs of child abuse or neglect. You can provide this letter to CPS.
  • Make sure you store any and all medications (especially prescription medications) in a lock box on a high shelf where it is inaccessible to your child(ren) without assistance.
  • Make sure you have redundant community supports that can assist if you or your child are experiencing symptoms
  • Only provide the court with information ordered to or letters from experts affirming your diagnosis, treatment, and parental fitness or as otherwise recommended by your legal counsel.
  • Don’t volunteer information about mental health conditions to CPS or the court unless necessary, relevant to the CPS allegations, or otherwise advised by legal counsel.

If you don’t have services in place and you have CPS involvement, CPS will likely try to push prevention services on you, which will either by provided in your home by a non-profit agency contracted to do so by CPS or be provided by CPS directly. Because there is almost always risk of trauma when a diagnosed mental health condition is involved (you can never guarantee symptoms won’t arise that may affect a child’s psychological well-being at minimum), CPS tends to be pretty aggressive at making sure services of some kind (they usually prefer their own contracted prevention services) are in place and may substantiate a case if there are not. This is why it’s so important to make sure you’re looking for services not provided by CPS if you don’t already have them and CPS is involved.

Generally speaking, CPS and the courts treat families that include someone with a diagnosed mental health condition with higher scrutiny than they do those without. Therefore, appropriate planning for these parents is even more crucial than it is for most. The key is to exceed the minimum standard of care as defined by enough in the mental health area that the chances that the diagnosed mental health condition raises any red flags is minimal. Otherwise, it doesn’t take much for CPS involvement to become extremely destructive. If you need a free referral to a service provider in your area, please give Heartwork Defense a call toll-free at (844) 633-KIDS or e-mail us at contact@heartworkdefense.com.

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