Many families who have experienced Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement claim they are victims of malicious reports, but is it true? Just how prevalent are malicious reports to CPS?
The truth is there isn’t much research on malicious reports made to CPS and we don’t actually know the prevalence. The Administration for Children & Families, the federal child welfare agency, stated that in 2019, intentionally false reports comprised 0.0% of all CPS reports made that year. While it’s inaccurate that zero intentionally false reports were made that year, it is accurate that less than 0.01% of reports made that year were classified by CPS as intentionally false. This is due to how malicious reports are categorized by CPS.
Reports made to child abuse and neglect hotlines in the United States are assumed to be made in ‘good faith’ (not malicious). When a doctor makes a report, because s/he sees a bruise that may or may not have an innocent explanation, this is a report made in good faith. If a teacher sees a child wearing the same dirty clothes for four days in a row and makes a report to CPS, this is also a report made in good faith. The mere theoretical possibility that a child might be abused or neglected is enough for a report to be considered made in good faith and subject to the immunity protections granted to reporters of child abuse and neglect (mandated or not). If a neighbor hears a couple arguing in the apartment next door every night, knows there are children who live there and makes a report to CPS saying there might be a domestic violence situation in the home, that is considered a report made in good faith- even if that neighbor has also made it clear s/he has tried to have the couple evicted from the building. On the other hand, a report made by your cousin, because s/he doesn’t like your spouse alleging you smoke marijuana around your children on a regular basis is a report made in bad faith.
While making a report in bad faith to CPS is illegal in all states, the consequences for doing so vary widely from no criminal penalty to a felony charge. However, the burden to prove a report made to CPS was made in bad faith falls onto the subject(s) of the report; not CPS. At the same time, CPS cannot legally reveal the identity of the reporter and that assumes the report wasn’t made anonymously. Therefore, if the subject(s) named in the report don’t know who made it and can’t prove it, they have no recourse. So, how does a report get classified by CPS as made in bad faith?
- A subject of a CPS report files a police report at the local precinct alleging that a report was made to CPS in bad faith against them.
- The subject presents all evidence s/he has that connects the person they allege to have made the report for investigation (audio recordings, video recordings, text messages, social media posts, e-mails, etc.).
- The police investigate. If the evidence is enough for the district attorney to bring it to court, they will. If not, the process goes no further.
- If there’s enough evidence, they can bring charges and seek a court order to have the name of the reporter unsealed. If the report was not made anonymously, the reporter’s name will be revealed and s/he can be prosecuted. If the report was named anonymously and there’s no other way to connect the alleged to the report, there’s nothing more that can be done.
- If the court determines the report to be made in bad faith (even if anonymous) or the reporter’s identity is known and they are convicted, CPS will classify the report as an intentionally false report.
Anything short of reaching a favorable ruling in step five and CPS will not classify the report made against you as intentionally false- whether or not it is. At Heartwork Defense, we recommend you save any and all communications including text messages, audio recordings, video recordings and e-mails that may be defamatory or threatening toward you or your family. If anything defamatory or threatening appears, it is recommended you save a screenshot of it, as well. This will increase the likelihood that you have the evidence necessary if a malicious report is ever made to CPS against you. Without it, there is little hope for recourse.
While malicious reports may not result in a substantiated case, a CPS investigation is still, nevertheless, traumatic. Thus, being as prepared as possible is extremely important. The reporting system for child abuse and neglect is incentivized to increase reporting to reduce the likelihood child abuse and neglect fail to be reported. However, the price paid is the reporting system itself is extremely vulnerable to abuse with little opportunity for recourse. While good faith reports are difficult to avoid, you have more control over reducing the likelihood of bad faith reports against you. Think about where you choose to live, who your friends are and who you choose to assimilate with. Most commonly, malicious reports come from those closer to you- either in proximity or in personal connection. Put your children first and you’ll put yourself in the best position to raise them as you see fit.