Houston Lawyer for CPS Cases

What To Do if Contacted by Child Protective Services

Video Transcript:

Duana Boswell-Loechel: 

Most parents don't understand that they have rights when CPS comes knocking on their doors.

Tom Mustin: 

What should you do if you're contacted by Child Protective Services? We're talking to attorney Duana Boswell-Loechel about that on today's episode of Ask The lawyer. Duana, thanks for joining us.

Duana Boswell-Loechel: 

Thanks for having me.

Tom Mustin: 

Great to have you. So what is your experience representing parents in a CPS case or child protective services case?

Duana Boswell-Loechel: 

I have represented parents for practically my whole attorney career, which is we're coming up on 18 years now, and the most important thing is, I believe most parents don't understand that they have rights when CPS comes knocking on their doors, and just what those rights are, and that it's not always the best thing to just go along with everything that CPS is asking them to do. So they need to consult an attorney.

Tom Mustin: 

And what types of allegations constitute a CPS case?

Duana Boswell-Loechel: 

It's a wide range. So any kind of abuse, neglect, leaving children alone when they're too young to be left alone, I've seen that one. There's a lot of abuse, maybe they've spanked them too hard. It's a wide range of different things that CPS will investigate, and any allegation that they receive, or report that they receive, they're required to investigate.

Tom Mustin: 

And if parents are contacted by child protective services at home or elsewhere, what should they do?

Duana Boswell-Loechel: 

The first thing they should do is know that they do not have to allow CPS into their homes without a warrant. CPS just like any other law enforcement agency has to follow the same rules and they can't violate your constitutional rights and demand entering into your home. So you can ask them to allow you time to contact an attorney before they come into the home. That can escalate the case and they can go get a warrant, so they do show up with a warrant to make sure that you comply with any kind of court order or warrant that they bring to your door.

Tom Mustin: 

So if a child is removed from a home after a CPS investigation, what can parents do to get that child back?

Duana Boswell-Loechel: 

CPS has requirements that they have to follow, and they're very specific. In Texas, you have to have within 12-18 months a resolution to the case. Are they gonna terminate the rights of the parent or are they gonna return the child? Depending on the severity of the abuse that the investigation reveals will depend on whether they can just jump straight to a termination trial without having to provide services, or if they're going to provide services to try to remove whatever is leading to that abuse or neglect.

Tom Mustin: 

Have you ever had a case or ever seen cases where you feel like there was CPS overreach against the parents?

Duana Boswell-Loechel: 

Yes, it happens quite often. CPS in Texas, likes to get people to sign what they call a family safety plan, which is basically an agreement between everybody that the kids are gonna live somewhere else. And that doesn't constitute or trigger those year and 18 month deadlines and so those plans can go on on a very long time. And I think most parents don't realize that they're signing and agreeing that they've committed this abuse or neglect, so they should have an attorney review those safety plans prior to signing them, 'cause they're giving away a lot of rights. But it's not an uncommon for CPS to wanna step in and try to make parents behave the way that they think. I actually had a jury trial about a year ago now, that the parents had completed all their services and because they were afraid that they were going to resume their marriage, did not wanna return the children. And we had to take that to a jury trial and we were able to get the children back home.

Tom Mustin: 

And I know the CPS often kinda errs on the side of the children, and that could have consequences for the parents, right?

Duana Boswell-Loechel: 

Yes. It really can. CPS is charged with making sure that these children are safe, and sometimes they're just putting their own morals and their own experiences into play when they're trying to make decisions on whether these children get returned to the parents or not.

Tom Mustin: 

Well, Duana, a very important topic and great answers. We appreciate your insight as always. Thank you for joining us again today.

Duana Boswell-Loechel: 

Thank you.

Tom Mustin: 

And that's gonna do it for this episode of Ask The Lawyer. My guest has been Duana Boswell-Loechel. If you wanna ask Duana about your situation, call the number you see on your screen. Thanks for watching. I'm Tom Mustin for Ask The Lawyers.

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