Child Abuse and Neglect

Table of Contents

1. Child Abuse and Neglect
2. What is Child Abuse and Neglect?
3. Physical Abuse
4. Sexual Abuse
5. Child Neglect
6. When you suspect abuse or neglect
   1. What happens when you make a report of abuse or neglect
7. Domestic Violence and Children
8. Preventing Child Abuse
9. References

What happens when you make a report of abuse or neglect

As with the reporting procedure, the process for evaluating reports of suspected abuse or neglect varies from state to state. The following is a brief summary of the process followed by Texas Child Protective Services (CPS):

1. The call or online report is received by an intake caseworker, who then reviews the report with an intake supervisor.

2. If the allegations fit recognized statutory and other criteria for abuse or neglect, the report is then triaged as follows:
   1. Priority 1, in which the initial contact with the family must take place within 24 hours.
   2. Priority 2, in which the initial contact must take place within 72 hours.

3. The report is then forwarded to the local CPS office for investigation.

4. If the investigation validates that abuse or neglect has occurred, the investigator first attempts to reach a voluntary agreement with the family known as a safety plan. Typically, this involves placement of the victim(s) with a relative while the issues in the home are addressed.

5. If the child is in imminent danger or if the parent will not agree to a safety plan, then CPS may obtain an emergency court order to take custody of the child.

6. If CPS takes custody, there is a hearing before a judge within 14 business days (known as the 14-day hearing or, if contested by the parents, an adversary or show-cause hearing). The parents are entitled to legal representation (attorneys are appointed by the court if the parents are indigent), and a separate attorney ad litem is named to represent the specific interests of the involved children.

7. At the 14-day hearing, the judge may either rule that the child be returned to the parents, or may order the parents to comply with a service plan put forth by CPS and approved or modified by the court. In most communities, CPS contracts with service providers to give parents access to a variety of mandated services at no or reduced cost. Examples of components of such a plan might be:
   1. Correcting a dangerous home environment
   2. Attending parenting classes
   3. Obtaining substance-abuse treatment
   4. Psychologic evaluation and treatment of the parents or children
   5. Registering with WIC or Food Stamps to improve access to food or infant formula
   6. Expedited access to such municipal services as subsidized housing or utility assistance.

8. Followup court hearings to monitor the parents' compliance are held every 60 to 90 days. If the parents do not complete the service plan within 1 year (which can be extended for no more than an additional 6 months), CPS can move to terminate parental rights. This is regarded as a last resort by CPS, which has a legislative mandate to reunify families whenever this can be done without jeopardizing a child's health or safety.

9. In the instances where parental rights are terminated, the affected children are then eligible to be adopted. The time-limited nature of Texas' legal process has been very beneficial in reducing the amount of time young chronically abused or neglected children spend in foster care. Unfortunately, teenagers, disabled children, and other 'hard-to-adopt' groups often continue to spend years in the foster-care system.