	Child Protective Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

CPS 10: Removing Children from the Home

When a child cannot safely remain at home, the child is removed from the home, and the child and family are prepared for the transition.

NA The organization only provides Child Protective Case Management Services.

CPS 10.01

When a child cannot safely remain at home, the organization collaborates with parents to establish a voluntary agreement, or otherwise petitions a court of proper jurisdiction, to obtain appropriate care.

Interpretation: The process for removing an Indian child from the home must meet requirements outlined in the Indian Child Welfare Act.

Note: The removal of a child can aggravate a domestic violence situation. The service provider should follow the organization’s domestic violence protocol and coordinate the child’s removal with the domestic violence unit or specialist, whenever possible.

Research Note: The Indian Child Welfare Act requires that, prior to removing an Indian child from the home, the state must be able to demonstrate to the court that active efforts have been made to prevent removal and that all efforts have been unsuccessful. The Act also requires that a qualified witness testify that serious emotional or physical harm would likely occur if the parent were to maintain custody of the child.

Research Note: Voluntary consent to a foster care placement is not valid unless it complies with specific procedural requirements outlined in the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), including that the consent be in writing, recorded before a judge, and accompanied by a certificate authenticating that the terms and consequences of voluntary removal were fully explained and understood. Parents of Indian children should be informed of their right, under ICWA, to withdraw consent and the process and timeframes for doing so.

CPS 10.02

A professional with two years of related experience and an advanced degree in social work, or another comparable clinical human services profession, is involved in the decision to remove a child from the home.

Interpretation: When the case involves an Indian child, the organization should collaborate with the tribe to ensure compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act.

CPS 10.03

The organization minimizes the negative effects removal can have on a child by:

providing age- and culturally- appropriate information about the removal process;
identifying personal items the child will bring;
collecting information about the child’s daily routine, preferred foods and activities, needed therapeutic or medical care, cultural practices,and education;
ensuring proper notification is sent to all adult grandparents and other adult relatives explaining the options and requirements related to their participation in the care and placement of the child;
discussing how the child can maintain contact with the family and cultural or tribal community; and
discussing separation and loss.

Interpretation: Personnel should ensure needed medication and medical equipment accompany the child or are obtained. When the child requires medication personnel should follow procedures regarding the storage and administration of medication.

Research Note: Contact with tribal relatives is commonly practiced among tribal communities and is believed to support the child’s cultural identity and an improved sense of belonging.

CPS 10.04

The organization minimizes the negative effects a removal can have on the family by:

discussing how the family can maintain contact with the child;
providing information about the removal process;
discussing separation and loss with the parents and siblings remaining in the home;
identifying available cultural supports and resources; and
addressing needs related to domestic violence, substance use, or mental illness.

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	PURPOSE: Child Protective Services protect children from abuse and neglect and increase child well-being and family stability.

RELATED FILES


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."


	CASE A general term used to designate clients (including individuals, families, and groups) served by an organization for purposes of monitoring the provision of services. A foster care case is generally based on the placement of an individual child, although casework for the child may include services to the child's family. A child protective services case is based on an entire family household if a family assessment model is used; otherwise a case is defined as a child.


	PARENTS Parents can include: birth, foster, kinship, and adoptive parents. Please see service standards for more specific information about use of this term.


	INDIAN CHILD As defined in the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), "Any unmarried person who is under age eighteen and is either (a) a member of an Indian tribe or (b) eligible for membership in an Indian tribe and is the biological child of a member of an Indian tribe." For purposes of compliance with ICWA, the definition provided in the Act shall apply. For purposes of access to services and resources, other more inclusive definitions may apply (e.g. Indian Education Act, tribal definitions, etc.).


	CUSTODY The care, control, and maintenance of a child. The court legally can award custody to an agency in abuse and neglect cases or to parents in divorce, separation, or adoption proceedings. Child welfare departments retain legal custody and control of major decisions for a child in foster care; foster parents do not have legal custody of the children for which they provide care.


	ADVANCED DEGREE A degree at the Master's level or beyond from an institution of higher education. An advanced degree does not include a Bachelor's degree, an associate's degree, or an educational certificate.


	SOCIAL WORK Professionally responsible interventions carried out by persons with formal, professional education at the BSW or MSW level from an accredited school of social work and appropriate licensing, certification, and registration credentials. Interventions are directed toward improving the transactions between people and environments to enhance the adaptive capacities of the participants and improve environments for all that function within them. Social work is a professional practice with a consumer group consisting of individuals, families, small groups, organizations, neighborhoods, and communities and involving the disciplined application of knowledge and skill.


	CLINICAL The study, assessment, and diagnosis of the client situation followed by direct treatment to help the client achieve prescribed goals.


	HUMAN SERVICES Programs designed to address individual and group development and well-being in addition to conditions that impact individuals and groups including: aging, delinquency and crime, child welfare, poverty, housing, education, employment, mental health, physical health, substance abuse, and developmental disabilities.


	MANAGEMENT See ADMINISTRATION


	MEDICATION A prescribed or over-the-counter drug that is injected, taken orally, applied topically, or otherwise administered.


	PERSONNEL The body of employees and/or volunteers that carries out the organization's tasks under the organization's administration and/or supervision. This definition does not include foster parents who are specifically referenced in relevant standards


	ADMINISTRATION The personnel responsible for management functions of the organization, including fiscal management, human resources, and service delivery. Such personnel determine organizational goals, acquire and allocate resources to carry out a program, coordinate activities toward goal achievement, and monitor, evaluate, and make needed changes in processes and procedures to improve the likelihood of goal achievement. The term is synonymously used with MANAGEMENT.