Family Law Blog

Texas Court of Appeals holds that foster parents may intervene in ongoing CPS litigation prior to twelve months under certain circumstances. 

Under certain circumstances, a foster parent may intervene in a CPS case before twelve months. The statutory and case law provisions that govern a foster parent’s ability to intervene in ongoing CPS litigation are complicated. There are many misconceptions about this based upon lawyers and non-lawyers alike oversimplifying the statutory provisions. 

In some circumstances, the foster parents know the child better than anyone else, and the foster parent’s intervention in the CPS case is necessary in order for the court to hear all of the facts and be able to determine what is in the ...

A CPS case has a twelve-month deadline with several important hearings and conferences along the way. There are adversarial hearings, status review hearings, permanency review hearings, family group conferences, and permanency conferences. Each hearing or conference has specific statutory requirements that must be met by CPS or the court.

Ordinarily, the child must be returned to the parents, or the CPS case must end by some other manner, by the twelve-month deadline. The court may sometimes grant a six-month extension to a CPS case under extraordinary circumstances, at which ...

An ICPC Home Study gets its name from the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC), which has been adopted by the State of Texas. The ICPC governs how, when, and why a child may be placed across state lines. An ICPC Home Study is an assessment of the home of a prospective placement for the purposes of placing a child across state lines.

In the context of a CPS suit, an ICPC Home Study typically occurs when Texas identifies a family member that lives in another state and would like to have the child placed with them. The ICPC Home Study process is designed to be quick (less than 60 days ...

Intervening in CPS lawsuits is complicated. There are many scenarios and situations in which a relative or a foster parent may intervene in a CPS lawsuit—regardless of whether or not you have possession of the child.

Interventions are extremely dependent upon the facts and circumstances of a particular case. This is because of the complex nature of determining what is in the “best interest” of a child. Often times, the relatives or foster parents know the child better than anyone else, including the biological parents. Other times, the other parties in the courtroom do not have ...