Q: How to get legal help for Child custody when CPS is doing nothing?
Child is being neglected by the mother and CPS will not do anything. Child and mother live in Texas and the custody case is in Tarrant county.The mother's home is not clean we have pictures. The Child has reported to many family members that he only gets one meal a day and that laundry soap is not provide for him to wash his clothes. When he came to our home his shoes were falling apart. He and his clothes smelled like cat or dog pee. His older brother can testify to past and current abuse happen both mentally and physically. Picture that we have at the current condition of the home have been shown to CPS.
A:
You should retain an attorney who practices in the area of family law in or near Tarrant County to file a custody lawsuit. If reports of abuse or neglect have been made by someone other than you or your family members, you should subpoena records from CPS to use in your custody case and try to identify the individuals who made those reports to testify for you as a witness.
You and your family members should not make any reports to CPS as that likely will be perceived as parental alienation. Many parents report their exes to CPS, often for petty reasons, to get them in trouble. As the other parent, it is your job to protect the child from his mother's abuse or neglect. CPS usually takes action when both parents are abusing or neglecting a child or when one is and the other parent fails to take action to protect the child. In those situations, the State has an interest in terminating both parents' rights and placing the child for adoption with adopted or foster parents who will not abuse or neglect him and who will protect him from others doing so.
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