Major CPS Reforms
During the 85th Texas Legislature, the Family Freedom Project (FFP) passed 9 major CPS reforms collectively known as the Parent-Child Protection Act.
The Parent-Child Protection Act protects parental rights and families from unnecessary and harmful investigations and removals by clarifying the standards that must be met before a child is removed from his or her home.
The Act also closes loopholes in current law that allowed investigators to bypass deadlines and other necessary mandates without specific measures of accountability.
Finally, the Act provides additional protections to families and parents by reforming the legal procedure to allow families sufficient time to form an effective defense while maintaining their presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
Specific reforms passed includes:
- Enforcing the current one-year deadline on CPS cases.
- Preventing CPS from removing a child based on the parents decision to home school or decline a vaccination.
- Requiring that all cases involving the same children and the same CPS incident be heard by the same court.