With More State Funding, Are CPS Investigations Getting Any Fairer in California?

In California, Child Protective Services does not have the final say when it comes to your right as a parent. If your rights have been violated, the experienced San Bernardino CPS misconduct attorneys at The Skapik Law Group can help you fight back.

California is allocating more budgetary resources to Child Protective Services. However, the purpose of the increased spending is certainly not to make investigations fair. The state has its own interests in spending more money on CPS tracking and investigations, and its interests may be adverse to yours.

If you believe that CPS has overstepped and broken the law and are dealing with you and your family situation, speak to a San Bernardino CPS misconduct lawyer at The Skapik Law Group during a free initial consultation. You have every reason and ability to fight back when your rights as a parent are wrongfully under attack.

More Money May Not Always Mean More Fairness

Even though California is facing a budget shortfall, the state continues to spend an increasing amount of money on the budget for Child Protective Services. For 2025-26, the state proposed to spend an additional $1 billion on child welfare, even though no new additional programs are in the works. Some may think that more money in the budget may mean a system that is fair to parents, but it may not work that way in practice.

Fairness is not a matter that necessarily relates to the budget and the total amount of money being spent. There is no yardstick that measures whether, on the whole, there is an increasing level of fairness to parents. CPS investigations are disproportionately aimed at minorities, and that fact does not change because there is more money to spend. If anything, these disparities could worsen with additional spending.

Increased Focus on Mental Health Issues Could Help Parents

There is one area where the state proposes to increase spending that could result in more fairness and investigations. There is a growing recognition that some issues may be the result of mental health challenges that the child is facing. California proposes to use some of the additional spending to enhance care management for children who are dealing with mental health issues. Presumably, this could lead to a recognition that there may not necessarily be abuse in the household. Instead, the child’s issues could stem from mental health challenges.

Nonetheless, spending more money on an issue is not necessarily a panacea. Much depends on how Child Protective Services actually uses the resources and the commitments that they may make towards fairness. Given the number of lawsuits against the agency for violating parents’ rights, CPS has not always gotten it right. Numerous parents have been forced to go to court because their children were wrongfully taken from them, whether it was due to the lack of proper investigation, or an individual caseworker exhibiting bias in their job. Accordingly, reforming CPS may be more of an issue of proper training for caseworkers and helping them remove their own biases.

Funding also does not necessarily mean accuracy in investigations. In fact, it could mean the exact opposite. With more money at their disposal, CPS could hire more investigators who may pursue additional leads and complaints that may otherwise not have been addressed in a reduced budget environment. Previously, CPS may have turned away some more questionable cases, not necessarily because they should not have been investigated, but because the agency did not have the resources at their ready. As such, there may still be mistakes and violations of the law that compromise your rights as a parent.

You Are Always Entitled to Due Process as a Parent

As always, you have the right to due process as a parent. You have the ability to be heard in court when CPS is trying to take your children away from you. If they have engaged in misconduct, you can file a lawsuit directly against the agency, seeking compensation for the harm that they have caused you. Nevertheless, it is essential that you work with an experienced CPS misconduct lawyer because you may not be listened to on your own. A CPS misconduct lawyer can not only fight to help you keep your children, but they could also work for you to be compensated if your rights have been violated.

Speak to a San Bernardino CPS Misconduct Law Firm Today

If you need to take legal action against the government for violating your rights as a parent, schedule a free initial consultation with a San Bernardino CPS misconduct attorney at The Skapik Law Group. All you need to do to schedule a free initial consultation is to send us a message online or call us today at (909) 398-4404.