When Child Protective Services (CPS) receives a credible allegation of abuse or neglect of a child, they will begin an investigation.
When Child Protective Services (CPS) receives a credible allegation of abuse or neglect of a child, they will begin an investigation, and CPS has all the resources of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services behind them when they do so.
Depending on the results of their investigation, CPS may request parents to attend counseling or other services or may file a legal case requesting temporary rights over the child, allowing CPS to remove the child from her home and place her with a relative, or into foster care.
Sims & Purzer represents parents and other parties at all stages of a CPS case, from initial investigation through to legal hearings, mediation, and trial.
In addition to the information provided in this section, please also take a moment to refer to the "CPS" portion of our F.A.Q. for further discussion.
Read Also:
When do I Get a Child Protective Services (CPS) Court Appointed Attorney
If a CPS investigation proceeds all the way to a legal case, Emergency Removal or a Motion for Court Ordered Services, you have the right to have an attorney appointed to represent you at no cost to yourself if you are found to be indigent, that is, if your income and resources are sufficiently meager. (For more information and to see if you may qualify, click here).
However, it is important to note that these attorneys are only appointed to indigent parents after an investigation has progressed to the status of a legal case. During the early phases of an investigation (and the Family-Based Services), parents are on their own unless they privately retain legal counsel.
Having an attorney to represent you in these early phases may prevent an investigation from becoming a full-blown legal case.
Additionally, while court-appointed counsel in these matters is often highly competent, parents do not have the ability to choose which attorney is appointed to represent them. If they wish to fire their attorney, they must request permission from the court to do so.
For these reasons, many parents wish to retain the services of a firm that specializes in guiding parents through this complex process.
Grandparents and other family members of children whose welfare is under investigation may also wish to get involved - whether to be considered as temporary placement for a child that may otherwise be placed in the foster-care system, or to intervene directly as a party to a legal case. These family members are generally not entitled to a CPS court-appointed attorney.
Read Also: What happens after a CPS Investigation?
If you are being investigated by CPS you should consult an attorney with extensive experience in Child Protective Services cases. Let’s Talk! Sims & Purzer PLLC has over a decade of experience representing parents in Texas CPS cases.
Sims & Purzer, Attorneys at Law, PLLC is a Family Law firm serving San Antonio and greater South Texas. We are a family-run boutique law firm that works to secure the solutions that matter most to you and your family.
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