Q: Can CPS in California take my kids under Welfare Code Sect. B 300(1) due to allegations, without conviction?

A: Yes, under California Welfare and Institutions Code § 300(b)(1), Child Protective Services (CPS) can detain children without a criminal conviction if the child is at substantial risk of serious physical harm due to the parent’s failure to protect. The court does not require a conviction—it requires credible evidence that the child is at risk.

Even occasional marijuana use, particularly in conjunction with allegations of a partner’s DUI or household instability, can be used by CPS to allege that you failed to protect your children. The focus is not on criminal guilt but on whether your actions—or inactions—placed the children in danger or in a home deemed unsafe.

If your partner is not the children's father, but he resides with you and has been accused of endangering behavior, the court will still hold you accountable for allowing exposure to that risk. The court evaluates your protective capacity, your willingness to separate from the source of danger, and your ability to provide a safe environment. If CPS believes these conditions are unmet, they can—and often do—remove the children even without any conviction.

The termination of parental rights requires a higher burden of proof than temporary removal, but your rights can be limited or lost based on ongoing findings of risk, instability, or neglect. You must present strong evidence of your sobriety, stable housing, protective behavior, and separation from any dangerous individuals. Immediate legal representation is essential to assert your rights and challenge CPS’s claims with clarity and strength.