If you have need a best suitable service your Child Law experience, Do you have to pay child support in Texas if you don’t know where your child is living? with the great process!
Divorce Houston: The bottom line for you as a parent to be aware of as you explore the world of Texas family law is that if you go to court and receive a court order, the odds are good that the order will mandate that you tell your child’s other parent where you live. Many times you will also need to tell him or her where you are working, but let’s just focus on the residence part of that equation for now. This is mandated for a couple of reasons. First, there is a decent probability that you will need to be able to find your child’s other parent in the event of an emergency. If you need to leave the state immediately because you have a sick relative you may need to rush your child over to your ex=spouse’s home at a moment’s notice. Or, your child could call you frantically from their father’s house to tell you that their dad fell down and really hurt himself. You would need to call 9-1-1 and give the operator the address to send an ambulance to. While you may hesitate to comply, it is important that you work with your child’s other parent on this. Your court order will also spell out the parameters of your visitation arrangements for your child. All of this is important in the event that through whatever circumstances are relevant, you do not know where your child currently is. Your child’s other parent may move with him frequently across your city or town. Your child may even be living with relatives because their other parent is in jail or otherwise out of the picture for the time being. If you are not being communicated with and updated on their whereabouts that is not a desirable situation to be in. You should review your most recent court order to see if there is any information that can clue you in on where your child is living. If you don’t have a copy of the order then you should contact the clerk of the court for your county and request a copy. If all else fails, you need to hire an attorney. When the other parent hides your child or fails to adequately update you about moving then he or she has violated your order. The thing is, the only way for you to hold him or her accountable is to file an enforcement lawsuit that seeks to enforce the terms of the prior order. Many times, by hiring an attorney and filing an enforcement lawsuit you can get accomplished what you need to have done without even going to court. The reason for this is that you have to provide notice to your child’s other parent of the pending lawsuit. If you do so, the other parent may take the position that it is not worth the effort to proceed with a lawsuit and he or she will simply comply and tell you where your child is. For safety reasons, your case may be one where the court has determined that is not in your child’s best interests to have their location disclosed. If your ex-spouse has committed acts of violence against you or your child then for safety reasons there may be no requirement that either one of you update each other on changes to your home address. What happens if you move? Do your court orders have to change? You may or may not be able to move wherever you would like based on your court orders. Go back and read the orders to make sure. If you can’t understand that you’re reading or are not sure you can come into our office and ask one of our attorneys about what the order says. We will give you an answer at no cost and will talk to you about your options moving forward. For example, if you are a parent who has visitation rights to your child you probably also have the right to possession of your child on the first, third and fifth weekends of each month. That is a typical breakdown for parents who live within one hundred miles of another. However, what would happen if you were to receive a job offer that would put you more than 100 miles away from your child? What would happen then? Could you even consider taking that job? You could consider taking the job but it would be at the expense of seeing your child on the first, third and fifth weekends of each month. It would probably mean taking the standard possession order for a parent who lived more than 100 miles from their child. This is typically one weekend per month. Some parents are able to make the long commute work so that the more frequent visitation sessions occur, but most are not. The other thing to keep in mind is that your child's other parent has options in their court if you choose to move this distance. First, he or she can take you back to court in order to modify your prior court order. If it is argued that there has been a substantial change in circumstances, a judge may be willing to modify the court orders to allow for less visitation for your child and you. The justification would be that it is not in the best interests of your child to allow you to have the same degree of visitation as before if you cannot be counted on to take advantage of the time due to the longer distance you are responsible for travel. Geographic restrictions Family Lawyers Houston: The other thing to keep in mind is that if you have a geographic restriction as part of your court orders then you are potentially opening yourself to a whole lot of trouble if you take a job that is outside of the area defined in your court orders as a place where you are able to reside. Let me be a little more clear about that with you. A geographic restriction forces your child’s primary caregiver to reside within a certain geographic area. For most parents in Texas, that geographic area is the county in which your case is situated as well as any county that borders that county. So, for Harris County residents a typical geographic restriction would be Harris, Ft. Bend, Waller, Chambers, Liberty and Montgomery Counties. Your child’s primary caregiver is forced to live in one of these counties in order so that you as the non-primary parent do not have to chase him or her all over the state, country or globe just so you can see your child. The geographic restriction exists to benefit you as the non-primary parent in an effort to allow you to see your child as often as possible. However, if you choose to move outside of that geographic area then your ex-spouse may do the same. Thus, you are opening yourself up to a situation where if you move a couple of counties over, your ex-spouse may choose to do the same thing- in the opposite direction. Or, she may take a job across the country or may want to return home to a far-flung state to be closer to family. Whereas the geographic restriction prevented her from doing so before, she now has that ability to move since you already broke the restriction by moving. The last thing I will mention is that it can be very difficult to have a geographic restriction lifted. Parents will want to file a modification case seeking to lift the geographic restriction from their order but will need to be able to justify that request to a judge. Arguing that you got a great new job offer a couple of towns over will usually not suffice. Everything has to be done for the best interests of your child, and if you believe that taking this job is in your child's best interest it may be more difficult to convince a judge of that. Who does the driving if you intend to move to a location farther away from your child? It should not surprise you that if you choose to move farther from your child that you will be the parent who takes up the burden of doing all of the extra driving. Of course, if your child’s other parent is willing to help with the driving that could ease your burden, but you would need to figure that out of yourself. Otherwise, you will likely be responsible for providing transportation to the other parent’s home. If you do go back to court and get a new agreement set up in writing, you should take into account costs associated with travel (airline tickets, gas, etc.) and how those costs are going to be divided between the two parents. If reimbursing the other parent for money spent is something that you are interested in the specifics of that arrangement will need to be spelled out as well. How will moving impact your child? Family Lawyer in Houston: This is a difficult question for me to write about since I don't know your child and don't know the dynamics of your family. You are more than likely going to see your childless in the future than you do now if you choose to move farther away from him or her. This isn't because you don't have the desire to see your child, but there are real constraints to your schedule that you need to keep in mind when having to travel long distances. Your heart may want to see your child every other weekend, but if your schedule will not allow it then it doesn't make sense to keep that visitation arrangement in place. You can attempt to schedule a phone call with your child multiple times each week in order to make up part of the difference in your loss of time with him or her. Technology is definitely your friend in this regard. Phone calls, text messages, Face Time, Skype, e-mail and countless other methods of communication make distance less of an issue when it comes to interacting with your child ... Continue Reading
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How can you take advantage of visitation with your child during a CPS case if you are incarcerated?11/10/2019 If you have need a best suitable service your Child Law experience, How can you take advantage of visitation with your child during a CPS case if you are incarcerated? with the great process!
Divorce Attorney in Houston: To get ready for any visitation session that you are provided in your Child Protective Services (CPS) case, your child’s caseworker and your attorney should talk with you before the visit to help you to focus on the purpose of your being able to see your child. It is not to fish for information from your child, it is not to berate your child’s other parent for getting him or her into this situation and it is not to encourage your child to give their foster family a hard time. The purpose of these visitation sessions revolves around your child and your rebuilding a relationship with your child. Your child likely doesn't feel too good about their living situation right now. Their life is up in the air, and on top of everything else, they have a parent who is incarcerated and not fully able to participate in their life. It is up to you to make these visits as productive as possible. You can start by reassuring your child that you love him or her. Your supporting your child is essential to make them feel at ease and stable in whatever living conditions they find themselves in. You can’t determine when their CPS case is going to end. You can’t determine whether or not your child is going to go home soon. You can’t even determine how often you will be able to see your child. However, you can determine your attitude and how you present your child's circumstances to him or her. Keep in mind that your child doesn't understand everything that is going on in their lives. Your living circumstances are remaining exactly the same. Those of your child has been turned upside down. If you can provide any insight for your child into what is happening and how many people are working to make sure that your child is ok then he or she will likely feel much better about themselves. What should your child expect when it comes to visiting you in prison? Visiting with you in prison is obviously different than visiting with you in your home, a CPS office or even a restaurant. A prison is not exactly the most ideal place to meet with your child, and if we are being honest with ourselves it is probably the least hospitable place that anyone could think of when it comes to meeting with your child. However, these are your circumstances and it is your job to make the best of them. Your child should be prepared by you, their foster family, the CPS caseworker and by you about what to expect when it comes to seeing you in prison or jail. Different facilities have different rules about visitation so I cannot tell you exactly what your child is going to encounter when it comes to a vitiation session. However, there are some pieces of advice that I can provide that apply across the board for any child whose parent, like you, is incarcerated. You can write letters to your child (if you are allowed to do so) telling your child how excited you are to see him or her. It is a big deal when you can see your child while you are incarcerated and you want to lay the groundwork to make sure your child understands just how happy you are to be able to see him or her. Sending a short, upbeat letter or message to your child is a great idea as long as the court orders and CPS allow you to do that. For example, your child should be made aware that there will be a large number of people in the visiting area in most facilities. These people will be doing the same thing that your child is doing. Namely, visiting their loved ones. It can be loud, distracting and boisterous in these rooms even with prison guards available to keep order. If your child is not used to this type of environment (and hopefully he is not), it would make sense to have your caseworker communicate that your child. Another thing that is odd for people who are engaging in their first prison visitation session with a child is that there will be a glass partition in between you and your child in most cases. This partition is there to protect the people visiting you and to make sure that contraband is not passed between you and your guest. You may even need to talk on a phone in order to hear one another, depending upon the set up of the visitation area. Even though this will be especially difficult for you, you and your child will not be able to touch or hug. This is probably the biggest thing that you will have to prepare yourself prior to a visit with your child. How will your child’s foster parents react to your child’s visit with you? Houston Family Attorney: One aspect of the visitation session that you shouldn't have to worry about, but likely will have to worry about, is how your child's foster family will handle the visit to a prison. If your relatives are fostering your child then you have less to be concerned with. However, a typical foster family may themselves feel uncomfortable in prison and may be hesitant to allow you to speak to your child for very long. You should address this with your child’s caseworker ahead of time in order to ensure that nothing stands in your way of getting the visitation time with your child that you are entitled to. It is natural for your child's foster family to want to protect your child. For one, it is their responsibility to do so. Their ability to protect your child is job number one as far as the State of Texas is concerned. From this vantage point, it is understandable that they would want to avoid any situations that could lead to harm being inflicted upon your child or even your child becoming upset or irritated. I have heard from many clients, family members of clients and CPS caseworkers that children will often feel stressed out, sad, angry, overly emotional and a range of emotions in between these after seeing their parents for the first time after a CPS case is begun. Remember that children are not good at managing their emotions. If we’re being honest with ourselves many parents are not great at handling their emotions either. Foster parents want to avoid having to deal with your child when he or she is highly emotional. In situations like this, your caseworker will need to prepare your child’s foster family for the visit in prison or jail. It is natural for your child to feel a range of emotions associated with visiting you. As a result, your child may have reactions before, during and after these visitation sessions that are impactful upon your child’s caregivers. The caregiver will need to be prepared for this reaction and will themselves need to remember that the primary objective of the visit is to allow the child to see you and to further whatever goals are in place as far as permanency is concerned for your child. What to do if you are hesitant about seeing your child? What happens if you are not so sure about seeing your child? You may have never had much of a relationship with him or her to this point in their life. Maybe your child’s mother never let you see your child as he was growing up. Maybe you have spent a good portion of your child’s life behind bars and you don’t know how to relate to him. There are a number of factors that could be present in your life that affects your ability to bond with your child. Even if you are hesitant about seeing your child, it is important that you do. These visitation sessions are extremely important when it comes to your being able to maintain your relationship with your child even if you are incarcerated. Your child may be worried about your being behind bars. He or she may have never had an opportunity to come to visit you before this time. Reassuring your child is never a bad thing to do, especially in a time like this. Once you are released from jail/prison how can you find a job? Houston Family Law Attorneys: The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has a website that is dedicated to helping formerly incarcerated people like yourself find work. The jobs selected for this website are done with the thought of helping you find work as quickly as possible after you are released from prison or jail. Your attorney and/or the CPS caseworker involved in your child’s case should review this website and share information with you regarding what resources are out there for you after you are released from prison. You can talk to the caseworker and let him or her know what your work background was so that they are able to help you pinpoint a career area to look into for employment. In today’s world, private employers are more willing than ever to hire people who have spent time in jail or prison. It is true that many jobs do not appear willing to hire the formerly incarcerated but that is not true for every single job any longer. Just like you did in the CPS case, you need to explore your options and take action rather than sit back and expect good things to happen to you automatically ... Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable service your Child Law experience, Working on a CPS case while you are incarcerated: Communicating with the caseworker with the great process!
Divorce Attorneys in Houston: If you are incarcerated as Child Protective Services (CPS) is investigating an allegation of abuse or neglect of your child, it is likely to be one of the most frustrating experiences of your life. Every fiber of your being is crying out to help your child but you are behind bars. You have all the time in the world to think about what is happening to your child. That thinking will without a doubt turn into one thing: worry. I can tell you from experience that your worrying about the CPS case will not accomplish anything of value for you. The only thing you can do is take advantage of the opportunities that you have to have a meaningful impact on your child’s case. Just because you are incarcerated doesn’t mean that you are going to lose your voice as far as communicating what you believe your child needs to succeed in life. Your partner in ensuring that your child goes where he or she needs to will be your family law attorney. Your attorney should have experience working with CPS and in working with folks that are incarcerated. The attorneys with the Law Office of Bryan Fagan meet both qualifications. If you are going to prison soon or will be getting out of prison stop by our office or give us a call to talk to us about your situation and about how we can help. Or, we can meet with your family while you are incarcerated so you can find out how we can be of service to you. The other person that will be working closely with you on your child’s CPS case is the CPS caseworker. The CPS caseworker oversees the contact that you have with the agency and helps all parties develop plans that will go towards furthering whatever goals are developed in your case. Most of the time, the overarching goal of a CPS case will be to return your child to their home. Other times the goal is to place your child with a relative. Regardless, you are in a position to be able to assist the investigation. This is what we are going to be talking about in today’s blog post. Your role in a CPS case does not change just because you are incarcerated. Your input and involvement is critical to helping your child find stability in their life. It will be more difficult for you to fulfill your responsibility in jail or prison, but it is your job to meet that challenge. It’s my hope that our blog post will contain some information that will help you to achieve whatever goals you have for the case, your child and yourself. The CPS caseworker in your case will…. -The CPS caseworker is going to ask you what you want to see happen with your child. If you are going to be incarcerated for the foreseeable future, you won’t be able to have your child live with you. Even if you are going to be released from prison soon it is improbable that your transition back into the real world will allow you to take on the massive responsibility of caring for a child. With that said, the CPS caseworker will want to hear from you as far as what you see as the best opportunity for your child. Houston Divorce Attorneys: Do you have relatives who are ready and willing to care for your child? Have you provided that information to the caseworker? You ought to do so as soon as the case begins because it takes time for CPS to investigate potential homes for your child. Even if CPS’ stated goal is to reunite your child with their other parent, it won’t hurt to provide the name and contact information for a relative of yours who you believe would be a suitable caretaker for your child- just in case that goal changes. -The CPS caseworker will tell you what kind of contact you can have with your child. You are obviously in a unique situation being that you are incarcerated, so it isn’t as if you can call your child whenever you want and go over to see him or her. An adult has to facilitate visitation for you, so you should speak to the caseworker in order to learn what is allowed and what is not allowed as far as visitation is concerned. You should have a copy of your court orders (if the facility where you are staying allows you to keep papers in your cell) handy and you can refer to those if you have questions. Sometimes court orders can be difficult to understand, and that is where having an attorney to represent you comes in handy. That attorney will be at every planning meeting with CPS, every hearing with the judge and can advocate for you even when you are not able to be in the room. -The CPS caseworker can tell you why you are only able to have limited contact with your child. It can be incredibly frustrating to learn that you cannot see your child as much as would like to. Those visits with your child may be what makes your time in prison tolerable to some extent. However, the judge in your child’s case may have a completely different viewpoint on what is appropriate and in your child’s best interests. The caseworker from CPS will have seen situations like yours before and can help you to better understand why you are allowed the visitation that you are, and what you can do to get more time with your child. For instance, it may be that CPS has made recommendations about minimizing contact with you until it can be shown that your child can handle visits to prison. Your facility may have limits as to how much contact is allowed, as well. Rely on the caseworker and your attorney to help guide you in this area. -The CPS caseworker will help you by providing you with information so long as you are detailed and direct with him or her. You should ask him or her point blank what you need to do in order to increase the amount of contact you have with your child. To be unclear is to be unkind. This is a saying that I tell people in my own life all the time. If you can do anything while you are in prison to increase your chances at getting more time with your child, or more time when you are out of prison with him or her, you should ask your CPS caseworker about that -The CPS caseworker will help you with your child. If you have an attorney he or she should be the primary person in your corner assisting you with doing this. However, if you do not have an attorney then the caseworker can step in and help you to answer the questions that your child has. Odds are high that your child will ask you about how much longer you will be staying in prison, how much longer the CPS case will be going on and who your child will be living with primarily after the case concludes itself. You may not know how to answer those questions but the CPS caseworker will help you find the right words. -The CPS caseworker will help you to deal with your own emotions surrounding your incarceration during a CPS case. Again, it will not be easy having to watch a lot of the things that go on in your case happen without your being able to do much about it. Your CPS caseworker, along with your attorney, support system and other people, will be able to help you to work on those emotions and use them to better the life of your child however you can. What services are available to you as an incarcerated parent? You can have your attorney or family members contact the facility where you are incarcerated in order to find out what services are available to you through the jail or prison. There may be educational programs that will allow you to better find work after you get out of prison. That alone will decrease your chances of every ending up back in prison in the future. Religious services through a prison chaplain can also help you if you are a person of faith. What are the basic rules associated with a child visiting you in prison? Divorce Attorneys Houston: When it is possible and deemed to be in your child’s best interests, your child should be able to have face to face contact with you. The individual circumstances of your case will determine how much face to face contact you will be able to have with your child. Your facility where you are staying will have their own set of guidelines to keep in mind when it comes to taking advantage of all the visitation time that you are awarded in your court orders. The court will determine how much visitation time you are allowed. Of course, you may not be able to be at every hearing in your child’s case. In fact, it is unlikely that you will be able to attend any hearing. For this reason, it is important that you have an attorney there on your behalf, advocating for you and your rights. Your attorney and the caseworker will contact the officials at your facility and work to get visitation set up so that the sessions can occur without a hitch. Both parties need to know what the specific visitation policies of your facility are and what restrictions are in place so that your child and their foster family doesn’t show up and have to go home because they are not on your list of approved visitors, for example. Many facilities in Texas have programs that help mothers and fathers who are incarcerated become better parents. These programs will screen inmates like yourself who apply to be in the program. Once you are accepted, you will need to attend classes during the week. If you display good behavior you will be able to see your child once per week for one hour and can continue to remain in the program ... Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable service your Child Law experience, How to handle child support in Texas when you are incarcerated with the great process!
Houston Family Lawyers: If you are responsible for paying child support and are also facing the possibility of going to jail or prison for having committed a crime, you likely have a lot on your mind right now. At the forefront of your mind are hopefully questions about how you are going to provide for your child and ensure their safety while you are not able to be with him or her. The ability to pay child support can be part of the solution to this problem. What to do while you are incarcerated and how to handle child support payments once you are released will be the topics discussed in today’s blog post. What you need to know about the Office of the Attorney General The Texas Office of the Attorney General administers the payment of child support in our state. Payments are made through the State Disbursement Unit and onto the parent who receives child support. It is important that you know what this state agency does and what role it will play in your life. Not knowing these things can have a negative effect on you and your child. First off, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has basic information about you, your family law cases, as well as the court, ordered amount of child support that you will need to pay on a monthly basis. If you have questions at any point about what you are expected to pay, how often you are expected to pay it and whether or not you current in the amounts that you have paid, you can go through the OAG's website to learn more. If you fall behind in paying child support and are otherwise a threat to the well-being of your child, the OAG can also file a lawsuit asking that your parental rights be terminated. For example, if upon being arrested, convicted of a crime and sent to jail, you were not able or willing to ensure that your child could be cared for in your absence, the Office of the Attorney General may file a lawsuit to have your parental rights be terminated. Not having paid child support on time is typically not a reason why your parental rights would be terminated. Can child support be modified? You can contact a private attorney to request a modification from the court that set the amount of child support you are obligated to pay. You would likely be asking them to reduce the monthly child support obligation due to the loss of a job. On the other hand, your child’s other parent may also request that the court modify the amount of child support you are expected by pay by increasing that obligation. For example, if you have recently gotten a raise that parent may request that your obligation for child support reflect this higher salary. The best route for you to take would be to contact a private attorney to do this for you. You will have the advice of an attorney throughout the case and would be able to likely get your petition in front of a judge quicker. However, you can also contact the OAG directly and ask them to consider reducing your child support obligation. It typically takes longer going this route, and the OAG represents the state of Texas in the potential case- not you or your child’s other parent. Establish paternity for your child- if you have not already done so In order to be in a position to have rights and duties in relation to your child, you need to be legally established as that child’s father. Paternity rights come automatically if you are married to your child’s mother at the time your child was born. However, if you are not married to your child’s mother you and the mother must declare yourself as the father. A suit filed with the assistance of the Office of the Attorney General is a good first step towards achieving this goal. Questions about how much you will have to pay in child support? Most folks who are in line to pay child support have a decent idea of how much they will have to pay. However, if you have questions about the specifics of payment for child support then you can go to the OAG for the official guidelines that you will be responsible for. What can the OAG not do in relation to your child support obligation? The OAG is limited to handling matters related to child support. With that said, it cannot work to modify anything in your prior court orders that have to do with custody or visitation issues. Many times, fathers will find themselves in a position once they get out of prison where their child’s mother is not willing to let him see their child. If you find yourself in that sort of position, then you need to hire a private attorney to file an enforcement lawsuit that will allow you to get the visitation time with your child that you are guaranteed under the court order. If you get out of prison or jail and find that your child’s mother has moved it is natural to want to find out where she and your child have moved to. Unfortunately, the OAG will not be able to tell you the address that they have moved to. The OAG and paternity of your child Houston Family Law Attorney: When we are talking about paternity, we are talking about the legal determination of fatherhood. If you were married to your child’s mother (or are still married to her) the law in Texas is that you are automatically recognized as the father of that child. You do not need to take any additional steps in order to establish your paternity rights in that child. On the other hand, if you are not married to the mother of your child when he or she is born, the law does not presume fatherhood in you. Just because you are the biological father of that child, the law will not intercede and automatically declare you to be that child’s father. It is incumbent upon you to take the step and work within the law and have yourself determined to be the legal father of that child. You do this through legally establishing yourself as the father to your child. You are not able to gain rights and duties for your child (including the duty to pay child support) unless you establish paternity first. How can the paternity of your child be established? Voluntary establishment of paternity is possible if both you and your child's mother agree that you are the father, and sign an acknowledgment of paternity forms. These forms will establish you as the legal father to your child once it is filed with the Vital Statistics Unit in Austin. The key thing to note here is that you both need to fill out and sign one of these forms in order for any legal effect to be had. One of your filling out and filing the form individually will have no impact on paternity for your child. In the event that you and your child’s mother do not agree on paternity then you would need to go through the courts. A child support case can be initiated through hiring a private attorney or by contacting the Office of the Attorney General. DNA testing is going to be the first part of any paternity case. Once you have evidence that shows you to be the biological father of the child a judge will make a ruling on paternity, child support and visitation among other things. As an incarcerated parent, you have the ability to establish paternity for your child through the Office of the Attorney General even while you are behind bars. Getting your name onto your child’s birth certificate Your name can be listed on your child's birth certificate once you are established as your child's legal father. We just discussed how you can become your child's legal father either by agreement with your child's mother or through a court-centric process. If your child's birth certificate does not list your name, then you can contact the State of Texas once paternity is established in order to get that information updated. Can you sign an acknowledgment of paternity while you are incarcerated? If you are incarcerated and your child’s mother wants to sign an Acknowledgment of Paternity as well then she should contact the OAG or a local child support office to discuss this with them. These people will be able to guide you all through the process of getting the document in front of you for your signature even while you are incarcerated. Why would you want to establish paternity for your child? Divorce Lawyers in Houston: If the only benefit to your legally establishing paternity in your child was that you would now be forced to pay child support, that doesn’t sound like the most appealing reason to go through this effort. However, there are many more benefits for you and your child that have nothing to do with child support. To me, the most important benefit that we can talk about for your child is that once you are established as the child’s father your child will know that he or she has another parent who wants to know them and wants what is best for them. The impact on your child in this regard cannot be measured. Once you are legally established as the father to your child then your rights are exactly equal to that of your child's mother. Many fathers believe incorrectly that their rights are not as significant to the child when compared to the mothers. That is not true. Many times fathers will take on fewer rights and duties for many reasons. However, there is nothing under the law that makes this always the case. You are also setting your child up for the future by allowing him or her to receive financial or medical benefits from you if you were to pass away ... Continue Reading In what circumstances would your child end up living with your relative during a CPS case?10/24/2019 If you have need a best suitable service your Child Law experience, In what circumstances would your child end up living with your relative during a CPS case? with the great process!
Houston Family Lawyer: If you have a relative or close family friend or is able and interested in housing your child during a Child Protective Services (CPS) case then you should speak to that person about contacting CPS. Obviously, their home would need to be safe to be up for consideration. Just because a family member is willing to house your child does not mean that a person is well suited for that responsibility. You can also provide your CPS caseworker with that person’s name and contact information and the caseworker can make the initial contact that way. An assessment will be done for any person who throws their hat into the ring to be considered as a temporary landing spot for your child. That home assessment will review your relative's background, their home, and their overall suitability to be a placement location for your child. What will CPS do to help your child ensure that they are able to go to school during the CPS case? CPS wants your child to be able to attend school and be successful in doing so. Just because the rest of your life is a little topsy turvy at the moment doesn’t mean that your child’s education has to be held back. It goes without saying that children that are better educated and exposed to more opportunities to learn have a head start over those children that do not. Your child’s caseworker will work with your child, their school and your child’s foster family in order to help you do well in school. For older children, graduating from high school and then preparing for life on their own is a major developmental step for these kids. CPS will aim to keep your child enrolled in the same school he or he has been attending before being removed from your home. However, it may be determined that staying at the same school is not good for your child or Is not possible. In that case, your caseworker or foster parent will enroll you in a new school within a few days so that your educational goals may be met. Wherever your child will go to school, the caseworker and the foster family will ensure that transportation is provided for your child. School districts employ persons to work with foster families helping to address the needs of students who are in foster care. If your child is having problems with their schoolwork then he should alert their foster parent, a caseworker with CPS, their teacher or a counselor to let him or she knows. Part of the monthly visits that your child has with their caseworker will revolve around performance in the classroom. Their caseworker will even help your child to pick out classes to take in high school in order to earn a diploma. What happens if your child is about to turn 18? Does CPS offer any programs for him or her? Your child will no longer be in the custody of the state after he or she reaches 18 years old. However, it is not required that your child leave foster care at that time. Your child may not be in a position to leave foster care and live on their own at that time. It is possible that your child will have educational goals yet to accomplish and he or she may still need to save money to rent an apartment, buy a car or do a range of activities that are necessary for a person who is living independently. There will be a trial independence period that can last for up to six months after your child leaves foster care. A judge in your child's case can extend this period of time for an additional six months. During this time period, there will most likely not be anything happening in your case and your child will not have to go to court for many reasons. Additionally, your child can remain in extended foster care until their 21stbirthday if he or she needs additional time to work on their career, education or their housing situation. In order to take advantage of this program, you would need to tell CPS that you will be attending a college or vocational school, going to a work preparation program or be working at least 80 hours a month. Definitions of common words and phrases that you will hear in conjunction with a CPS case Divorce Lawyer Houston: Attorney ad litem: refers to a lawyer that is assigned by the judge in your CPS case to represent the interests of your child. Your interests, it may surprise you to learn, do not always match up perfectly with those of your child in CPS cases. For example, if you truly do offer a long term threat to your child’s well being it is not in the best interest of your child for your child to return home to you. You will probably disagree with that and will work to have your child returned home, however. The job of the attorney ad litem is to work with your child to see what their desire is far as a permanent solution to where he or she will live. Guardianship: It may be that your child is not able to care for himself/herself after their 18thbirthday due to a disability or impairment. If that is the case, a judge can appoint a guardian for the child. These are very extreme situations that warrant the appointment of a guardian. The state wants all adults to be able to make decisions for themselves if at all possible. You may be appointed as a guardian for your child or if your parental rights are terminated, another person would fulfill that role. Court Appointed Special Advocate: A Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) is a volunteer who works through the court to advocate on behalf of your child. This person may or may not have any background in the law or with CPS. This is a person that has a heart for families in need. The CASA volunteer will work with your child, their foster family and you to make recommendations to the court as to what should happen with your child on a long term basis. CPS Caseworker: A CPS caseworker will work with you and your child while he or she is in foster care. This person will ensure that your child is being cared for, that he or she is going to school and that you are working on the goals of your CPS service plan. The caseworker is your primary point of contact between yourself and CPS. Developing a relationship with this person and communicating with him or her as often as possible is a good goal to have. Managing Conservator: The ultimate job of the judge in your child’s CPS case is to determine who should have the right to make decisions, care for your child and provide a home for your child on a long-term basis. The name of the person with these rights is known as the managing conservator of your child. You could be named as the managing conservator of your child, a relative could be named as such or the state could fill that role. This role is similar to that of a guardian, which we discussed earlier in this blog post. The key difference is that a guardian looks out for the interests of a person over the age of 18. Permanency plan: Child Protective Services will work with the judge in your case to develop a plan whose ultimate goal is to find a place for your child to live on a permanent basis. The best interests of your child are the primary consideration to be made in this regard. That can be difficult to understand for parents. The judge's primary concern is not what you want or what will make you feel good. Often times the goal of a permanency plan will be to reunite your child with you in your home. In other cases, the goal of the permanency plan will be to have your child live permanently with a relative. Still, others will see the goal as having your child remain in the custody of the State. Thoughts on foster care and CPS Houston Divorce: Without a doubt, nobody wants to become involved in a CPS case. Likewise, nobody wants their child to be removed from their house and placed into foster care. However, if you find yourself in a position where these folks have become a part of your life you should not take a passive approach to the case. Learn as much as you can about both subject areas so that you can make good decisions for yourself and for your child ... Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable service your Child Law experience, What you need to know about the Texas foster care system before a CPS case with the great process!
Houston Divorce Lawyers: If your child is involved in a CPS case in the state of Texas then you need to be aware that he or she could be removed from your home and placed into foster care. I hate to put it to you so bluntly, but that is the reality of the situation. That doesn’t mean that he or she is never going to come home to you. What it does mean is that you are going to have to work to get him or her returned home. Part of that work is learning about the CPS process and the people and institutions that are involved. The foster care system is one that figures to weigh heavily on your case in the event that your child is removed from your home. Today’s blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan will seek to provide you with more information that we think is relevant to have as you begin your case. What rights does your child have in relation to the foster care system? Your child may give permission and consent to their own medical treatment in some cases, as long as doing so is allowed by his or her health care provider. Many times this means that your child can undergo counseling or sexual, physical or other trauma without your permission or that of their foster family. If your child is over the age of 16, he or she can ask the judge to be able to make some or all of their medical decisions for themselves. Your child would likely need to ask their attorney ad litem to help him or her further this goal. If your daughter is pregnant and not married, she can agree to medical procedures associated with the pregnancy- other than abortion. Once a child is born your daughter has the right to consent to medical treatment for her child just as any other mother would be able to. What sort of information is your child able to obtain about their CPS case? Many parents are interested in learning what sort of information that their child will have access to in regard to the CPS investigation. With so much going on around him or her it is probable that they have questions about what is happening. Once you have contact for visitation, you are able to share a great deal of information about their case with him or her. What other sources of information are available to your child during a case? Your child can contact and speak privately to their caseworker, attorney ad litem or Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). These folks are duty-bound to consider what is in the best interests of your child and to provide information that will help your child to better understand their rights and the CPS case overall. In addition, your child will be provided with an opportunity to attend hearings and to even speak to the judge in their case. Depending on your child’s age those interactions can involve where your child is living and he or she would like to see happen regarding reunification with you in your home. How is it possible for your child to live a normal life while in custody of CPS? Family Law Attorney Houston: The idea of foster care is not to insulate your child from the rest of the world and your family. The idea of foster care is to keep your child safe when your home environment is determined to not be suitable for that purpose. CPS would like your child to maintain friendships and relationships with family members while in CPS case. Ideally, CPS would like you and your child to maintain and strengthen your relationships with one another. If your child is placed into foster care then your child can work with their foster family to be able to go out and do things socially with friends or family. For the most part, this is between your child and their foster family. CPS will not be doing background checks on your child’s friends before a sleepover visit occurs. For the most part, the closer your child gets to their foster family the better off he or she will be in regard to having an active life outside of foster care. Planning for life after the CPS case You, your child and CPS will be working together in order to plan for a permanent solution to your child’s housing situation. Most of the time that plan will involve your child returning to your home. In other scenarios, it involves your child living permanently with a foster family or a relative of yours. Planning for this reality begins as soon as your child is removed from your home and placed into the care of the foster family. CPS must have a goal in mind in regard to a permanent place for you to live at the conclusion of their case. In the event that their goal does not involve a return to your home, they must include a transition plan for your child to be able to transition into living outside of your home on a permanent basis. These plans will include all of the specific steps that are needed to happen for your child to be kept safe. What are the possible goals of a CPS case? The most common goal is returning your child to your home. Other goals could be having a relative of yours adopt your child (if your parental rights are terminated) or being placed into the permanent care of a relative. A document known as the Family Service and Child Service Plan will contain these recommendations and goals. What is a family service plan? The Family Service Plan in a Texas CPS case is an agreement between CPS, your child’s foster family, the judge and you. All of these groups will decide what changes or goals need to be made in your life in order to have you returned home on a permanent basis. A plan will be provided that will allow you to know what you have to do to meet these goals as well as the support structure that is available to you for assistance. What is a child service plan? The child service plan is a plan that will allow your child to receive the care that he or she needs while outside of your home. This plan will discuss what needs you have and the CPS services that will be utilized in order to ensure that you receive the care that you need. Things like your child’s health, their education, their experience with religion and other important aspects of their life will be covered by the child service plan. As I mentioned a moment ago, the typical goal of a child service plan will be to place your child back in your home with you on a permanent basis. In the event that your circumstances will not allow for a return home, other options will be explored. If your child is high school-aged there will be information provided in the service plan that allows for your child to be able to transition better into adulthood. What is expected of your child while he or she is in foster care? Houston Divorce Attorney: Your child has a part to play in their relationship with their foster family and with CPS. Obviously more would be expected of an older child as opposed to a very young child. Bearing these limitations in mind, let’s discuss some of those expectations and responsibilities. Your child will have a role to play with their caseworker as far as developing a game-plan that will lead your child towards a permanent location to live. This means that your child will have to be able to speak up for himself or herself and communicate their concerns in that way. Your child may be able to express concerns and points of interest that cannot be communicated by any other person. By that same token, CPS will be able to work with your child to schedule visitation sessions with you. If your child would like there to be certain limitations or protections for their safety to be in place during a visitation session that can be communicated to their caseworker. Some children may want a more public setting for the visitation sessions to occur. Other times, children will want a private opportunity to meet with you. While your child will not determine all the aspects of these visitation sessions, their input will be sought after by CPS ... Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable service your Child Law experience, Foster Care, Child Protective Services and your Texas family with the great process!
Houston Divorce Lawyer: What does it mean for Child Protective Services (CPS) to become involved with your family? It’s probably become pretty obvious to you that CPS is not contacting you for something good. It’s likely that something has happened with one of your children that is requiring CPS to get in touch with you. If you have never come into contact with CPS in your entire life you have a lot to learn about what a case means with this state agency for you and your family. Things become even more stressful for you when your child is removed from your home. This can happen for a number of reasons, but the bottom line is that your child can be removed from your home if it is determined that you are not in a position to keep your child safe from abuse or neglect. Sometimes your child can be removed without first having gone to court. This can occur in the event that there is an emergency situation that does not allow for CPS to seek a court order prior to the removal. Most of the time a court order will be sought where a judge will give CPS permission to do the removal? Where does your child go after being removed from your home? In many cases, your child will be placed in foster care. If your child cannot be safe at your home (either in the eyes of CPS and a judge) then CPS has the option to place your child into foster care. Your child will be assigned an attorney ad litem who will be representing your child's interests in court. This may seem a bit unnatural to you but keep in mind that your child's interests may not line up perfectly with your own. For that reason, the judge will be appointing a separate attorney to speak on your child's best interests when in court. The toughest part of this whole process is that your child will be moving out of your home. The home that your child will be moving into maybe with another member of your family (aunt, uncle, grandparent, adult sibling) or could be in a foster home with a family that you and your child do not know. There will be new routines and rules that become implemented in your child's case in order to ensure that your child is kept safe and that you have an opportunity to visit with your child. What happens right after your child is removed from your home? Once your child is removed from your home as part of a CPS case it is normal for you to feel nervous, sad, apprehensive and discouraged. Your child likely feels many of these same emotions as you do. It is not a bad idea for you to be able to seek out counseling or therapy for yourself. Often times your church will have someone that they can recommend that you visit with, including a priest or pastor. Your health insurance many have family therapists or counselors available to meet with you within your network. Whatever the case, you have the right to feel the way you do about your family. It is extremely jarring and unsettling to have your child removed from your care, whatever the circumstances. Even if you were engaging in behavior that put your child at risk it is very unlikely that your primary intention was to harm your child. Once your caseworker is assigned to work with you and a court date is set up (called an Adversarial hearing) you will likely be provided with a visitation schedule that allows you to see your child. The main exception to this rule is that if CPS and the judge believe that you are a safety risk to your child or if the goal of your CPS is not to reunify your child and you in your home. You should be honest with CPS about what your schedule allows for when it comes to visitation. Once your visitation schedule is created you will be expected to stick to that plan. So, if you have things in your life that will prevent you from being able to make a visit, do not agree to have a visitation session on a particular day. These visitation sessions will be supervised by CPS at the beginning of your case so your behavior in each session is very important. Being absent at a scheduled time can be very bad for your case. What rights do you and your child have while he or she is in foster care? Divorce Lawyer in Houston: Your child has the right to be told why he or she in foster care. CPS will not exaggerate or make promises about when or if he or she will be able to return to your home, but an explanation of why he or she is in foster care can and will be provided to your child. CPS will share information on what their plan is for your child- whether that is reunification with you, living permanently with a family member or something different. Once you have a better idea about what is happening with the case it is important that you be able to communicate these goals to your child, as well. CPS will do everything possible to ensure that your children are all able to live together in the same house. An exception that immediately comes to mind is if one of your siblings was somehow involved in the neglect or abuse that brought about CPS intervention in the first place. If you have a situation like that on your hands then you should be aware that your children will be separated while in foster care to ensure their safety. It will be explained to your child (when appropriate, considering age) why he or she was not able to be placed with all of their siblings. Your child will also have the right to visit with you during the CPS case. Again, an exception to this rule would be if it is determined that it is not in your child’s best interest to have visitation with you. Safety of your child is at the forefront of all decisions made in the case, and if you are a risk to your child then you will not be provided with visitation. What sort of life will your child lead while in foster care? Despite your child living outside of your home, it will be a goal of the foster family and CPS that your child is able to lead as normal a life as possible. He or she will hopefully be able to attend the same school where he or she is currently enrolled. However, if your child’s current living situation does not allow for that to occur then they will be enrolled in a school closer to the home of their foster family. Special attention will be paid if your child needs any sort of special education courses of accommodations while in school. A concern that many parents have in regard to their child being in foster care is whether or not their child will be able to attend church or other religious services. If that is a concern that you share as well, you can rest easier knowing that CPS will work to ensure that your child can attend religious services while he or she is living outside of your home. Depending on the age of your child, CPS will do its best to allow him or her to experience activities, extracurricular events, sports, band, etc. that were a normal part of their daily life prior to the removal. If you have equipment, materials or clothing that your child will need to perform in these regards it is recommended that you provide the foster family with these items either when your child is being removed or as quickly as possible thereafter. Phone calls, emails, letters and other means of private communication between you and your child will also be allowed so long as it is not determined that these means of communication offer a threat to your child’s safety. As far as other private matters, your child will also be provided with personal hygiene materials that allow him or her to maintain their health while he or she is living outside of your home. Will your child be disciplined while in foster care? Divorce Attorney Houston: This is an important question to ponder. I think we would all agree that children need discipline. Children who are living in atypical circumstances can sense when there is a vacuum in the normal state of discipline in their lives. Most children will use that vacuum and fill it with less than stellar behavior including some degree of disrespect. Your child should not be hit or disciplined physically while in CPS custody. However, your child will be disciplined by their foster family if the situation warrants it. In the event that your child is disciplined by their foster family, the rationale for that discipline will be explained to your child ... Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable service your Child Law experience, Foster Care and its relation to your Texas CPS case with the great process!
Divorce Lawyer in Spring TX: When your child is removed as a part of a Texas Child Protective Services (CPS) case and placed into foster care it would be natural on some level to view the foster family as something of an enemy. These are the folks who are welcoming your children into your home after they have just exited your own. You do not know their intentions because you do not know them. You may not even find out their names and likely will never know where they live. All you are left with is an assurance from CPS that they will be caring for your children for an extended period of time to the best of their ability. Parents that I have come into contact with that have had their children placed into CPS case will frequently want to know whether or not the foster family will make an effort to speak to them (when possible) about how to better care for their child on a daily basis. Another concern that I have heard from parents in your position is what efforts will be made by the foster family to ensure that their children are able to take part in extracurricular activities through their school or other organizations. What I can tell you is that CPS will assure you that they judge their foster families on their ability to do these sorts of things in addition to other daily care activities associated with your children. It is important that foster families are able to avoid problems that the agency has faced before. I will not detail specific problems that the foster care system in this blog post, but a simple Google search will reveal what I am alluding. This is all the more reason for you to seek out family members to act as a foster care providers for your children, rather than leave it up to CPS to appoint a family to care for your children. What happens if CPS believes your child’s foster family is not living up to this standard? Problems can arise if your child's foster family is not facilitating visits with you, sharing information with you or CPS and generally seems hostile to the idea of you being able to share in the reunification process. If this situation presents itself CPS will take action on behalf of your family. You can expect the action it takes looks like the following. In the event that your child’s foster family has a different view of their role in your child’s CPS case or doesn’t understand what it can do to help your child in their feelings of separation anxiety, the CPS caseworker will work to make sure that training is available and received by the family. This is a significant gap in knowledge that the family needs to remedy immediately. In addition, caseworkers will frequently consider holding meetings with you and the foster family to make sure that you all have an opportunity to build a relationship. Some foster families are more flexible than others when it comes to the “disruptions” that come along with visitation with parents and foster children. Your child's foster family should be aware that these visitations can and will happen at abnormal times depending on the schedule of your child, your child's foster family and you. In some instances, however, the foster family will be less flexible than you or CPS would like. They may even become resistant to working with you all to facilitate the visits. What can be done if this happens in your situation? CPS will meet with the foster family to determine the cause of the issue regarding visitation problems. Is your child expressing negative emotions about visiting with you that he has not made known to you or to CPS? Or is the foster family needing to be trained to better understand what the goal of your case is? Whatever additional support that the foster family needs to make sure visitation occurs without a hitch, that will be provided to them. What happens if you are incarcerated for all or a part of the CPS investigation? Spring TX Divorce Lawyer: If you are in jail or prison for at least a portion of the CPS investigation, then you will need special arrangements set up in order to help facilitate your visitation with your child. In some instances, you may even be incarcerated due to issues related to the abuse of your child. The impact of any contact that you have with your child as a result of this incarceration will need to be looked at in greater detail. Typically, a therapist or child counselor will assess the situation and will make recommendations to CPS after meeting with your child and their caseworker. Before you are prescribed any visitation, those recommendations will need to be addressed. Next, we will need to consider what the goal of your CPS case is. There are goals that range from the reunification of your child with you in your home, permanent placement of your child with a relative, permanent placement with the Department of Family and Protective Services (foster care) and adoption. If the goal of your case is to reunify you with your child in your home once you are no longer in prison then every effort should be made to allow you to have visitation with your child. How will that visitation occur while you are in prison? Some people have concerns about their child visiting the prison to visit with you. However, the experience of most people in prison is that it is not as grim and violent as you may have been led to believe that it would be. On the contrary, many prisoners visit with the family on a regular basis while they are behind bars. Consider the fact that if your child is initially apprehensive about visiting with you in prison that it may just take one visit to put him into a different mindset. The future of your relationship can depend on it. What sort of visitation planning occurs if you are incarcerated? First, the prison where you are staying will need to be contacted to speak to the administration about what procedures and arrangements are in place to help get the process started. Your child's foster family and the CPS caseworker will speak to your child about the extent of the contact you will be able to have with him or her. What sort of information is able to be shared with your child is an important consideration in this regard. Work with CPS to prepare your child as best as possible prior to their first visit. Your child should know ahead of time, for example, that it is probable that he will only be able to see you in a small room in the jail where there will not be toys or games or friendly reminders of home. It will feel like you all are visiting one another in jail. If this does not seem like the most hospitable place in the world for a visitation session to occur you would be right. Sometimes you will be in a larger room where there will be multiple families with children, extended family, etc. In other instances, your child may be able to talk to you face to face but contact will not be allowed between the two of you. What you need to find out is whether or not your child can bring you things like mail, food, gifts or things like school artwork. Depending on where you are staying that may be contraband and not allowed. How does family violence work within this process? Spring Divorce Lawyer: If your child was removed from your home and out of your custody due to concerns regarding family violence then an assessment will be done by CPS in order to determine how your child experienced that violence and what its impact has been on him. Children experience traumatic events in different ways. It cannot be assumed that your child will experience these situations in the same way that another child would. Furthermore, our expectation as adults of how a child will experience trauma will like to differ a great deal from how we would experience trauma as adults. A determine will need to be made as far as what safety concerns and other steps that need to be taken in order to put your home in a safe condition prior to visitation re-starting. Drop off and pick up locations that are removed from your house are just a few of the ways that you may be able to mitigate future risks of harm to your kids ... Continue Reading If you have need a best suitable service your Child Law experience, What will CPS be keeping an eye on regarding your parent-child visitation sessions? with the great process!
Family Law Lawyer Houston: Unfortunately, some parents do not take advantage of the time that is made available to them in Child Protective Services (CPS) investigations. I don’t necessarily mean that these parents do not show up to the visitation location to see their children (though this does happen). What I am talking about is parents who engage in behavior that is inappropriate or disruptive to the environment that is hosting the visit. This is something that is frustrating for all parties involved and is avoidable in most circumstances. If you are reading this blog post and are going through a CPS investigation of your own then you will want to avoid putting yourself into a situation like this. Sometimes we can’t help the way that we experience emotions regarding our children. As a parent, I know that I will feel a range of emotions on a daily basis in regard to my children. I can say that not even having gone through the difficulties that you and your family are with a difficult CPS case. The purpose of today's blog post from the Law Office of Bryan Fagan is to share with you how to manage your emotions, those of your children and the expectations that you have surrounding visitation with your child during a CPS case. If you've been reading our blog this week then you will know that many visitation sessions in your case will be supervised. Your interactions with your child are being watched by CPS and judged on whether or not they are appropriate. Avoiding mistakes in behavior and interacting "appropriately" can be the difference between a long and relatively short CPS case. What concerns are you likely to have while visiting with your child in a CPS case? The CPS caseworker assigned to work with you and your family will be looking into whatever concerns that you have on an individual level and the emotions that you have that are underlying those concerns. Do not get into battles over time and affection with your child’s other parent Many times parents will look at a CPS case as an opportunity to get into a competition for the time and affection of their child. If your ex-spouse is unrelated to the case other than having your child involved, he may see this an opportunity to attempt to win more time with your child once your case is done. On the other hand, you may look at this time as an opportunity to rebuild your relationship with your child and will do everything you can to prevent your ex-spouse from seeing your child. Regardless of what your particular situation is, the CPS caseworker will be keeping an eye out for behavior like this from you or from your child’s other parent. Their goal is to promote the parent-child relationship between you and your child, as well as between your child and their other parent. Remember that CPS’ main goal in the case is to put your child into whatever situation allows for their growth and maturity while keeping them as safe as possible from any risk of harm. CPS will want you and your child’s other parent to take as much responsibility as is allowable under the circumstances as far as decision making for your child is concerned. If your child is in foster care then that means that you will not be in a position to care for your child as much as you may like, but you will still retain some decision-making capabilities. However, you should be cautious to not put yourself into a position where you are having to justify unnecessary behavior in regard to your child and “competing” for their time and affection. Maintain your sobriety Kingwood Divorce Attorney: Part of your CPS case will have an emphasis on sobriety if that is determined to be an issue for you in relation to your child and keeping him/her safe from harm. No parent can protect their child at all times, but if you are intoxicated due to your having consumed drugs or alcohol that puts you at a severe disadvantage as far as being able to keep a watchful eye out for your children. If you are allowing other drug users in your home that only adds to the level of danger that you are putting your child into. With all of that said, you will need to maintain sobriety. Now, from what I have seen it isn’t as if CPS will simply tell you not to drink alcohol or do drugs and then leave you to your own devices to figure out how to do that. Most of the time you will be given an opportunity to attend counseling, therapy, Alcoholics Anonymous and other group sessions that will allow you to work on your sobriety in a team environment. If you are suspected of using drugs and/or alcohol before or after a visit with your child you will likely see that your visitation with your child becomes even more restricted. Additionally, you may see that CPS brings in professionals who work with addicts in order to help modify your behavior and see to it that your visitation sessions go on without any unnecessary hardships due to your addictive behavior. Anxious about visiting with your child? If you are feeling a great deal of anxiety surrounding the first few visitation opportunities with your child, you should know that you are not alone in feeling this way. Many parents who are in your shoes enter into a case feeling the same exact way. How you interact with your child in a supervised visitation setting can be quite a bit different than how you would if you were at home. You will need to learn how to manage your emotions and to interact with your child in a setting that is unfamiliar to you. Work with your CPS caseworker before the first visitation session in order to learn what is and what is not appropriate behavior in their eyes. You can seek an appointment with the caseworker to talk about this subject in person so that you have their full attention. A lot of times on the phone you will feel like you cannot ask all the questions you want or receive the feedback you need in order to know how to proceed. Simply call your caseworker or supervisor and ask to speak to him or her in person for a minute. Planning and coaching you through this step in the CPS case is part of what CPS does. You may have completely different expectations for how these visits will go than the CPS caseworker will. The thing to keep in mind is that the CPS worker has been through many of these cases before whereas you likely have not. While you may not see eye to eye with the CPS caseworker you should remember that their experience trumps your feelings as far as how the visitation sessions will go. You are likely not going to get 100% of what you want out of the visitation sessions. Your best bet is to take advantage of the time, play by their rules and work on the skills you need to improve in order to have your child returned home with you. Do not miss the visitation sessions if at all possible The Woodlands Divorce Attorney: If you can do anything to avoid missing a visitation session you should do so. Transportation issues, sickness, work issues, family issues and a host of other problems can come up that could potentially sidetrack a visitation session. This is unfortunate, yet understandable. However, if it becomes habitual that you are missing visitation sessions then the CPS caseworker will likely seek out some time to discuss that issue with you. It may just be that you need to more seriously prioritize this time with your child. It could be that you have to travel a great distance to visit with your child. If that is the case then a location closer to your home may be sought. Whatever the case may be, work closely with the CPS employees that are provided to you in order so that you do not miss a single visitation session. If you are experiencing extreme difficulties in making the visits be sure to share that information with the CPS caseworker. They may be able to help you adjust something to make the visits more manageable. Finally, if you are going to miss a visit with your child then you need to contact CPS as soon as possible to let them know. The same can be said if you anticipate being late for an appointment. How will CPS approach placing your children into foster care? The decision to remove your children from your home is not one that is easily reached by CPS. Despite what other people have told you, CPS is not eager to remove your children from your care. Doing so places a tremendous responsibility on the state to care for your children on a day to day basis. The cost and level of care necessary to meet that responsibility can be difficult for the state to meet. You were likely very upset when your child was removed from your home. I think just about any parent out there who is reading this blog post would feel the exact same way. A mix of emotions- anger, shame, frustration, sadness- are the first that come to my mind when considering how I would feel as a parent were I in that position. Your children are likely feeling a range of emotions that are not dissimilar to your own. Keep that in mind as you begin the visitation process after their removal. If your children are placed into foster care then those foster parents will need to begin to build a relationship with your child. After all, those folks are taking your place in many ways as far as raising your children and keeping them safe. Their job is not to replace you and your spouse but to stand in on a temporary basis on your behalf while you work on securing your home and building strong parenting skills. CPS will be guiding the foster family through this process. It isn’t as if the agency tosses your kids to a strange family and then leaves them to their own devices. On the contrary, the CPS caseworker has methods and tricks at their disposal to help this family learn how to take care of your child in the best manner possible. The foster family will understand how important your relationship is with your child. Odds are decent that the foster family will have other children in the house besides your kids. CPS will look to make sure that the foster family is doing everything it can to encourage your children to enjoy their time with you and to build a good relationship with you. The basis of this process is that the foster family will need to understand that they are not in that position to take on the permanent responsibility of raising your kids. They are placeholders. An important placeholder, but a placeholder nonetheless. Their job is in part to do what it can to help with the ultimate goal of your CPS case, which is likely reunification of your child with you in your home. More on foster families and CPS cases in tomorrow’s blog post Spring Divorce Lawyers: If you would like to learn more about the role of foster families in CPS cases then please do not hesitate to contact the Law Office of Bryan Fagan. Our licensed family law attorneys work on behalf of clients across southeast Texas and do so with a great deal of pride. We have achieved superior results for our clients across the state by focusing on client goals and working tirelessly to help achieve those goals. A consultation with one of our licensed family law attorneys is free of charge. Please contact us today to set up a consultation where you can receive direct feedback about your case and where you can learn more about our office and the services we offer clients ... Continue Reading |
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December 2018
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