The Picture of Texas

Throughout the State Plan process, key systems emerged as standing at a critical juncture in a survivor’s life with the ability to provide lifesaving support or inadvertently causing disassociation for future help-seeking. Chief among those is Child Protective Services (CPS) within the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS). Data from DFPS indicates that statewide 29.10% of DFPS cases have a family violence indication. State Plan research further showed that more than 10% of all survivors in the study needed assistance with a CPS case, but did not receive any. Qualitative research showed that survivors felt that CPS investigators would not take their reports of the offender’s abusive behavior seriously or in some instances that CPS would be used as a tool by the abusive partner, “CPS, he also went for CPS. He called CPS on me! That’s why I can’t have the kids, either!”

At the same time, the majority of family violence centers reported providing some range of support to survivors involved in the CPS system, including 85% providing education about the CPS system to 40% offering more intensive support, such as attending a CPS family group. Recent efforts to build innovative responses that acknowledge the power and control dynamics present in the home of a victim of family violence, such as Alternative Response efforts, are also key in shifting the landscape to acknowledge the strength and protective nature of the survivor of family violence as a parent. To learn more about Alternative Response, head to this link.

Opening doors to help and support for family violence survivors takes all systems standing together in a shared vision of a safe home for a protective parent and their family. Efforts to train Child Protective Service staff on family violence should be bolstered, as well as focusing training on resource referrals. Survivors interacting with CPS staff should be offered resources and support tailored to their needs, including, whenever possible, system coordination with family violence centers. This coordination is best accomplished when family violence centers and CPS work together and build collaborative models with clearly delineated roles with a jointfocus on systems change to promote safer families.