Many people have experienced some mental health problems in their lifetime. It can range from feeling slightly depressed to a more serious mental health condition or episode that requires medical treatment. Child mental illness can have an adverse impact on the parents’ mental health, and psychiatric disorders in parents can impinge on the mental health of their children. When Child Protective Services (CPS) becomes involved in a case in which either the parent and/or child may have psychiatric issues, how well trained and prepared are they to make informed, reasonable decisions about removal? Can CPS gain access to mental health records about the children and parents? What other legal implications are there? 

This balancing act is evident in state statutes and policy manuals across the country. For instance, according to the New Jersey Department of Children and Families Policy Manual, 5-10-20 [Removal of a Child], N.J.S.A. 30:4C-1 declares it is the public policy of the state that:

[T]he preservation and strengthening of family life is a matter of public concern as being in the interests of the general welfare, but the health and safety of the child shall be the State’s paramount concern when making a decision on whether or not it is in the child‘s best interest to preserve the family unit.