What are my rights with CPS in Ohio?
We all want to parent in peace, but achieving that goal can be virtually impossible when an Ohio Child Protective Services (CPS) agent gets involved in your family life. However, knowing parents’ rights against CPS in Ohio and having the help of a good family law attorney can ease your stress. Vantage Group Legal provides experienced family law attorneys to parents in Ohio. We quickly provide our services to those in need, and our attorneys come with a comprehensive support team to help you through every step of your family law issue. Below is a general overview of what might happen if someone reports your family to CPS.
When it comes to parental rights in Ohio, mothers and fathers have rights to the legal and residential custody of their children. Residential custody covers where the child will live, and legal custody covers a parent’s rights and responsibilities to:
- These rights can change after CPS receives a report of abuse or neglect from a member of the public or a mandatory reporter.
Ohio CPS works to protect children in the state from abuse or neglect. Through reports made to a Public Children Services Agency (PCSA), CPS and the PSCA investigate abuse and neglect issues. These agencies also take steps to create safety plans for mistreated children or remove abused or neglected children from their homes.
Ohio PSCAs investigate reports of abuse or neglect that involve children. Once an investigation starts, a PSCA might involve the help of law enforcement or the courts.
A CPS investigation starts when law enforcement or the PCSA receives a report that a child has been neglected or abused according to Ohio CPS Laws. The law defines an abused child as:
Child abuse and neglect cases cover children under 21 who have mental or physical disabilities and all children under 18.
Child neglect includes a parent, guardian, or custodian doing the following:
- If someone suspects that one of the above-listed matters has occurred or is occurring in your household, you might become the subject of a CPS investigation.
The Ohio CPS investigation process starts with a report. This report can come from anyone who has observed your child or your family. Reports are optional for most people, but mandatory reporters must make reports regarding suspected abuse or neglect. Mandatory reporters include:
Please note that what you or others tell the above-listed people regarding your children or home life could subject you to an investigation. Also, an investigation could result in a civil or criminal complaint against you.
CPS Laws in Ohio require a PCSA to investigate an abuse or neglect report within 24 hours.
If you are accused of abusing or neglecting a child, laws regarding parents’ rights against CPS in Ohio require a PCSA agent to tell you what specific allegations or complaints have been made against you. Immediately taking this information to an attorney can safeguard you against unnecessary family disruption and legal liabilities while an investigation is underw
How to get a CPS case dismissed in California?
You would need to file a motion to dismiss and cite the reason as being a lack of jurisdiction. The court does need to have jurisdiction to process the case. With a CPS case, typically jurisdiction is going to follow the minor child.
How to deal with CPS in Texas?
If your family is contacted by Child Protective Services (CPS), we suggest the following:
- Join THSC
- Read Government Agency Directives from CPS
If you get a call from CPS, being a THSC member might be the greatest asset in your arsenal.
After first reading about the Tutt family’s CPS case, I remember imagining how simply I could be reported to CPS for child abuse. Like the Tutts, we have a child with special needs who can easily find herself in interesting and unusual situations and left to her own explanation, that situation could really make me look like a neglectful or abusive parent.
You see, she seems to speak wonderful English and has a charming personality, but after arriving for the first time in America only four years ago as a seven-year-old newly adopted girl with no English-speaking skills whatsoever, her vocabulary and cultural astuteness are quite lacking today. Don’t get me wrong, she doesn’t mean to confuse you, but she does.
For example, she’ll describe all vehicles as cars: the 18-wheeler is a car, the Texas truck is a car, the convertible is a car. So, if you’ve been in a disciplinary situation with a guilty child, you can imagine predicting her explanation to an authority without understanding the whole situation could be of concern. Hit, slammed, poked, smacked, touched, tickled, patted, spanked, punched, bonked, banged … it’s all the same to her.
But it wasn’t all the same to the nurse counselor at her special needs camp the week before the man with the Department of Family and Protective Services badge showed up at my door. I had just finished catching up with social media, which just so happened to include the most recent viral article about a “CPS nightmare,” when our doorbell rang.
The house had not quite recovered from the weekend and with my bedhead, morning breath, and comfy sweats-clad self, I answered the door expecting to tell the man that we did not need pest control, weed-eating, etc. However, I immediately recognized the badge. I had just read that acronym in the CPS nightmare article. I’m sure I looked dazed and confused.
Honestly, I don’t remember much of what he said. I tried to remember everything that THSC instructed on their website for these exact situations (by the way, one of the things is to write down everything that was said).
Even though I had imagined this scenario, I didn’t have the instructions memorized. I did remember to not let him in, not to volunteer information, that I needed a lawyer, to not let him alone with the kids—all this was going through my head when I asked dumbfounded, “What? Who? Huh … ?”
He told me very politely and courteously (he didn’t quite fit my nightmare scenario) that I had been reported for child abuse and that he would need to interview all of my children individually. At this point the kitten started to escape and my oldest came to me saying something–probably something about his math problem or his little brother leaving his un