Child Protective Services agencies rely heavily on private contractors for foster care and prevention services. This means that while you may initially be dealing with a CPS investigator employed directly by CPS, you may not be dealing with them for most of your case (depending on how far it goes) and what, if any, actions are taken. This is because government employees are expensive. They’re often unionized, extremely difficult to terminate and have bureaucratic hiring processes. The private sector has its own problems, but are still cheaper than the government doing it themselves. Thus, they have come to rely on contractors for certain aspects of their involvement.
These contractors are often non-profit agencies. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has 32 different classifications for types of non-profits. The most familiar, the 501(c)3 organizations, are charities. Charities have three subtypes: public charity, private foundation and private operating foundation. Public charities provide services to benefit the public good, while private foundations provide money- often through charitable grants. Private operating foundations, the rarest of the types, are a hybrid of the public charity and private foundation classification. While charities are the most familiar type of non-profit organization, most contractors to CPS are 501(c)3 charities. While 501(c)3 charities whose mission is to prevent cruelty to animals or children (at least on paper) are allowed, some social services non-profit charities also set up a separate entity in which foster care and/or prevention services operations are organized under a different IRS non-profit classification: 501(c)4 as Social Welfare Organizations. In fact, many organizations don’t just offer foster care case management or prevention services– they do both- each on separate contracts!
Social Welfare Organizations classified under 501(c)4 are said to serve the public, but do not qualify for tax-deductible donations. At the same time, there’s less scrutiny applied than to 501(c)3 organizations, they can endorse political candidates and they don’t have to disclose their donors to anyone except the government. When services like foster care case management and prevention services are outsourced, the contracts tend to be signed with an entity classified under 501(c)4.
It starts with an individual in social services starting a 501(c)3 or 501(c)4 non-profit organization. This individual has likely worked in social services and/or politics and has connections in government. When CPS offers contracts for foster care agencies and prevention services agencies to manage those operations, such private organizations can attempt to win these contracts. Typically, these contracts are extremely valuable to both CPS and the contracting agency. For the contracting agency, this is the money they use to pay themselves and fund the foster care or prevention services operations they’re responsible for. In turn, if something happens to a child in foster care or there’s an issue a prevention services worker misses, CPS itself can claim shock and ignorance on its part, while taking action by replacing the non-profit contractor with another to appease public outrage. Additionally, CPS will submit required paperwork to the federal government under Title IV-E of the Social Security Act for reimbursement of most of the total cost. This is how politics interferes with the professed goals of child safety and family preservation.
When your child is taken into foster care, the assigned foster care case manager likely doesn’t work directly for CPS or the government. He or she likely works for an agency contractor paid by CPS. Employees of CPS contractors are paid even less than those that work for CPS directly and corruption has been found to be even worse in these agencies than the government. It is these staff who are making the home visits and writing the court reports. While the attorney for CPS is still a CPS employee, the foster care case manager is most likely not. Since CPS is mostly hands off with the family in this regard and relying on its contractor to provide accurate reporting and to make follow-ups as scheduled, this can make for substantial difficulty when it comes to quality control unless it happens to bring substantial negative publicity that threatens the jobs of the powers that be at CPS.
When it comes to prevention services, the concerns regarding outsourcing differ due to the nature of the circumstances. Even if a case has not been taken to court, prevention services can still be implemented. Prevention services are services outlined in the Family First Prevention Services Act, listed in the Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearing House, funded by Title IV-E of the Social Security Act and often provided in home by contractors to local Child Protective Services agencies. The idea is to either avoid involuntary placement or promote reunification. These services are typically provided in home and communication between the prevention services workers in built into the contract the parents must sign in order for the prevention services to be provided. As prevention services providers are mandated reporters working for contractors paid by CPS, they have a tendency to report pretty aggressively. If they don’t and something happens, the whole agency could lose their contract, which is something neither the individual employee, nor the agency wants to risk. Ultimately, this creates an environment where the family is constantly under surveillance. The slightest failure to meet compliance standards could result in another investigation being opened. In court, prevention services may be the only option allowed. Outside of court, families may be threatened with court involvement if they don’t accept prevention services and no one wants to go to court with CPS in this respect if they don’t have to.
Just because an agency is classified as a non-profit doesn’t mean it’s good. All non-profit means is that they don’t pay income taxes to the IRS- no more and no less. There are good and bad non-profit entities- just as there are good and bad for-profit ones. At CPSprotect Consulting Services, we prioritize avoiding court in most cases, as well as prevention services, but avoiding court almost always takes priority. This is because, most of the time, it is both easier and cheaper to deal with CPS on its own than to fight CPS in court with the court’s oversight. Keeping this understanding of CPS and its contractors in mind can help you make informed decisions about your case to reach the best outcome available to you. If you’re unsure, check with our expert team of child welfare consultants or a licensed attorney you trust.