When Oregon Child Protective Services issues a safety plan for an individual, must they follow the standards and procedures laid out by ORS 409.185? In particular, 2.H that says "In all cases of child abuse for which an investigation is conducted, the department shall provide a childs parent, guardian or caregiver with a clear written explanation of the investigation process, ... related to the abuse investigation."
In other words, can CPS simply tell you to stay away from a child (yours or someone else's) without reason or documentation, pre-court order?
The law you are citing starts off: The Director of Human Services shall oversee the development of standards and procedures for assessment, investigation and enforcement of child protective services. This means that this statute is more of a general guideline and the Director of Human services is being given power by this statute to draft and promulgate administrative rules. The rest of the statute gives additional guidelines. Overall it is supposed to be general guidance not exact procedure. You need to read the administrative rules (OAR) that cover these proceedings for more exact knowledge of the rules that apply.
While you are right that there is a general guideline in H which states: In all cases of child abuse for which an investigation is conducted, the department shall provide a childs parent, guardian or caregiver with a clear written explanation of the investigation process, the court hearing process and the rights of the parent, guardian or caregiver in the abuse investigation and in the court proceedings related to the abuse investigation.
the fact that this directive appears doesn't mean we know at what point this information is going to be given. Also it is really about discussing the process - it doesn't state that the explanation has to have any detail about the particular case. So you could get a piece of paper that says something like this is how these cases are processed, there is an investigation then if merited there is a court proceeding and you have the right to appear, get an attorney, etc. So the clause appears to be only talking about giving general info to the parent or guardian about how the process is conducted and not really aimed at turning over the details of the investigation and findings which is what I assume you are after.
So back to the original issue of being told to stay away from your child. I have had this come up and my client was told to stay away from his son pending a cares report. He couldn't see his son for about a week. I called the CPS worker and made sure that the process was moving ahead as quickly as possible. When the Cares report was done, my client was exhonerated and could resume contact with the son, but the son had some real problems and this process resulted in making both parents aware that the son needed professional mental health assistance and both parents began working together to get the son the help he needed.
The no-contact prohibition is to protect the child if there is a suspicion of abuse. It may or may not be backed by a specific law or procedure but as the CPS worked explained to me it was either that or the take the child into protective custody and place the child in a foster home until their investigation is done, which they do have the power to do - so the temporary no contact order was the better choice and we went along with it.
Like you I have some concerns about the CPS workers making up procedure as they go but I think they have the court's on their side because whenever there is a chance that a suspicion of abuse could be true - the courts will make orders to keep the alleged abuser away from the child until there can be an investigation and judicial determination. If you know that the allegations are false the best thing to do is let it play out and cooperate. But it is also very very wise to get legal counsel because there is no guarantee that the investigation will end and you will be absolved. You could be facing criminal prosecution if they still think you are implicated in something.
In practice, they often do. CPS procedures often tend to be a bit ad hoc. You mis-quote the law. That section relates to the obligation of DHS to publish explanatory materials and to inform parents of their rights, nothing more.
Think about this: Supposing someone here said "No, they can't do that!" Would someone saying that - here, on the internet - solve your problem? Of course not. You would still need to go to court and have a judge make a ruling.
The point is, if you're in a conflict with child protective services, you need a lawyer. If you're a parent who's facing a termination of parental rights, you have the right to be appointed a lawyer at state expense. Otherwise, you will need to retain private counsel, if this is something you want to fight. Without more information on the situation, it's impossible to say more. DO NOT take that as an invitation to write a detailed story here. You shouldn't post private information about your case online, here or elsewhere. The internet is not nearly as anonymous as most people think. Talk to an attorney in private.
It is also common for caseworkers to imply that they have authority that they do not actually possess. In my experience many child welfare caseworkers do not follow the restrictions required by state and federal law. There are limits on the government's authority to separate parents from their children. How you assert your rights needs to be handled in an extremely careful manner. Don't get bullied.You need to speak to a juvenile law attorney immediately.
If DHS is ordering you to stay away from someone else's child, then that complicates the situation a little bit further. If that's the case your attorney should carefully examine and consider what standing, if any, you have to object to DHS's actions. You may or may not have standing as a psychological parent, intervenor, or non-party with rights of limited participation. Each case is different.
