Prepare your lawyer – help your lawyer to help you!

Make sure that your attorney is prepared by letting her/him know exactly what has been going on in your life as well as your children’s lives. This requires open lines of communication with your attorney, and, if you have any interaction with CPS before retaining an attorney, you should document all of your actions both with respect to your services and your communications with the caseworker, and then make sure that your attorney has all of these details at least a few days before she/he walks into court. A failure to communicate fully with your lawyer not only will mean that your lawyer will know less than the CPS caseworker(s), but it may result in your lawyer being ill-equipped to challenge any lies or half-truths that the caseworker(s) might tell in court.

Prepare yourself – this won’t be fun!

Be mentally and emotionally prepared to hear unpleasant things said about you in court. It is extremely rare for a caseworker to give glowing and positive reviews about any parent’s progress. That being said, if you are mentally and emotionally prepared, you will be able to weather the storm, and to keep from losing your temper in court, which would only serve to negatively compound an already bad situation. Requiring the Judge or the bailiff to tell you to “calm down or leave the courtroom” will not help your cause. This brings us back to point (1); Help to Prepare Your Lawyer – if your lawyer is prepared, she/he will be better able to counter the kinds of lies or half-truths that most certainly will drive you crazy when you hear them in court.

Bring family members with you to court – family support is what it’s all about!

Unfortunately, because CPS has complained about you, the court may be predisposed to believe that you are not a caring parent, or that your family life is not nurturing or supportive. Judges can be persuaded otherwise when they observe family interest and support. Having family support in court sends a strong positive message, and it makes it more difficult for CPS to argue that the children need to go into foster care.

Dress “appropriately” – you don’t want to be “mis-judged”!

In line with point (3), above, everything you do in court sends a message and, like it or not, you are being judged personally. You’re in court to fight because you want to take responsibility for your children, so why not dress responsibly? So, if you are headed to court, do a serious assessment of your appearance. Dress as conservatively as you can, and make sure that your hair and nails are “court-appropriate”. If you have any doubts, don’t wear it.

Bend over backwards to be nice – you’re playing in their ballpark! Anyone who loves their children would be offended by an accusation that they have not been a good or responsible parent. Unfortunately, while the Judge, or the CPS caseworker, can get away with being rude or snarky, you can’t. We know you are there to fight, but realize that you have to do it nicely. Remember, CPS has an incredible amount of power and a bad evaluation from a caseworker can be damning.