How to Write a Declaration of Facts to Submit to the Court

How to Write a Declaration of Facts to Submit to the Court
Linda Martin
FightCPS.com
December 22, 2010
 
When parents appear in Juvenile Court they are handed a report written by a CPS social worker. It states the county’s side of the court case.

Who writes a similar report explaining the parents’ side of the case to the judge?

Usually, nobody.

Legal documents explaining the parents’ side aren’t written because they have court-appointed attorneys that in general, often don’t care enough to take the time to produce legal documents. Many of these attorneys receive a flat fee per case so there’s no financial motivation for providing an aggressive defense for the parents.

Most often, court appointed attorneys in Juvenile Court simply guide the parents through the hearings and advise them to sign a plea or stipulation of some kind, which implicates them as being guilty. If the parents sign (most do because their court-appointed attorneys are advising it) there will be no trial – no opportunity for them to protest their innocence or defend themselves. Without a trial there’s never going to be a time when the CPS social worker has to prove the county’s case.

So what should CPS victim-parents do to counteract the problem of having a court-appointed attorney who won’t aggressively defend them?  FULL STORY