Pre-Court CPS
What exactly does Pre-Court CPS mean? “Pre-Court CPS” refers to the phase or period before any legal court proceedings are initiated in cases involving Child Protective Services (CPS). It typically encompasses the initial stages of CPS involvement, such as investigations, assessments, and interventions to ensure the safety and well-being of children in potentially at-risk situations. During this phase, there is not a court to oversee CPS’ actions and you are not appointed attorney (in some cases) to advise you of your rights.
Have you been contacted by Child Protective services?
Getting a call from Child Protective Services (CPS/DCYF) can be an intimidating experience. The amount of information they offer can be overwhelming, leading to confusion about whether to follow and make use of it or not, leaving you in a dense fog. However, what can dispel this confusion is a clear beacon of truth regarding your rights before agreeing to anything. Equally important is understanding CPS’/DCYF’s duty to provide assitance when necessary. After all the, the core purpose is to aid struggling families. While society recognizes CPS’s/DCYF’s mission, it can sometimes be neglected. Families who were once seeking help may find themselves becoming entagled in a court case merely for reaching out for help. This causes trauma in children when it is unnecessary. We are here to provide information for you to get the help you deserve from CPS/DCYF without finding themselves in a situation where their children are removed from them.
Other options if CPS court involvement is imminent
It’s important to remember that if you’re hesitant or do not want to seek help from CPS/DCYF but are aware of your and/or your child(ren)’s situation, there are alternatives. You can choose to place your child(ren) with a relative or a friend through a guardianship. Not only does this keep your child safe but it also ensures that you are in control of your siutation every step of the way. If you become court involved and your child is removed, a lot of those decisions have to go through many different people and ulitmately a judge before they are approved or denied. In addition, you can easily place your child with a relative or friend out of state through a guardianship, whereas if you were court involved this can take anywhere from 6 months to 18 months while your child is in foster care. These are extremely hard decisions and we understand the gravity and the strength it takes to make those decisions but most importantly at least you are armed with the information to MAKE those decisions before someone else does it for you without your approval. WARNING: These guardianships need to be done before a pick up order is filed for your case. One common indication that a pick up order is going ot be filed is a meeting called an FTDM (Family Team Decision Making Meeting). As you will learn below these meetings mean CPS is going to move a child.
We will be providing information on guardianships as well that walk you through the process so that, if you do not have an attorney, you will be able to do it on your own. As long as the guardianship is agreed by all parties these matters can be wrapped up very quickly to prevent the court intervention by CPS/DCYF.
Welcome To Our Video Series Below for Pre-Court CPS Involvment
Heres how it works: First there will be a video on the topic, followed by a written outline of the video’s contents. The contents will contain pertinent links to policies, the statutes, Washington Adminstrative code, forms (so you can look at what you would sign before signing it), handouts, and much more. It is important that this information is available to you because this arms you with the language you need for interacting with CPS/DCYF. You can always print these things out and have them with you if you are meeting with a case worker. The goal is to inform you and to let your social worker know you are informed.