Lesson Three - CPS Response

• What is CPS?
• Criteria
• CPS Response
• Categories
• Investigation
• Latchkey Children
• CC Partnership
• Creating Policies
• Family Court

CPS Response. What happens after the case has been accepted?

The CPS program responsibility encompasses and is structured around three primary functions: Intake, Field Investigation, and Service Provision and Intervention.

The Intake process begins with the receipt of the initial child abuse/neglect complaint and is completed when a determination is made to:

1. refer the complaint to law enforcement, another jurisdiction, agency, county or to a worker who already has an active family case.
2. assign for field investigation. (A preliminary investigation may precede assignment for field investigation, if the complaint requires clarification)
3. reject the complaint because the allegations do not meet the statutory definition of child abuse and neglect and the complaint is NOT appropriate for referral to other agency.

The Field Investigation is an intense, time-limited process of gathering and evaluating information in order to assess the level of current safety and future risk to a child and to reach a disposition regarding the complaint allegations. The Agency must begin an investigation or refer to the prosecutor for investigation by law enforcement within 24 hours of receipt of a complaint. During the CPS investigation process, CPS must obtain available information regarding the child's extended family system and resources. The overall investigation function must be completed and a disposition made within 30 calendar days of the receipt of a complaint.

If a preponderance of evidence of child abuse or neglect is confirmed during the field investigation, the worker must also complete a risk assessment to determine whether the family fits into category III, category II, or category I. If a complaint is classified as category II or I, the name of the perpetrator must be entered on the central registry.

Service Provision and Intervention includes a structured decision-making process when a complaint of abuse or neglect is confirmed as category III, II or I. The risk, needs, and strengths assessment provides a valid and reliable way of uniformly working with families to assess risk, needs, and strengths when these dispositions are reached, and thereafter, to regularly measure case progress.

Source: Michigan Family Independence Agency Children’s Protection Services Manual, Sections 711-1  

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