Lawyers Manual - Unified Court System

84 Jill M. Zuccardy
children safe. The Court in Nicholson recognized the myriad factors that a
battered mother must consider in planning for her safety, dispelling some of the
myths about what a battered mother “should have done.”
The CPS Investigation
There are two ways that a battered mother may come to the attention of a
child protective services agency (CPS). In some jurisdictions, the Family Court
will institute a court-ordered investigation as part of a custody, visitation or
family offense case. The role of the CPS caseworker is to collect information
and issue a report to the court.
More typically, a battered mother comes to CPS attention through a complaint
made to the SCR. Mandated reporting to the SCR is not triggered merely because
a child has witnessed domestic violence13 and, if such a report is made, the SCR
should not accept the complaint. When the complaint is accepted, it is sent to
the local CPS office for investigation. CPS must commence its investigation
within 24 hours and make face-to-face contact with the child, parent and other
household members. 14 The extent of that contact may depend upon the severity
of the allegations and safety information in the complaint. CPS caseworkers must
offer services to the family, but they also must inform parents that they are not
required to participate in services unless they are ordered to do so by a court. 15
CPS has 60 days to complete its investigation. At the conclusion of the
investigation, CPS marks the report “indicated” or “unfounded” and notifies each
subject of the report of the outcome. A finding of indicated means that CPS has
determined that “some credible evidence of the alleged abuse or maltreatment
exists.” 16 The record of an indicated report remains at the SCR until ten years
after the eighteenth birthday of the youngest child named in the report.
If the case is indicated against the battered mother, the attorney should
immediately send a letter to the SCR requesting a copy of the documents on file
with the SCR and administrative review of the determination. The letter also
should request a fair hearing if the determination is not reversed at administrative
review. The attorney also should request a copy of the mother’s file from the local
CPS to obtain the details of the investigation. In both instances, an authorization for
the release of the records must be attached. If the attorney cannot represent the
mother in a fair hearing, the attorney should help the mother file her request pro se.