Child Protective Services, “(CPS”) and Associations for Child Services (“ACS”) are governmental agencies charged with investigating child abuse, child neglect and misconduct involving children. With regard to cases involving child abuse or child neglect, ACS and CPS develops plans and executes plans to remove children from situations they find exposes them to a neglect or abuse. They will place them in alternative care, temporarily with a relative, family friend or with foster care.
CPS And ACS Emergency Response Teams
When CPS or ACS receives an allegation of child abuse and child neglect, they have an emergency response team that investigates to determine if the allegations require further investigation. This usually calls for CPS or ACS to make a quick visit to the home where the children reside.
Plans For Children to Remain With Their Family
If CPS or ACS finds that child abuse, child neglect, child misconduct may exist, their job is to develop a plan for the child to remain with their family and provide necessary services to ensure the child can safely remain to the family residence. However, if they do not feel an appropriate plan can be instituted to maintain the child in a safe situation, they take immediate actions to remove the child from their family and place them with relatives, family friends or in foster care claiming this is in the child’s best interest.
CPS and ACS are extremely difficult to communicate with. It is also difficult to navigate through their investigations. This often leave families in a much worse situation than they started regarding the health safety and well-being of their children.
Elliot S. Schlissel, Esq. has been representing clients who have been investigated by CPS or ACS for more than 45 years. He can be reached at 800-344-6431 or emailed at elliot@sdnylaw.com.
