Help me out here. I can't remember if there are any state or federal laws that give NCPs the right to access all reports that may have been made to CPS regarding their children. Or are we just out of luck?
Date: March 05, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kathy Spears, DSHS Media Relations, 360-902-7893
Thomesenia James, DSHS Children's Administration, 360-902-7966
DSHS to host 12th annual Children's Justice Conference; largest child maltreatment conference in the country. Media welcome to attend speeches and workshops
OLYMPIA -- More than 30 professionals from across the country will share their expertise on child welfare and juvenile justice issues during the largest child maltreatment conference in the United States, scheduled March 29 and 30 at the Meydenbauer Convention Center in Bellevue.
The 12th annual Children's Justice Conference is sponsored by the state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) and the Children's Justice Interdisciplinary Task Force. It will feature keynote speeches and workshops on topics ranging from the effects of domestic violence on children to treating youthful sex offenders.
Keynote speakers include James R. Worling, Ph.D., and Carla van Dam, Ph.D. Worling is a consulting and clinical psychologist who has worked extensively with adolescent sex offenders and their victims. He has developed an assessment tool to estimate the risk of sexual offense recidivism for adolescents.
Van Dam has published numerous articles and conducted workshops throughout the Northwest on how to prevent sexual abuse of children and how to identify child molesters. She worked as an instructor, counselor and psychologist for the Washington Corrections Center, conducting psychological and neuropsychological evaluations on prison inmates. She is currently in private practice doing clinical and forensic work for various agencies.
Domestic violence issues will be addressed in several workshops, including successful treatment and interventions for abusive men and how to help children recover from exposure to domestic violence.
Several workshops will focus on treating adolescent sex offenders and victims of sex abuse.
Other workshops will cover the legal issues in child neglect cases, the effects on maltreatment on brain development, attachment problems in abused children, shaken baby syndrome, and the role of the state's Office of the Family and Children's Ombudsman (OFCO) in child protection and child welfare issues.
Online registration and workshop schedules are available at https://programs.regweb.com/csnw/cjc2004/index.cfm.
To request a copy of a CPS record, you must complete Form 4885. Please obtain this form from your local CPS office or regional office where the case took place and submit the form to that region's legal department.
Note: CPS records are confidential under ยง261.201(a) of the Texas Family Code. Most records will not be released unless there is a court order to release the records. Some individuals are entitled to a copy of the record or portions of the record without a court order, including the following:
Parent or other legally responsible adult of the child who is the subject of the case,
An adult who was, as a child, the subject of the case,
A person alleged or designated to be the perpetrator in the case, or
Other individuals identified under 40 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) 700.203.
So I assume that access to records must be governed by state statutes.
Thanks, Patton!
Boy would I love to attend that conference! Too bad that Dr. Bruce Perry isn't one of the scheduled speakers. He's an expert on the effects of child maltreatment on brain development.