Cody Cofer Speaker | CPS in Criminal Cases

Tarrant County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association

If you practice criminal law for very long your clients will come to you about Child Protective Services (CPS) contacting them. Many attorneys turn and run as soon as someone utters “CPS.” However, “the Department” is not necessarily a negative force in a criminal case. Frankly, the CPS worker on your case will likely do a fair amount of investigation and offer your client services that could benefit plea negotiations or the punishment phase of trial.

The important thing about dealing with CPS when your client is facing criminal charges is get involved early and stay on top of the CPS case. As with any criminal case, your client should not speak with anyone about the criminal allegations without first consulting with you. This can be frustrating to CPS workers, but if you take the time to explain your position and make yourself available, they will understand your position (most of the time). Become very familiar with CPS policies and the laws that control the function of CPS in your client’s life.

CPS Region for Tarrant County

Number of Investigations in CPS Region 3

Abuse Allegations Confirmed by Tarrant County CPS

Of the more than 40,000 reports of abuse in the administrative region, Tarrant County has slightly more than 12,000 CPS investigations. From those investigations, CPS confirms child abuse about 29% of the time.

Information About CPS Investigated Child Abuse Reports

The most common reporters of child abuse to CPS are medical professionals. This makes sense, because medical personnel are “mandatory reports,” and if abuse occurs often medical attention is required. However, in many instances injuries to children may be wrongly reported as abuse. Most CPS reports that are “confirmed” are determined to be “Neglectful Supervision.” As one would expect, parents are the most commonly “confirmed” perpetrators in CPS cases. This would be expected, because children spend most of their time with parents or educational staff. However, even when parents are not the cause of injury to a child, parents are often still investigated for “neglectful supervision.” These claims against parents may be confirmed if a parent is not “protective” in the opinion of CPS. Infant children make up the largest group of abuse victims; however, that group accounts for about 23 percent of victims. Gender does not seem to have a meaningful impact on whether a child is abused.

Texas CPS Workers Investigating Abuse and Neglect

Unfortunately, CPS has a substantial annual “turnover” rate. This leads to the majority of CPS workers having relatively little experience. This is not truly surprising. Child Protective Services workers have an extremely difficult job. Yet, these CPS workers receive very modest pay.