The Texas Children’s Commission recently put out a great guide for parents navigating the CPS system, and I thought it might be beneficial for some parents to do a multi-part series revolving around it and how to use it to its fullest potential, as it is quite lengthy and has a lot of information. I am going to attempt to follow the organization of the guide itself, and begin each post with the first hand material and then go into any additional notes I have afterwards in the hope that more people read and see this guide that clearly has had a ton of work put into it by a huge amount of people. A link to the full text will be at both the beginning and end of each part and I encourage everyone to print out a copy for themselves.
https://austintexaslegal.com/Blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Pages-from-Child-Protective-Services-Parent-Resource-Guide-2015-Introduction.pdf
The main thing I want to draw attention to in this section is the last page. Ultimately, taking care of yourself is often the best and first step in dealing with CPS, though it is also something that people neglect the most.
Even more important is the PERCEPTION that people have of you as a result of taking care of yourself. If you can present yourself well, people inevitably will have a much better opinion of you, which can make the entire process much more painless. ANY involvement with CPS is a traumatic time for a family, and it is important to have sources of support to lean on to decrease the chances of having a breakdown in front of a CPS worker (which gets documented). If you can stay positive and composed during the process, the people involved will know that you can stay positive and composed in other stressful circumstances as well, which can only benefit your case.
For the full text of this guide, click here.
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