The Department of  Child Protective Services  is negatively affecting families nationwide, as they frequently seek to detain children for reasons that should not be deemed credible. There is no reason for workers to exercise such extreme measures upon families who genuinely love their children. They have no accountability to any agency or higher level of government. Some of the workers are not qualified to make such important decisions due to the lack of both education and experience. It should be a requirement for workers to pass some form of training program before being thrown into the field. Family preservation is said to be their main focus in dependency cases. However, with no specific person or agency overseeing them, this sometimes is not the case.

     During the course of the investigation and during family reunification, workers put together reports for the judge with their recommendations; the content of these reports has a great influence over the judge's decision. Seldomly is anything on the reports verified by a third party. As a result, claims in the reports are assumed to be true and are used to hold parents and guardians accountable for allegations, sometimes even despite there being no physical evidence whatsoever. This is being allowed because the Department of Children and Family Services has its dependency hearings in its own court houses rather than in the superior courts of the counties where they operate.  

     When parents feel they are being treated unfairly or wish to refute any of the allegations they are being accused of, there is no third party in which the parents can seek assistance or in which they can file a complaint against the Department of Children and Family Services without feeling that they may then become victims of retaliation. The cost in most situations is not an item of material value, rather their flesh and blood; their children. 

    In the United States, parental rights are considered to be a fundamental right. A right that is protected by the constitution of this great country. However, with no accountability for their actions from an overseer, CPS sometimes both intentionally and unintentionally abuses its power over families. The trauma that this causes, not only to the family involved but also society as a whole, is enormous beyond a doubt as it leaves entire families distraught as well as children that are faced with lifelong emotional and mental disorders that sometimes never go away. As a result, many people affected are burdened with trauma related depression as well as attachment, trust and anxiety disorders that affect their ability to be well functioning members of society.

     Breaking up the family’s unit is a threat to not only the family involved, but a menace to the very foundations of society itself,” and so I propose that there be an agency created with members who are voted in by the people, and who have the duty to oversee the Department of Children and Family Services. Members of this agency are to give monthly public addresses to the people, which follow up with any positive progress from the department and share ways in which the department helped families stay together. This agency will also have an agenda pertaining to followup visits via telephone, email, or in person visits, to any and every client of the department. In addition, a survey should be completed during these follow ups. During this survey the clients (parents) will be asked general questions such as the overall satisfaction from their experience interacting with the social workers of the department, if the department is doing anything to help meet the family’s goals, if there are any complaints about the departments actions or inactions, and any feedback on their behavior and engagement with the family unit. 

    The agency should also review reports prepared by the workers about each and every case they are involved in, and these reports should be verified by the third party to ensure the accuracy of workers claims. There should also be an investigation following up every complaint against the department. This investigation should include disciplinary action for any employee giving false testimony against a client, as well as disciplinary action for the department as a whole. The department and its social workers should be held accountable for any violation of the fundamental rights of a parent or guardian over their child.

     Adoption in general has been proven to have more negative effects on both child and family (both biological and adoptive) that it should be a last resort. Yet most of the time it is instead put first over the preservation of a family. A broken home will eventually grow into a broken society. We must do all we can to ensure that the department of children and family services is practicing within their own said claims of operation; and they are focused on preserving families first and foremost, and only leaning toward adoption when it is absolutely necessary.