Fight CPS And Win
Fighting Child Protective Services
False Accusations

Research Resources

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics."
-- Benjamin Disraeli

• Open Courts - a survey of the opinions and the realities of opening Juvenile Court dependency proceedings.
• Roger Brown - the Sociology Center exposes the origins of government corruption.
• Practice Notes - South Carolina child welfare social work newsletter. Lots of interesting information here.
• PBS - The Child Terror - exposé of the Florida method of prosecuting child sexual abuse. Techniques in interviewing children.
• Secrets That Can Kill: Child Abuse Investigations in NY State - 1994 report on problems with confidentiality laws.
• The Dynamic of Shame in Interactions Between Child Protective Services and Families Falsely Accused of Child Abuse - this 1991 study states, in part: "When so many families are caused so much suffering, something is wrong. The mission of the Child Protection System is to protect children. Yet more than half of all cases reported to CPS "should not have come to the attention of the protective systems in the first place" (Stein, 1984). Where do the answers lie? Some short-term approaches have been proposed. Advocacy groups stress limiting the power of CPS to intervene in family life."
• User Manuals and More - lots of NCCAN in-house fact sheets and training information on how to be intolerant of parents and take their kids away. It's enough to make you sick. Have barf bags ready while you learn how they are trained brainwashed to do their jobs.
• What is Child Maltreatment? - revised Feb. 2002. This is from the National Administration for Children and Families website.
• 1998 Greenbook Section 11 - Child Protection, Foster Care, and Adoption Assistance - long report.
• National Study of Child Protective Services Systems and Reform Efforts - Literature Review - March 2001 - Proposals for change.
• National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center - go here to get a copy of CANDIS, the Child Abuse and Neglect Data Instrument System.
• ACF Child Care Bureau - links, statistics, and more.
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• American Public Human Services Association - lots of links to HHS web resources. Know your enemy!
• The Phenomenon of Child Abuse Hysteria as a Social Syndrome - this is a 1990 speech by Lawrence D. Spiegel, giving information about group hysteria.
• The Future of Children - "The primary purpose of The Future of Children is to disseminate timely information on major issues related to children's well-being, with special emphasis on providing objective analysis and evaluation, translating existing knowledge into effective programs and polices, and promoting constructive institutional change." -- blurb from the website.
• National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect - from Cornell University.
• Involving Non-Resident Fathers in Children's Learning - this is a HHS website for non-custodial fathers.
• Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) - an association of boards that regulate social workers. ASWB maintains a licensing examination for social workers.
• Child-Welfare Reform and the Role of Privatization - research study by Lisa Snell, October 2000.
• Child Abuse Prevention Network - "nerve center for professionals in the field of child abuse and neglect."
• Child Protection at the Crossroads: Child Abuse, Child Protection, and Recommendations for Reform - October 1999 research report and recommendations by Susan Orr, Ph.D. on the Reason Public Policy Institute website.
• Little Hoover Commission Reports on Children - of particular interest are a 1992 report that features information on the dangers of foster care for children, and a more recent, and much more biased (against parents) report (Aug. 1999) that claims "the plague of child abuse and neglect grows more severe" ... perhaps another government-sponsored brainwashing effort.
• Internet Sources of Information on Child Welfare - link page on the Little Hoover Commission website.
• 2001 AFCARS Statistics - "Under the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS), States are required to collect case-specific data on all children in foster care for whom the State child welfare agency has responsibility for placement, care or supervision, regardless of eligibility for Title IV-E." As of 2/2004, the 2001 report is the most recent, but if you look around on their site you might find something added.
• WWW Resources for Social Workers - more links than any person could reasonably handle.
• Lifting the Veil - Examining the Child Welfare, Foster Care and Juvenile Justice Systems, by Rick Thoma - excellent website for finding information and statistics about the juvenile justice system.
• How Widespread A Problem? - statistical information on the shocking problems of abuse in foster care, from Rick Thoma's website. When the child "protection" agents take kids out of their homes, they put them into situations that are statistically proven to be more dangerous.
• National Association of Social Workers - know your enemy. This is their national organization's website, complete with code of ethics and political agenda.
• Issues in Child Abuse Accusations - from the website: "a multidisciplinary journal presenting scholarship from disciplines such as law, law enforcement, psychology, psychiatry, sociology, social work, medicine, history, and theology.  Its goal is to advance our care for children through pointing to the mistakes of the rush to solve the problem of child abuse, sharing demonstrated facts about the reality of abuse, and discussing new ways for professionals to respond to accusations, victims, perpetrators and those accused."
• False Accusations of Physical and Sexual Abuse - 1984 report by Daniel C. Schuman, M.D. -- of interest to serious researchers.
• TANF - welfare rules.

Who is Douglas Besharov?

• University of Maryland - faculty bio
• American Enterprise Institute Resident Scholar - bio
• Besharov's 1987 statement - for the Select Committee on Children, Youth and Families regarding unfounded reports of child abuse/neglect. Besharov stated: "Doing something about the problem of unfounded reports (and it seems to be still growing) requires telling the American people that current reporting statistics are badly inflated by unfounded reports. Up to now, most child welfare officials--in federal, state, and local agencies--have lacked the courage to do so, because they fear that such honesty will discredit their efforts and lead to budget cuts."
• Child Abuse: Threat or Menace? How common is it really? - 1996 article By Douglas J. Besharov with Jacob W. Dembosky. Besharov stated: "Having worked in the field for 30 years, I can testify firsthand that the problem of child abuse and neglect is real. But however well meant, exaggerating the severity of abuse endangers children."
• Rebuttal and Besharov's Response to the Rebuttal - regarding the article above.