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Understanding CPS: The Agencies, the Power, and the Problems

31 Oct Understanding CPS: The Agencies, the Power, and the Problems

Posted at 10:34h in No unwarranted governmental interference, Parents need jury trial rights in California, Promote settlement in our family courts by

When a government agency keeps the same function in every state but repeatedly changes its name, it raises the same concern you’d have if a private company did it—something is very wrong. What used to be known everywhere as Child Protective Services (CPS) has been renamed in all 50 states, each trying to sound different from the others. Today, CPS goes by names such as:

  • Department of Social Services (DSS)
  • Department of Child Services (DCS)
  • Department of Child Safety (DCS)
  • Department of Child Protection Services (DCPS)
  • Department of Child & Family Services (DCFS)
  • Department of Children and Families (DCF)
  • Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS)
  • Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA)
  • Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS)
  • Department of Human Services (DHS)
  • Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)
  • Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS)
  • Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families (DSCYF)
  • Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS)

…and many more. The list goes on, but the pattern is clear.

What is the real problem?
I call it the One Bad Apple Rule. Whether the harmful actor is the agency director, a long‑entrenched employee, or even a brand‑new hire, a single person in this powerful role can inflict enormous damage on families—especially because these positions come with broad immunity. Molly McGrath Tierney’s TEDx talk is a powerful example. She entered one of these agencies with fresh eyes, improved outcomes, and then experienced firsthand what happens when someone challenges the system.

But the deeper issue is this: the extremely low evidentiary standard used in family and juvenile dependency courts—“Best Interest of the Child.” This vague standard allows in evidence that would never survive even the first review in criminal, civil, or small‑claims court. It opens the door to hearsay, speculation, and subjective opinions that can permanently alter a family.

What is being done to address this?
In Santa Clara County, one proposal is to expand the role of public‑school teachers so they function more like social workers. According to PerNina Iyengar, Chair of the School‑Based Approach Task Force (SBA), the plan is a “school‑based approach to preventing and responding to child abuse,” beginning with middle schools in zip codes with the highest foster‑care entry rates. This is a deeply flawed idea for many reasons—chief among them that it expands, rather than reduces, unwarranted governmental interference in families.