So, you need to know what to do when CPS lies. It is a very tough position to be in — for a number of reasons. First and foremost, if you’re at the center of a CPS investigation, you could be at risk of losing custody of your children or even facing criminal charges. Second, you have very little power to fight against a government entity that refuses to tell the truth. That said, the situation is not completely hopeless. You do have options and you can seek out truthful information. So, let’s take a look at what to do when CPS lies.*Disclaimer: we are not lawyers and this article does not constitute legal advice. We only hope to provide you with tips to help you in the event that CPS is not telling the truth. If you are in need of legal aid related to an open CPS investigation, be sure to check out or free legal aid directory.
Why would CPS lie?
It’s important to remember that Child Protective Services (CPS) is a giant government entity that has distinct agencies in all 50 states. Sometimes paperwork gets misplaced and mistakes are made. This can make it seem as though CPS is lying when in reality it’s just a clerical error. However, there are many cases in which a CPS representative could lie.
The most common example is a caseworker making false or misleading claims in an official report. This can be extremely detrimental to you and the welfare of your family. For example, if a caseworker claims that they witnessed you behaving violently or erratically, it could convince the state to remove your children from your custody.
This begs the question: why would a CPS caseworker lie? The reasons can vary widely. Some caseworkers are more vigilant and aggressive in their pursuit of “justice,” even if that means stretching the truth. Alternatively, a caseworker may just not like you. They could decide that you deserve punishment for one reason or another, so they sprinkle a few false statements into their report.
Finally, it’s important to remember that there’s a big difference between a lie and a misstatement or a misunderstanding. In many cases, the truth can be somewhat subjective. The way you view a situation or an action can be completely different from the way a caseworker sees it. Thus, the statements in a report may differ from your experience of events that took place.
What to do when CPS lies: 4 actionable steps
Now that you have a better understanding of why CPS could lie, it’s time to learn about some actionable steps you can take to find out the truth and ensure that your name does not get dragged through the mud unjustly.
Contact a Supervisor
Just about every business or government agency has a chain of command; Child Protective Services is no different. If you find yourself on the phone with a stubborn or untruthful caseworker, simply ask to speak to a supervisor. Pleading your case to an authority figure at CPS can help you tell your side of the story. This way, the supervisor can act as an impartial judge of the situation and work to find out what lies may have been told. Plus, we’re sure you’d rather clear up any lies or misunderstandings with one phone call, as opposed to taking CPS to court.
Create a Declaration of Facts
A Declaration of Facts is an official document in which you state the facts of your case. If you’re making this in relation to an untruthful caseworker report, it’s important to address each lie or misrepresentation one by one. Keep it as brief as possible, without glossing over any important details. There’s a chance that a judge could end up reading your Declaration of Facts, so if you write a 30-page essay about your case, they may be less inclined to comb over every statement.
So, keep it simple. State who you are and how you’re related to anyone who is relevant to the case. Be sure to list your case name, case number, and the date your case was filed. Then, give simple, accurate statements about your case. When contradicting a statement made by your caseworker, make sure that you address any extenuating circumstances that could cause the caseworker to lie about a situation (no witnesses, a misunderstanding, etc). Finally, you must be extremely careful not to make any statements that could incriminate you.
File a Statement of Objections and Corrections
Once you’ve written down the facts of your case, you might want to take things a step further by filing what is known as a Statement of Objections and Corrections to the Report of the Social Worker. Rather than just writing down the facts from your perspective, this document copies the caseworker report line by line, with redactions or revisions of any false statements, fabrications, or misrepresentations in brackets.
This document generally carries more weight than a simple Declaration of Facts. As a result, you should usually file this kind of document with the help of an attorney (more on that later). In any case, a Statement of Objections and Corrections should be extremely thorough and organized. It is not an opportunity to make broad criticisms of your caseworker. Instead, this document should correct each and every lie made in the official report. For more information on creating a Statement of Objections and Corrections to the Report of the Social Worker, check out this link.
Hire an Attorney
The sad truth is that fighting CPS is an uphill battle. While you could theoretically sue CPS if the organization has infringed on your civil rights, you probably won’t have enough of a case to file a lawsuit based on misrepresentations or false statements. However, this doesn’t mean that there won’t be a legal battle. As a result, hiring an attorney is necessary in many cases.
The Bottom Line
You may have to plead your case to a judge if CPS wants to remove your children from your custody. Alternatively, if the state is filing criminal charges against you, you’ll need an attorney to help prove that CPS lied or misrepresented the original report. Fortunately, you don’t have to be rich to get a lawyer; you can seek out free legal aid in all 50 states to help you figure out what to do when CPS lies.
Thanks we need more ways to address our own issues in court
I do not know if it will help but have tried everything else. I have 3 grandkids that were being abused by my daughter in NY. I called CPS & they had me meet them with the kids, it was winter & I had to wait 20 minutes with toddlers in a truck. I told them I would grab the kids ice cream to keep them calm & they showed up. The kids told them what was happening. A case was opened. Over 80 hours of torture seesions were RECORDED by the downstairs neighbor. a Copy was given to the caseworker. Papers were filed in Court & the Judge would only take reports of alleged abuse from the CPS worker. The worker stated I had given them ice cream to lie about their mom! The report was made & time stamped photos were taken before the CPS report. When the 5 year old was thrown face first to thr ground, and had her teeth knocked out, the CPS worker told my daughter “You should take her to get that checked outsince she fell down”. I called each Supervisor, had multiple witnesses and documentation. The worker would set up appointments with the witnesses, then cancel. It is in writing. When my daughter was leaving the State with the kids, against the Judges Orders, I had it in writing that CPS was aware & filed it with the Judge. I went all the way up to the Senate level & nothing was done. WHen told to file National System Failure, there were 4 CPS cases open in 3 Counties & 2 States (Texas was the other). ALL cases closed that same week. In the final letter of the INDICATED case in NY, there is a lot of falsified information & proof of such. It also states that I gave the kids ice cream to lie. There has since been multiple CPS reports involvong further abuse & neglect of the children filed in Texas & nothing is done to protect any of the children involved. They were not even out of diapers when the 1st case was opened in Texas in 2018. My daughter fled to NY during that one & has managed to get away with it across the board.
Hello my name is Helen Robson and I’m from Memphis Tn and I need some help with getting my son back he was literally taken from me when he was 3 months old and the cps here in Dyersburg Tn literally lied a couple of times under oath I really would like to talk to someone about my situation. please I really need to get him back ???? ???? ????
Hi Helen. My heart breaks for you. Have you already spoken to a lawyer?
https://lowincomerelief.com/legal-aid/
Call the local television news reporter
@John, Indiana trashes people based on Money to be Gained. Your paycheck is deposited to DCS and family membership is carved out for a greater interest – Medicaid $. A decimated family of four making payments to the “court” is a permanent federal stream of cash with only a tiny portion ever seen by the victims. The poorer and more screwed up the family becomes, the bigger the cash flow from the federal government to state pockets. Don’t take it personal. Indiana has the highest DCS death rate for kids in the USA, and this will never change. At the other end of Indiana’s human carpetbagger spectrum, seniors on Medicaid are likewise neutered of community membership, shaken down for cash and given free walkers and rides to questionable medical appointments. The Medicaid-Medicare thieves stealing from hospitals and courts are doctors, therapists, pharmacists and even the occasional high school basketball coach. I know, I’ve been through it. At least 50% of my income was stolen standing up for kids.
Could somebody please contact me ASAP I need some help I’m desperate I’m torturing myself and it was so life shattering not just to me but my teenagers some people just listen to me you cannot have custody taken for making a mistake I relapsed and threw away three solid years of recovery from alcohol as well as drugs I had slipped up to to being in an abusive relationship I used one time and we have been battling this ever since my partner left custody for no reason they didn’t tell us why exactly there’s so many mscrepancies they did not announce themselves when coming into my home they snuck in with a Walmart order and they like they took my son as if it was 100% non preventable I was not given a chance to take a drug screen which is mandatory before he even taking a child they really really messed up and I need someone to help me please I’m pleading
Hi Shawnee. I’m so sorry. They can be incredibly unfair. Have you spoken to Legal Aid?
https://lowincomerelief.com/legal-aid/
@Sarah, This is horrible contact the media get the news involved get your story heard .
The initial caseworker…. Someone forged my signature on THREE release docs.
That really sounds like you may need legal advice. They should not have done that.
https://lowincomerelief.com/legal-aid/
@ J.R.
I contacted everyone up the chain all the way to the congress and congress responded by saying ” We are well aware of the problem but we do not handle that.” Well who does handle this issue I asked. I got no response. It seems that there is no gov agency with the power to hold these people accountable for their misdeeds that will actually step in and save innocent children and their families from being ripped away from eachother having to endure lifelong effects from the trauma they’ve endured due to the actions of CPS.
I had a similar experience with CPS. My children were placed in a home with a woman who was supposed to be single but had a live in boyfriend that wasn’t on the records who had an older son who was a child sexual predator. When my youngest daughter told me about what happened (in front of a visit monitor that sat through the entire visit but she didn’t write anything about it in her notes) my oldest daughter said ” You’re not supposed to tell Mommy remember, Cathy said she’d give us candy if we didn’t tell. ” I was furious and it took an extreme amount of doing to not totally lose it with the woman sitting through the visit, but I held it in for the fear of not being able to see my children again. After our visit I called my worker and she said ” She is just telling stories that aren’t true to get you to react. She’s got a really good imagination and she knows what to say to get you going.” I could not believe it! The people claiming that they protect children were FAILING to protect mine! So, I called and reported it to the ombudsman and the woman I spoke to seemed like she was going to do something about my children being abused in the foster home during our conversation. She told me she would call me back, so I felt like someone was going to put an end to the abusive CPS system. She called back a couple hours later and her entire attitude changed. She told me basically that children make up stories to get their parents attention and she didn’t believe that there was anything that was putting my children in danger and that I had nothing to worry about. ” I was so furious! Nothing to worry about?! They were calling my children liars when they were telling me about being abused in the foster home! Then at our next visit they punished my children and I for speaking up about the abuse. They shortened our visit to 30 minutes and I was no longer allowed to walk my children out to her car. When I asked why I wasn’t allowed to walk them out anymore they said it was because I “Talked badly about the foster parent.” I was completely in shock! They would cancel visits on me last minute and then tell my children the reason they didn’t get to see me was because I didn’t want to see them and in court they said I missed several visits which I had photos of my children on those visits I “missed”. The supervisor in court said that my children no longer treated me like their mother,that their behavior showed to be the same as their behavior with total strangers and that they no longer had a bond with me. The last visit I had with them the workers had to literally peel them off of me as they were crying and screaming saying “We want to go home with you mommy, we don’t want to be with them! Don’t let them take us! We don’t want to go! We want our mommy!” But they have no bond with me and they treat me like everyone else and not their mother?! They LIE, CHEAT, COMMIT PERJURY, HARASS PARENTS, VIOLATE THE CHILDREN’S AND PARENTS RIGHTS, EVEN GO AS FAR AS HAVING PEOPLE PUT ANTIFREEZE INTO YOUR DRINK THEN ACCUSE YOU OF BEING ON DRUGS IN COURT! I jumped through all of their hoops, completed every requirement in my case plan before the completion date, I even signed up for classes that weren’t required by them to better myself as a person and a parent and I was at their office every day asking them to drug test me and they refused to every time then in court said I failed to take their drug tests!! They are corrupt and they are taking children from families, mostly low income families, because they know they won’t have the money to pay for a lawyer to fight them in court and selling them to strangers for thousands of dollars per child! The judge told me in court that my children are “Very adoptable children” her exact words were ” Your children are very adoptable children. They are beautiful, they have no health issues no behavioral issues no disabilities, no mental health issues and they are very well behaved and smart children. ” I was sick by her comment! She by law should have excused herself from hearing my case because her husband was the police chief and her uncle was the deputy D.A. and my children’s father was incarcerated and headed to prison. She told my lawyer,after she made me leave the court room, to tell me that her husband was the chief of police and her uncle was the deputy D.A. which I now know that was her way of indirectly telling me she was going to steal my children and there was nothing I could do about it. I don’t know what else she said to my lawyer who my mother retained for several thousand dollars, but he never came to another court hearing. He sent someone else to stand in for him. It would not surprise me if they threatened to do something to him or jepoardize his career if he fought my case against them, because he was so sure that he’d win my case before we went to court then after she spoke to him privately he never came back to court. These people destroy families every day and they place children in abusive homes with sexual predators and for some reason they have NO CONSEQUENCES for their actions! They are never held accountable for placing children in harmful environments but they are quick to charge the parents with child endangerment for not leaving their husband soon enough in their opinion. You can’t trust ANY attorney appointed by the court because they are NOT fighting for you they are fighting AGAINST YOU! You can’t trust anyone employed or involved with CPS because they ALL are a team that will do everything they can to take your children and sell them for profit to strangers! They post children’s photos online like they do for stray animals that people can look through and pick to adopt from their agency! It’s sickening! Here’s one website : http://www.cakidsconnection.org . People can search for children by specific age range, race, low IQ, disabilities, gender, number of siblings, etc. This is horrible! Why are these people able to traffick our innocent children without any repercussions?? Something HAS to change!! Innocent children and their families do NOT deserve the injustice by these agencies!!
Hi I am in the middle of a cps investigation and yes the investigator has been lying from the start about me. First of all the only allegation against me as my daughters mother is that I failed to protect her from her father. I passed the drug test and I was in compliance to work with dcf to develop and keep a safety plan. My first plan didn’t work because I had to vacate the premises. The second plan didn’t work because it was supposed to be in a hotel that the child’s father wouldn’t keep paying for. The new plan would’ve been set for me to reside with my daughter in a camper her father bought but I was told I couldn’t stay their and my child was taken and placed with my sister. That was two months ago. Since then I’ve seen my three year old a total of 5 times thorugh dcf. My next court date is in January. The petition for dependency is full of false statements regarding the original domestic violence issue. Cps is saying I put my child in danger by staying at the camper. They also claim I denied further assistance from dcf and that’s not true. Can someone please help me with some free advice on this? I am currently unemployed and am having a hard time finding work due to my open cps investigation appearing on any background checks done. I do have a public defender. He is aware of my situation with dcf not telling the truth.
Legal Aid may be able to help as well: https://lowincomerelief.com/legal-aid/
This has to do with my daughters case, and my grandchildren were taken from her by claims that that children’s father made because he was mad 3 1/2 years later if they have the CPS worker on the stand and they are possibly considering taking a job, they have proven that she has lied throughout the whole case on my daughter to make it negative against her as far as the case goes, and I want to know how do I go about getting them prosecuted in court she should be compensated and socially my grandchildren for 3 1/2 years the previous caseworker before this one was fired or removed from the case, and I believe he has terminated so My next move should be
Hi Penny. You may need legal advice. https://lowincomerelief.com/legal-aid/
@christina akers, I feel you my story is very similar only my child was taken at birth becaus mom had something on her system.
I passed 2 drug test, them in court the worker lies and said I didn’t take a drug test. I sent my results on to the court and 8 months later they s won’t let me see my child. I feel so helpless, and the judge who has refused herself talked expartae with a character witness, predated a court order for July and as being filed with the chancery court clerk. When in actuality it wasn’t completed intil sept.2month later.
It’s sad that my child was born in January and I haven’t been able to change his diper, now the judge has refused herself but still wants me to do a hair follicle test, after passing 2vua already
It’s criminal what they’re doing and even worse the fact that no one seems to care
What do you do when cps lied just to take the children
Hi Jennifer. It may be advisable to seek legal advice. https://lowincomerelief.com/legal-aid/
I wanted to add that they said that if I try to sue or otherwise make issues they will take the two children that are with me they straight up said they would open up a case and make sure I didn’t have any children but it’s hearsay because they would not apologize or in writing they would not admit to anything in writing. Their adopted mother stays in contact with me and sends me pictures and updates kids are happy and healthy which is some relief but I don’t want this to happen to other people as it continues to happen in Solano county
They took my twins and battle started. I did all they asked and I was already in counseling so was easy. Report has contradictions all over it. They admitted they backed the wrong person but they said nothing can be done because it cannot be reversed and then they went on to press and take away parental rights and adopt out my children and no one will help because they don’t want problems to occur in their own families they said I did not fill out any release of information when I have copies of what I signed and obviously not in my handwriting it was filled out and I have proof of other wrongdoings and nobody will help it’s been seven years now
I’m so sorry your family has gone through this.
Have you sought legal help?
https://lowincomerelief.com/legal-aid/
@J.R, THANK YOU I COULDNT OF SAID IT BETTER YOU ARE A GOID MAN ND THANK YOU! I’m starting a Patition in Lincoln Nebraska
I got no advice but I got this great print
@Betsy Marie Thomas, ask for a state hearing
SMH…. I’ve read all of the horror stories and I must say! I look at trafficking in a new light! CPS loves to kidnap kids and keep them in the system! They definitely do not believe in second chances. They judge parents by personal feelings not professionalism! Please watch:
Fight CPS: Real Talk with Ms. G
on Facebook! Definitely the best page to learn about CPS and how to regain custody of your children! I wish I all the best I pray that all our children get released and that GOD makes every worker and foster parent have Karma for intentionally making kids suffer from being away from their families. #FosterKidsLivesMatter✊????
@John, I’m sorry to hear that my grandsons are going through the same thing my 4yr old is weighing 25 pds. My other grandson is 2yrs old they both had been physically abused and no one is doing anything about it
@Jacob nocita,
I pray that your family gets overdue deserved justice. And are blessed 10fold more than the traumatic and inhumane sickening ways.
God Please Bless You and Your Family and Your Home. I pray that you all are reunited ????????????????♀️????????♀️????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????☝????????????????????????♀️????????????????????⚖️????????♀️????????????????????????????????
John I feel your pain in md same exact thing here
@John, This sounds exactly like my situation. The CPS worker and her husband are both well respected in our little community. The judge listened to them as they have lied repeatedly. My little girl is being abused in every way you could imagine it has been a whole year and nobody hears her. She has said things like God must be sleeping when my daddy touches me. I wish the whole world would pause so one person would hear me. She is only six years old she’s screaming out for help. This world is disgusting in the system needs to change