And what about stories about families that are preserved because of CPS intervention? My best friend didn't think her step-daughter would ever "grow up" or change the destructive direction her life was heading until CPS stepped in. That was 14 months ago and the change in this young women is remarkable...so much so, that when I ran into her a few of months ago at the store, I almost didn't recognize her. It wasn't just that she didn't look like some strug-out twenty dollar crack whore...it was her whole attitude.
Until I went to work for a court-appointed attorney in Juvenile Dependency, I admit that I had the same "negative" attitude about CPS that many people have. The vast majority of CPS caseworkers are no different than you or I...they good people trying to their job under impossible conditions and still stay sane; "burn out" is a real problem and turnover is high. And then you have those people who shouldn't be caseworkers...they ARE "burned out" and no longer care or they are abusive.