Some of the anti-CPS rhetoric on this thread is worse than the anti-pedophile stuff on the other thread.
Agreed. I swore off of this topic in the other thread, but I want to do one thing before I go away. i want to explain this process.
CPS gets a referral on a case. They go out and investigate. if they believe the situation warrants removal of a child, they apply for a court order authorizing the removal. if the court authorizes it, they remove the kid, then have a full heairng on this situation the next day solely on whether the removal was legally justified. There is a full trial on the original allegations within a certain period of time. at all times, the burden is on the state/CPS to prove their actions were warranted. parents are entitled to appointed counsel if they cannot afford an attorney. A guardian ad litem/attorney is apointed to act as an independent voice on behalf of the child.
the system has plenty of protections for the parents.
That's pretty accurate......and, as a former CPS investigator who had to do child removals in the past, I can also say that CPS didn't even follow their own procedure in this case......
1. If only one parent is suspected of abuse and the other parent can care for and protect the child, the alleged abuser can leave the home until the investigation is complete. In this case, the men could have been escorted from the ranch and kept separate until the investigations were complete.
2. The press releases from CPS were highly inappropriate....esp. the ones about children with prior bone fractures indicating "abuse". You and I both know what kinds of fractures strongly indicate abuse and which ones are just as likely injuries from typical accidents. If the fractures were the abusive kind, I would have expected CPS to be yelling "greenstick" from every hilltop in West Texas. But we heard nothing........
3. CPS had someone on the inside: CPS doesn't do undercover investigations.
4. Unsubstantiated, anonymous tip: That's probably the worst failing of the CPS system....no way to verify the person making the allegation or follow up on false allegations. If the police require a complaintant to identify themselves, CPS should also.
5. Investigation training: You know who CPS investigators usually are? Fresh-faced social-work types just graduated from college who receive less that two week's training in investigation and affidavit-writing. I came in with more investigation skills from reading Robert B. Parker novels than my trainer (a former CPS investigator) had. And forget about investigations that will hold up in a criminal court. Most DA's won't even touch a CPS case due to investigative errors....and a lot of perps walk away. I was lucky enough to do one sex-abuse (3 victims all under 5 y.o.) investigation tight enough that the local sheriff's dept. used it for their own investigation. The perp ended up with a 40-year stay in TDCJ Hilton-Huntsville. How many are still free?
The CPS system needs to be fixed....and it's needed to be fixed for a long time. This case just put all their faults in the limelight on a massive scale. I wouldn't mind seeing DFPS moved from DHHS supervision to DPS supervision and hiring actual trained investigators (retired LEO's would be great) to oversee these investigations.
I also wish we had a conservative Republican as govenor, too......
