Whether CPS has just knocked on your door, has taken your child, or is asking a court to end your rights as a parent, timing matters. Here is how a Texas CPS case usually moves, and what you can do at each stage.
When CPS is investigating
In Texas, reports of child abuse or neglect are investigated by the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS). Its investigators work in a program called Child Protective Investigations (DFPS guide), but most people still call it CPS. The department must investigate a report promptly and thoroughly (Texas Family Code section 261.301). An investigator may visit your home and interview your children, including at school (section 261.302).
Your rights during an investigation
At the first contact, the department must give you a written summary of the process and tell you about your rights (section 261.307 and the DFPS guide for parents). They include the right to:
- Not speak with anyone from the department without a lawyer present
- Know the allegations being investigated
- Have a lawyer present before letting the investigator into your home or interview your child, and refuse either without a court order
- Make an audio or video recording of the interview (section 261.3027)
- Withhold consent to the release of medical or mental health records, or to a medical or psychological exam of your child
- Refuse a drug test
- Talk with a lawyer before agreeing to any proposed safety plan
These rights matter, and so does how you use them. The department must tell you that the law requires it to refer every report to law enforcement, and that anything you say to anyone may be used against you in a criminal case, to remove a child, or to end your parental rights (section 261.307). And if a parent refuses to cooperate and the refusal puts a child’s safety at risk, the department must seek a court order (section 261.3031 and section 261.303). A lawyer can help you protect your family without making things worse.
What to say, and what not to say
- Stay calm and polite. Do not argue, threaten anyone or physically block the door.
- Ask for the investigator’s name, phone number and a business card, and ask what the allegations are.
- You can say: “I want to cooperate, and I would like my lawyer with me first.” Then call us.
- Do not guess, explain away or speculate. If you do speak, keep it short and true. Never lie.
- Do not sign a safety plan, a release or any other paper until you understand it.
- Do not move or hide your child to avoid the investigation. Doing that to interfere can be a crime (section 261.3032).
- Write down every contact: the date, who it was and what was said.
Safety plans
A safety plan is a voluntary agreement about how your child will be kept safe, and you have the right to talk with a lawyer before agreeing to one (DFPS guide). Some plans ask a parent to be supervised with their own children or ask a child to stay with a relative. Read it carefully and get advice first. Getting help early can sometimes keep an investigation from becoming a court case.
If the department finds that you abused or neglected a child and you disagree, you can ask for an administrative review of that finding (section 261.309).
If CPS has removed your child
Having your child taken is one of the worst things a parent can go through. The law moves fast from here, and so should you.
If CPS has taken your child, call us today. When a child is taken in an emergency without a court order, the court must hold an initial hearing by the first business day after, with limited exceptions (section 262.106). A full adversary hearing must be held within 14 days, unless the court grants a short extension (section 262.201). That hearing is your first real chance to be heard.
The full adversary hearing
At the end of this hearing, the judge must return your child unless the evidence shows three things: that there was a danger to the child caused by something the parent or caregiver did or failed to do; that the urgent need for protection required removal, after reasonable efforts to prevent it; and that, despite reasonable efforts to make it possible for the child to return home, there is a substantial risk of continuing danger if the child goes home (section 262.201(g)). If you have an opinion from a medical professional, the court must consider it in deciding whether your child is in immediate danger (section 262.201(i-1)).
If your child is not returned to a parent, the court must place the child with a relative unless that is not in the child’s best interest (section 262.201(n)). You will be asked to fill in a form listing relatives and family friends who could care for your child. Think now about who those people are.
Your right to a lawyer
You have the right to be represented by a lawyer. If you cannot afford one and you oppose the department’s suit, the court must appoint one after you file an affidavit of indigence (section 107.013 and section 262.201(c) and (d)). You can also hire your own lawyer at any point.
Visits with your child
DFPS says your caseworker will make sure you can visit your child within five days of the department asking the court for temporary custody, unless a judge orders otherwise (DFPS guide). Go to every visit, be on time and keep it about your child.
The service plan and the months that follow
Once the court names the department temporary managing conservator of your child, a series of deadlines starts. Each hearing is a chance to show progress and to push back on anything unfair.
Service plan within 45 days
The department must file a service plan listing what you are expected to do, such as classes, counseling or treatment (section 263.101). We help you understand it and object to terms that are unfair or unrealistic.
Status hearing within 60 days
The court reviews your child’s situation and the service plan (section 263.201).
Permanency hearing within 180 days
The court reviews the plan for your child’s future (section 263.304), then holds more permanency hearings at least every 120 days until a final order (section 263.305).
Dismissal date at about one year
Unless trial has started or the court has granted an extension, the case is automatically dismissed on the first Monday after the one-year anniversary of the order naming the department temporary managing conservator (section 263.401).
An extension can add no more than 180 days, and only if the court finds extraordinary circumstances. The court must make that finding when a parent has made a good faith effort to complete the service plan but needs more time, and the court intends to return the child once the plan is completed (section 263.401(b) and (b-3)).
How to make the most of these months
- Start your services right away. Waiting rarely helps.
- Keep proof of everything: certificates, sign-in sheets, test results and receipts.
- Tell your lawyer early if a service costs too much, is too far away or conflicts with work.
- Go to every hearing and every visit.
When the state asks to end your parental rights
Termination is permanent. An order terminating the parent-child relationship ends the legal rights and duties between you and your child, with narrow exceptions such as the child’s right to inherit (section 161.206). These cases need a careful, prepared defense from the start.
What the state has to prove
The state must prove by clear and convincing evidence both a ground for termination listed in the statute and that termination is in the child’s best interest (section 161.001(b)). In a DFPS case, the court generally must also find that the department made reasonable efforts to return the child and that a continuing danger remains (section 161.001(f)).
Some things are not enough on their own. Under section 161.001(c), evidence of any of these, by itself, is not clear and convincing evidence to end your rights:
- Having little money
- Homeschooling your child
- Being charged with a nonviolent misdemeanor, except offenses against a person or the family, or offenses involving family violence
- Getting a second medical opinion or moving your child’s care to a new provider
- Declining vaccines for reasons of conscience, including religious belief
- Letting your child do independent activities suited to their age and maturity
If the state relies on your failure to follow the court order that set out what you had to do to get your child back, the court may not terminate on that ground if you prove you were unable to comply, made a good faith effort, and the failure was not your fault (section 161.001(d)).
How we help parents
We listen without judgment. Then we explain where your case stands, what the department must prove and what you can do next. We prepare for every hearing, challenge evidence and service plan terms that are unfair, and work to keep your family together or bring your children home. We cannot promise a result, and nobody honest can. We can promise to fight for your rights as a parent.
Before joining the firm, attorney Bonnie Rader represented Child Protective Services as a lawyer in the Lubbock County Criminal District Attorney’s Office, so we know how these cases are built from the other side.
What to bring to your initial consultation
You do not need all of this to call us. Bring what you have, and we will tell you what else matters.
- Every paper CPS or the court has given you, including any safety plan
- Your caseworker’s name and phone number
- Any hearing dates you have been given
- Your service plan, and proof of anything you have already completed
- Names and numbers of relatives or friends who could care for your child
- Your child’s school, doctor and counselor information
- A short timeline of what happened, written in your own words
Please do not post about your case on social media, and do not message the other parent or the caseworker in anger. Texts and posts often end up as evidence.
