In every child maltreatment investigation, CPS conducts a safety assessment. Families aren’t told about the tool used to conduct it or how it’s evaluated; all they see is a CPS investigator who shows up at the door, interviews them and comes back with a very strong opinion that can come with some very swift, very profound actions. Hidden behind the scenes are policies that govern a formulaic evaluation of safety- just plug in the information and out pop the next steps. Let’s take a look at a how a CPS investigator assesses safety in a child maltreatment investigation.
CPS agencies are required to have a way to evaluate child safety based on the state and federal laws relevant to child welfare applicable to the case address. Often, they have a safety assessment tool that is scored on a point system. There are various factors of safety that are considered, which include:
- Prior history of substantiated cases.
- Alcohol use in the home.
- Substance use in the home.
- The age of the child(ren) in question.
- Any medical or mental health conditions or concerns for any household members.
- Criminal history.
- Domestic Violence concerns.
- The safety of the home environment.
- The protective capacity of the parent(s) or other caregiver(s).
These factors may or may not be weighted equally. If the concerns checked score above a certain threshold, actions by CPS may be required (e.g. less than x number of points means no safety plan is required, x point range means a safety plan is required and x point range requires immediate involuntary placement into foster care or kinship care). Depending on the safety factors checked in the safety assessment, actions range from none to immediate involuntary placement in foster care or kinship care. If the reasonable efforts standard applies, then reasonable efforts must be made to avoid involuntary placement and this is typically built into the safety assessment. Cases where an exception to the reasonable efforts standard applies tend to score highly (poorly) on the safety assessment and result in immediate involuntary placement. In our experience, very few cases end up with no safety concerns checked.
When considering how the safety assessment is evaluated, it’s important to keep in mind how CPS views safety. For example, you may not see that smoking marijuana in the kitchen while your 14 year old daughter is in her bedroom doing homework, but if she comes into the kitchen and there might still be smoke lingering, it could enter her lungs and adversely affect her development. While one may not think drastic action is warranted in such a circumstance, CPS sees this as a significant safety concern that could cause harm to a child. If you have a loud argument with your spouse and your son is in another room, CPS sees this as a domestic violence concern, as it, in theory, puts him at risk of psychological trauma. While he may not experience psychological trauma from this, CPS is quick to act one the smallest of safety concerns, as the consequences of not doing so and being wrong are profound. However, as long as they’ve done something…anything…then, as far as the government is concerned, they’ve done their job. Whatever happens afterward as a result of the initial actions taken is the responsibility of whoever is in charge at that point.
If a safety plan must be made, we don’t recommend you sign it, but do make sure you follow it. If you don’t, then the safety plan has failed, CPS has made its reasonable efforts and CPS will escalate to more intrusive interventions, such as placement in foster care or kinship care. If you have concerns about whether you should sign the safety plan, ask for time to speak with your attorney or one of our child welfare consultants. Then, you can take the best course of action for you.
The safety assessment, while streamlined, often suffers from the same major issue that the risk assessment CPS agencies also give suffers from, as well: family life is extremely complex with countless nuances and circumstances that aren’t picked up in such a simplified assessment. Couple that with the subjectivity and diligence of the assigned CPS investigator, the liability factor and politics and you get a risk-averse, trigger-happy approach to safety has high potential of missing important factors that go into keeping a household running and raising a child. If you prepare for CPS in accordance with the way they assess safety, you’re more likely to make it through successfully than if you assume they share your view of what makes a good parent and a good home. This is the difference between 6 weeks of involvement resulting in an unsubstantiated case and years of CPS involvement with potential involuntary placement. Now that you know how CPS assesses safety, mitigate the risk of severe consequences, preserve your rights and protect your family.