Across Texas, fewer than 1 in 4 child abuse and neglect investigations conducted in fiscal year 2025 by Child Protective Services result in findings of abuse or neglect, according to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, which oversees CPS.
With more than 136,000 cases reported statewide in FY 2025, legal advocates say thousands of Texas families face intrusive DFPS investigations each year — often triggered by conditions tied to poverty rather than abuse.
But even when investigations ultimately find no abuse or neglect, families can still face high-stakes decisions during the investigation period when CPS first knocks on their door.
The average CPS investigation lasts 45 days, according to DFPS. During that time, parents may be asked to remove children from their homes, allow investigators inside or share private records — often without fully understanding their legal rights or speaking with a lawyer.
A new statewide legal initiative launched earlier this month aims to change that.
The Family Early Defense Network, funded through a $14 million grant from the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, is designed to connect low-income families with attorneys at the earliest stages of a child welfare investigation — often before a case ever reaches court.
Under Texas Family Code, courts must appoint an attorney for parents when the state files a case seeking to terminate parental rights or obtain custody — known legally as conservatorship of a child.
But because most investigations never reach that point, Leila Blatt, an attorney and special project director for Texas RioGrande Legal Aid — the lead partner in the network — said many families must make decisions with long-term consequences early in the process, often without legal guidance.
“CPS often uniformly uses safety plans and so folks are agreeing to have their kids away from them for a month, and perhaps having to renew that safety plan for several months without ever speaking to a lawyer,” Blatt said. “ Some of those decisions can have lasting effects for who ultimately cares for those kids and have consequences on who has the ability to get support to get a court order for a child when a parent otherwise is going about their life wanting to do the caretaking. “
How the program works
Family law attorneys commonly require retainers of several thousand dollars before taking a case, according to legal industry surveys.
The Family Early Defense Network builds on an existing statewide legal helpline operated by the Texas Legal Services Center.
While anyone can contact the helpline for information, referrals for legal representation through the network are limited to families who meet the program’s income eligibility requirements, or families earning up to 125% of the federal poverty guidelines. In 2026, that is $41,250 a year for a family of four.
Parents and primary caregivers who call the helpline can speak with an attorney about a CPS investigation and, if eligible, be referred to one of three regional legal aid organizations participating in the network.
Those include Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Lone Star Legal Aid, and Legal Aid of Northwest Texas, nonprofit legal service providers with attorneys who represent low-income clients at no cost, collectively covering the entire state.
In addition to advising families on their rights during CPS investigations, staff attorneys in the network may also help address related civil issues that can destabilize families, such as eviction proceedings, protective orders or conservatorship disputes.
For families looking to receive assistance, TLSC’s Family Helpline can be reached at 844.888.6565, 9 a.m. through 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Why it matters for San Antonio
Economic pressures that often intersect with child welfare investigations are particularly acute in San Antonio.
Nearly 18% of residents in the city live below the federal poverty line, according to the city’s most recent Status of Poverty report, which analyzes U.S. Census Bureau data from 2018–2022 — significantly higher than the national average of 12.5%.
That translates to more than 250,000 San Antonians living in poverty, and the rate has remained largely unchanged for more than a decade.
Child poverty is especially pronounced. About 27% of children under age 5 in San Antonio live in poverty, according to the city’s analysis.
Blatt said those conditions can increase interactions between families and institutions where many reports to Child Protective Services originate.
Those situations can include families who cannot afford child care, caregivers who depend financially on abusive partners, or households dealing with intergenerational trauma and economic instability.
“We see that folks that experience the greatest percent of poverty in Texas come in contact more with our institutions and are more dependent on public services,” she said. “So folks that are living in poverty also come into more contact with these mandated reporters.”
Mandated reporters are professionals legally required to report suspected child abuse, neglect or vulnerable adult abuse to authorities. These typically include teachers, health care workers, child care providers and counselors, who must make reports immediately upon reasonable suspicion or face potential criminal charges.
Bexar County is consistently has one of the highest numbers of child abuse and neglect investigations in the state, with 11,140 total investigations into child abuse and neglect conducted in 2025, second only to Harris County, which had 18,665 total investigations in the same fiscal year.
But Bexar County outranked Harris, which covers the Houston metro area, in the number of investigations per 1,000 children, with a rate of 19.3 compared to Harris County’s 13.1.
Those investigations often close without findings of abuse or neglect, with 65% of last fiscal year’s investigations resulting in no findings for Bexar County.
With a large volume of cases each year in Texas, Blatt said many families navigating investigations today simply do not understand the legal consequences of decisions made during the earliest stages of a case.
“The most common misconception is that parents have to do whatever CPS asks,” Blatt said. “It’s important that parents and families be fully advised of their rights, so that they can decide how they do or do not want to exercise them.”
Blatt said success for the network would be measured by the amount of families touched by CPS that they can help. The network has already started accepting referrals as of March 2.
“Making sure that we’re actually doing the work and we’re getting connected to those families,” she said. “That we’re appropriately studying what’s happening, I think that would be a major success while we start this program.”
