The Texas Legal Services Center launched in January the Family Helpline for Strong Families and Safe Children, a resource for people with legal questions about Texas Child Protective Services.
Through the new statewide project, lawyers with CPS experience take anonymous calls and offer legal information and education in areas including the investigation process, kinship care, what to expect in court, family based services, and whether an attorney is needed.
Attorneys on the helpline do not provide legal advice or enter into an attorney-client relationship, however, but they do offer referrals to other resources in the caller’s area that can help. The helpline is available for parents, relatives, and caregivers—anyone with connections to a child involved in a CPS case.
For more information on the helpline, which is Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., go to texaslawhelp.org.
The helpline is funded by the Children’s Commission of the Texas Supreme Court, the Children’s Justice Act, and the Texas Access to Justice Foundation.