VIRGINIA
State Considers New Child Protective Services Regulations
Child Protective Services (CPS) in Virginia has operated for almost 20 years without written regulations. Instead, they have relied on a policy which, for legal purposes, is "merely one bureaucrat's opinion." The Board of Social Services is now considering regulations which would convert that old policy into administrative law. If these regulations are enacted, they will bind families in a way the older policies have not.
Virginia homeschoolers have been active in contacting the Board of Social Services with their comments and criticisms on the proposed policy. Among the more extreme examples of policy problems are the following:
- The regulations would lower the standard of proof for a "founded" allegation of child abuse or neglect.
- The regulations would authorize warrantless entry in violation of the Fourth Amendment. They permit social workers to get a police officer, rather than a warrant, to gain entrance to a home.
- The regulations would permit anonymous tips, in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
- The regulations change the legislative definition of child abuse and neglect from one where a parent's intent to harm a child is an essential element of the offense to one where the parent's intent is irrelevant.
Each of these items could be the basis for a civil rights suit against social workers. HSLDA urges the Virginia Board of Social Services to get the regulations right in the first place, rather than waiting for a federal court to strike the regulations down.
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