What does child protective services do

In all of its procedures, CPS must follow state and federal laws. CPS typically takes cases where a child has been abused or is believed to be at risk of abuse by someone who has care giving responsibilities for that child.

Your state may even have a different name. First and foremost, CPS is committed to finding safety for a child within the home. This factsheet provides a brief overview of the purposes and functions of the child welfare system. Child welfare systems typically receive and investigate reports of possible child abuse and neglect; provide services to families that need assistance in the safety and care of their children; arrange for children to live with relatives or with foster families when they are not safe at home; and arrange for reunification, adoption, or other permanent family connections for children and youth leaving foster care.

A flowchart illustrates how cases typically move through the child welfare system. We also recommend the following Information Gateway publications: State vs. County Administration of Child Welfare Services. If a child cannot be put back into their home, then workers also must coordinate an adoptive home, foster parents, or refer the child and their family to other support services.

CPS workers follow a standard protocol when responding to a child abuse report. First, they must assess the safety of the child. The child typically goes to a foster home as counseling begins.

While the goal of the CPS worker is to be able to reunite the child with their family after intensive counseling, they also begin to develop a concurrent plan.

This means seeking out a safe adoptive home for the child. CPS workers are very educated on seeing the signs of child abuse and neglect, and they know how to respond to every unique situation. So when a child is deemed to be at immediate risk of abuse, the CPS worker will take the child from their home and place them with a foster family. Workers then begin counseling the family, in hopes of reuniting the child and parents. However, when the family is uncooperative or does not seem to make progress, CPS will coordinate a new home for the child.