How Do Families Experience and Interact with CPS?

• DOI: 10.1177/0002716220979520
• Date: 01 November 2020
• Published date: 01 November 2020
• Author: Darcey H. Merritt

ANNALS, AAPSS, 692, November 2020 203

DOI: 10.1177/0002716220979520

How Do

Families

Experience and

Interact with

CPS?

By

DARCEY H. MERRITT

979520ANN The Annals Of The American AcademyHow do families experience and interact with cps?

research-article2020

The lived experiences of child protective services

(CPS)–involved parents is rarely considered from a

social justice perspective. Parents and children endure

the oversight of the child welfare system in myriad

ways, and these experiences usually vary based on race,

ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. This article explores

how CPS interactions affect family dynamics and well-

being and how family members view their experiences

with CPS, including their sense of autonomy and

empowerment. I focus on the inherent power dynamics

between CPS workers and parents, race and ethnicity,

and family. I highlight the perspectives of parents and

their intended (rather than unintentional) parental

behaviors (e.g., providing healthy food choices) to

understand ways in which their socioecological contexts

impact the well-being of their children. I report results

of a pilot study designed to enhance the voices of par-

ents in the literature and provide recommendations for

policy and practice that inform innovative solutions to

better support CPS-involved families.

Keywords: child welfare system; parents’ perspectives;

child protective services processes; minority

child; welfare families; low-income child

Research has documented few accounts of

the child welfare system from the perspec-

tives of families involved in the system. Child

protective services (CPS) is the “front-end” of

the child welfare system, where reports of abuse

and neglect are processed, maltreatment investi-

gations occur, and decisions about opening an

ongoing case are made. CPS is inherently coer-

cive, as family participation is usually compul-

sory or, at best, strongly encouraged, with the

Darcey H. Merritt is an associate professor at NYU

Silver School of Social Work. She studies parenting in

socioeconomic context, considering the impact of work-

ing memory on parental decision-making. She provides

empirical and meaningful knowledge to bolster the

well-being of children and families, through contribut-

ing their voices to the discussion of child maltreatment

prevention methods.

Correspondence: Darcey.merritt@nyu.edu

204 THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY

explicit or implicit threat of significant consequences, including removal of one’s

child from the home. Given the high stakes for CPS-involved families, we must

understand their experiences with this system and the ways in which they view it as

helpful or harmful. Yet very little in the literature has explored how families view

their CPS experiences and how their interactions with CPS impact their family

dynamics, well-being, and sense of autonomy and empowerment.

This article highlights the experiences of families and discusses the ways in

which schools work with the child welfare system to initiate families’ involvement

with CPS, sometimes in ways that can be detrimental to family well-being. I

describe and discuss the process of interacting with CPS, with attention to the

inherent power dynamics between CPS workers and parents, race and ethnicity,

and family context. Family context has great variation, a sampling of which

includes family composition (e.g., number of children, parents), family member

relationships, safe home environments, resource rich learning materials in the

home, pervasive food insecurities, substance use, and emotional/mental health

challenges or strengths.

I present a nuanced approach to understanding the experiences of these fami-

lies, an approach that considers parental intentions and perspectives. I present

results of a pilot study specifically designed to assess parental perspectives

regarding CPS involvement to bolster their lived experiences and add their voices

to the literature. Finally, I discuss future steps and recommendations for policy

and practice in an effort to move the conversation forward and adopt innovative

solutions that better support CPS-involved families, considering their often-

challenging circumstances.

The Impact of CPS

The United States has a storied history of discrimination, which continues to

manifest in structurally oppressive systems, including in many of our social and

human service agencies. Despite good intentions to protect children from harm,

the child welfare system is not an exception (Kriz and Skivenes 2011; Mixon-

Mitchell and Hanna 2017). Most parents consider their families to be sacredly

private and immune from oversight and intrusive judgment. But CPS services are

based on protocols designed by those in positions of power and privilege who

have not likely been subjected to authoritative involvement in their families and

may not have considered the impact of CPS on traditionally vulnerable popula-

tions, such as those who have repeatedly suffered from disenfranchisement, rac-

ism, and other forms of oppression. CPS services are inherently accusatorial, as

they are primarily initiated as a result of judgments about parenting efforts and

practices, made by authorities outside of family systems, such as educational

personnel (21 percent) and law professionals (19 percent) (U.S. Department of

Health & Human Services [USDHHS] 2020). Child welfare professionals have

the power to deem parenting appropriate or inappropriate, guided by state stat-

utes and system policies, but such judgements come with implicit biases at all