Definitions of Terms

CPS October 2021

The definitions below serve as a glossary for this handbook.

Behavioral Protective Capacities

CPS Definition May 2023

These include a caregiver’s actions, activities, and performance that result in the protection of a child, as follows:

The caregiver obtains and uses the resources necessary to meet the child’s needs.
The caregiver sets aside his or her needs in favor of the child’s.
The caregiver has demonstrated a history of protecting the child or other children.

Blatant Disregard

CPS Definition May 2023

The real and significant harm to the child as a result of the person’s acts or omissions that meet both of the following criteria:

Would have been obvious to a reasonable person in the same situation.
The reasonable person would have known to take precautionary measures to protect the child from the impending harm.

Born Exposed

CPS Definition May 2023

A child is considered born exposed to alcohol or a controlled substance if both of the following are true:

The child is born alive to a mother who, during the pregnancy, used alcohol or a controlled substance not legally obtained by prescription, as defined in Chapter 481 of the Health and Safety Code.
After birth, the child experiences or exhibits any of the following as a result of the mother’s use of a controlled substance or alcohol during pregnancy:
- Observable withdrawal from the alcohol or controlled substance.
- Observable or harmful effects in the child’s physical appearance or functioning.
- Demonstrable presence of alcohol or a controlled substance in the child’s urine or meconium.

Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 481

Texas Family Code §161.001(a)

Case Name

CPS Definition May 2023

The name chosen to identify a case is the name of the parent or guardian who is primarily responsible for a child’s care, custody, or welfare on an ongoing basis.

If the parents live together, the case name is the name of the mother.

See SWI Handbook, 4410 Case Name.

Cognitive Protective Capacities

CPS Definition May 2023

These include the knowledge, understanding, and perceptions that contribute to protective behavior, as follows:

The caregiver thinks about and can articulate a plan to protect the child from a given person or situation.
The caregiver has adequate knowledge to fulfill caregiving responsibilities and tasks.
The caregiver has adequate perceptions of the child’s abilities and needs.

Danger

CPS Definition May 2023

Behaviors or conditions that place a child in imminent danger of serious harm.

DFPS Rules, 40 TAC 707.451(a)(6)

Day

CPS Definition May 2023

A calendar day, unless otherwise noted.

Emotional Protective Capacities

CPS Definition May 2023

These include a caregiver’s feelings for, attitudes about, and identification with the child, as well as the caregiver’s motivation for protective vigilance, as follows:

The caregiver is able to meet her or his own emotional needs.
The caregiver expresses love, empathy, and sensitivity toward the child.
The caregiver has the emotional capacity to intervene to protect the child.

Ex Parte

CPS Definition October 2020

An ex parte protective order is an order the court enters before holding a hearing where the parents are present and before the citation of the parents.

Exigent Circumstances

CPS Definition October 2020

Exigent circumstances means that, based on the totality of the circumstances, the situation meets the following criteria:

There is reasonable cause to believe that the child is in imminent danger of physical or sexual harm if the child remains in the home.
The situation requires immediate action.

Fictive Kin

CPS Definition June 2021

Someone who is not related to a child under DFPS conservatorship, but who has, or who once had, a prior longstanding relationship with the child or the child’s sibling group. Teachers, coaches, family friends, godparents, and long-time neighbors are examples of people who may be fictive kin.

Health Care Practitioner

CPS Definition October 2021

A person licensed, certified or otherwise authorized to administer health care services in the ordinary course of business or professional practice. The term includes a physician, medical student, resident physician, child abuse fellow, advanced practice nurse, nurse, or physician assistant.

Texas Family Code §261.30175

Home

CPS Definition May 2023

A child’s home may include people who have significant in-home contact or live in the same home. Members of a child’s home include:

Parents or caregivers.
Siblings.
Other children or adults who live in the home.
Other people who spend a substantial amount of time in the home (such as a parent or caregiver’s intimate partner or another relative who visits the home routinely).

Immediate Danger

CPS Definition May 2023

A person’s acts or omissions placed the child in a situation that has resulted in or would have resulted in harm to the child.

Imminent Danger

CPS Definition May 2023

There is an immediate threat to the physical health or safety of the child, or sexual abuse is about to occur to the child.

Luggage

CPS Definition October 2023

A suitcase, duffel bag, backpack, or similar container designed to hold an individual's personal belongings.

Texas Family Code §264.1078

Military

CPS Definition May 2023

The following terms are related to service in the U.S. military:

Active Duty: Service members of the armed forces in an active or inactive pay status.
Armed Forces: The Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Navy, and Army, and their reserve components.
Reserve Component: The Reserves, National Guard, Texas State Guard, and any other military force organized under state law.
Service Member: A member of the armed forces, including a reserve component.
Military Duty Status: Active duty, inactive duty, military training, annual training, and state active duty.

Primary Allegation

CPS Definition May 2023

The allegation type that, at intake, appears to cause the most immediate threat to the child and appears to be the first allegation to consider when assessing a child’s safety.

Principal

CPS Definition May 2023

A person closely connected with the case. This term includes the following:

A child who is a victim or alleged victim of abuse or neglect by a parent, legal guardian, or caregiver.
All other children who live in the child’s home.
All parents and legal guardians of a child alleged or found to be the victim of abuse or neglect, including those who are appointed by the court as sole or joint managing conservators
Everyone responsible for the care, custody, or welfare of the children in the home where abuse or neglect is alleged, even if the person is not a parent, legal guardian, or caregiver, including others whom the court has appointed as managing or possessory conservators.
Each alleged or designated perpetrator of child abuse or neglect.
Each victim who is also a perpetrator of child abuse or neglect.
Noncustodial parents, whose location is determined during the investigation, regardless of whether they visit the child, and whose rights have not been terminated.
Anyone 14 years old or older who lives with the child as a result of a supervised safety plan or family initiated Parental Child Safety Placement.

The Person List page in IMPACT must include all principals in the case.

Each person in the case is either a principal or a collateral.

Protective Capacities

CPS Definition May 2023

The cognitive, behavioral, and emotional characteristics specifically and directly associated with a caregiver’s ability to protect his or her child.

A caregiver’s protective capacity can be observed, understood, and demonstrated in part by the way in which the caregiver thinks about, feels for, and acts toward a particular child in regard to keeping the child safe. A caseworker’s understanding of whether a child is safe is incomplete without an assessment of the protective capacities of the child’s caregivers.

Risk Factors

CPS Definition May 2023

Elements of individual and family functioning that may place a child at risk of abuse or neglect.

DFPS Rules, 40 TAC 707.451(a)(18)

Risk of Child Abuse or Neglect

CPS Definition May 2023

A reasonable likelihood that child abuse or neglect, as defined in 2112 Primary Statutory Definitions, will occur in the foreseeable future.

DFPS Rules, 40 TAC §707.451 (a)(19)

The risk of future abuse or neglect is not considered abuse or neglect under Texas Family Code Section 261.001. However, the presence of a reasonable likelihood that child abuse or neglect will occur in the foreseeable future qualifies children and families for protective services. See 1240 General Eligibility Criteria for Child Protective Services.

Safety

CPS Definition May 2023

Protection of a child from abuse or neglect.

DFPS Rules, 40 TAC §707.451(a)(5)

A child is considered safe when any of the following are true:

There is not an identified immediate danger present within the family.
The child is not vulnerable to any danger indicators.
A parent or legal guardian possesses sufficient protective capacity to manage any immediate dangers.

A child is considered unsafe when all of the following are true:

An immediate danger exists within the family.
The child is vulnerable to the immediate danger.
A parent or legal guardian has insufficient protective capacities to mitigate/address the immediate danger.

School Personnel and Volunteers

CPS Definition May 2023

A person who is one of the following:

Someone who provides services or cares for children at a public or private school under the jurisdiction of the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and who has access to children in a school setting.
Someone in a private school setting who has responsibility for the care, custody, or control of children in a school setting.

This definition includes school employees, contractors, volunteers, bus drivers, cafeteria staff, and custodians.

Texas Administrative Code §707.605

CPS Definition October 2020

A search is:

The act of entering and inspecting a home or another place where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy.
The act of visually inspecting or examining a child.

Seizure

CPS Definition October 2020

A seizure is an act that would make a reasonable person feel that he or she, or another person (such as a family member), is not free to leave, including when conducting an interview of a child.

Sensitive Case

CPS Definition May 2023

A case to which limited access is granted in IMPACT for various reasons, including but not limited to the following:

A DFPS employee is alleged or found to be involved in a case of abuse or neglect.
A person who provides ancillary services for CPS, such as a county judge, an attorney ad litem, a law enforcement officer, or a volunteer with Texas Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), is alleged or found to be involved in a case of abuse or neglect.
A situation attracts significant media coverage or other considerable interest because of a circumstance such as the death of a child or the actions of a DFPS employee.
A minor seeks or has had an abortion without informing her family.
A member of a child’s home is a participant in the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) Address Confidentiality Program (see OAG TAC Rules; Title 1, Part 3, Chapter 64, Subchapter C, Rule 64.20).

Special Handling

CPS Definition May 2023

The special or extra duties or procedures required of a caseworker when any of the following is true about a member of a child’s home:

Participates in the Office of the Attorney General’s (OAG) Address Confidentiality Program (see OAG TAC Rules; Title 1, Part 3, Chapter 64, Subchapter C, Rule 64.20).
Is an active or retired member of the U.S. military.
Works in law enforcement.
Lives on an American Indian reservation (see 1224 Indian Child Welfare Act).
Listed on the Child Safety Check Alert List as the result of a court order.

Staffing

CPS Definition May 2023

An internal meeting attended by DFPS staff, family services contractors (FSC), single source continuum contract (SSCC) staff, or any combination of these people, with the purpose of discussing the status of a case or a child care operation. It may also include Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) employees or others not employed by DFPS, as appropriate.

Strengths

CPS Definition May 2023

The elements of a person’s or a family’s functioning that enhance the ability of the person or family to protect a child from abuse or neglect. See DFPS Rules, 40 TAC §707.451(a)(18). Within protective capacities, strengths specifically relate to the ability of a caregiver to use his or her protective capacities to ensure the child’s safety.

Substantial Risk of Harm

CPS Definition May 2023

The definitions of abuse under Texas Family Code Section 261.001 contemplate both actual harm and the genuine threat or substantial risk of harm to a child. DFPS treats acts and omissions that place children at substantial risk of harm or that pose a genuine threat of substantial harm as actual occurrences of abuse as they are defined in the Texas Family Code. Therefore, a CPS investigation may result in a finding of Reason to Believe for abuse even if a child victim does not suffer from actual physical or mental harm.

The terms substantial risk of harm and genuine threat of substantial harm as used in the definitions of abuse and neglect refer to acts or omissions that have already occurred and that put a child at risk of harm.

Vulnerable Child

CPS Definition May 2023

Children are considered vulnerable in any of the following situations:

They lack the ability to protect themselves.
They lack the ability to seek help from other protective people when faced with an immediate danger.
A risk factor is not addressed.

A caseworker determines whether a child is vulnerable by evaluating the following, as appropriate:

Age of the child.
Physical disability.
Mental disability.
Medical illness.
Intellectual disability.
Behavior.
The degree to which the child may be subject to intimidation, fear, and emotional manipulation.
The child’s ability to make his or her basic needs known and seek help or protection from others.
The ability of the child to perceive danger and act accordingly.
The degree to which the child is seen by others in the community, including by extended family members.