Child Protective Services

Children who have been placed in foster care or relative/NREFM care due to substantiated abuse and/or neglect by their parents and/or legal guardians may be at risk of abduction from these placements by their parents. The risk of abduction may increase when families have ties to other countries and may not be familiar with the standards and laws of the United States. Parents, relatives/NREFMs caregivers and/or resource parents may not realize the taking of these children or aiding the parents in taking the children who are under the care, custody and control of the Juvenile Court under the supervision of the Child Protective Services (CPS) and the Dependency Court is a crime under Penal Code (PC) 278.5 “Child Abduction” and is considered to be a felony in the State of California.

As a relative/NREFM caregiver or resource parent, you may feel sympathy for the parents for the removal of their children; however, please remember these children were removed due to neglect and/or abuse. If you do not feel comfortable or able to monitor visitation or interaction between the children and their parents, please speak to the assigned social worker immediately so other arrangements can be made.

To prevent abduction of children placed in your care, please observe the following:

• If the Court has ordered visitation between the children and parents, discuss with the social worker the frequency and conditions of the visits.
  • Supervised visitation means the child must always remain in direct line of sight and within conversational hearing distance of the monitor. The child should not be left alone with the parent at any time. If the parent wants to take the child to the bathroom, outside to play, etc., the visitation monitor must accompany the child and parent. All conversations must be in a language that is common to all parties. There should be no whispering between parents or children or passing of notes.
  • Observed visitation means the child must always remain in direct line of sight; however, the child and parent do not have to remain in conversational hearing distance of the visitation monitor. The visitation monitor needs to be close enough to intervene if necessary.
  • Unsupervised visitation provides latitude to the parent/guardian and allows for them to be alone with the child.
• Be aware older children sometimes assist in an abduction. Explain to all the children, who are developmentally able to understand, the parameters of visitation, the reasons for the parameters and the goal of such visitation. Their placement with you is to maintain them safely until it is safe for them to return home.
• Document information about visitation – frequency, conditions, quality of visitation, as well as anything out of the ordinary. Provide the information to the case carrying social worker.
• During visitation with the child, the parents/guardians/Indian custodians shall not be under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances and shall not discuss the following subjects with the child: Court proceedings, the allegations of the Petition(s), promises, or predictions about the outcome of the case, or promises or predictions about placement issues. The social worker may cancel a visit due to a parent/guardian’s failure to comply with the aforementioned prohibitions.
  • Report any concerns about visitation or interaction between the child and parent to the social worker.
• If any visiting party attempts to abduct the child from your care, attempt to engage with the parent to not remove the child, without endangering yourself or the child.
• If an abduction occurs, immediately contact 911/law enforcement to make a missing person’s/child abduction report. Once reported to law enforcement, contact the child’s social worker. Cooperate with CPS and law enforcement about the abduction and provide as much detail as possible to them about the situation.
• Be sure the school and teachers are aware of who may pick up the child from school. If there are concerns about possible abduction, discuss with social worker and alert school personnel.