Division of Family & Child Services in Cumming and Surrounding areas

Speak to Our Cumming Custody Attorneys Before You Talk to the DFCS - Serving Forsyth, Gwinnett Counties, and North Georgia - Call (678) 257-4507 

When the Division of Family and Child Services, or DFCS, gets involved in a child custody or other family law matter, it is important that you have a lawyer on your side to protect your best interests. The DFCS process hundreds of thousands of cases annually and they do not put the care and attention into the individual circumstances behind each case that they should. This means that smaller issues can get greatly blown out of proportion, and the results can be disastrous for your family.

At The Epps Law Group, we do the right thing and work hard to protect your rights as a parent. Call (678) 257-4507 to discuss your situation with Attorney Kyle E. Epps, III. 

Our service areas include Cumming, Dawson County, Hall County, Gwinnett County, and Lumpkin County. 

What Is the DFCS?

In Georgia, the Division of Family and Child Services is a social service meant to provide assistance to families in need, such as providing food stamps or social services to low-income parents. The DFCS’s Child Protective Services (CPS) division is responsible for investigating claims of child abuse or neglect, stepping in with police when they deem it necessary to protect a child’s wellbeing.

This, however, can lead to your child wrongly being taken from you. You will then have to jump through hoops to get them back. CPS also doesn’t take your best interests into account and may not even listen to your side of the story. The truth is, each of their social workers handle many cases at any given time and they often do not have the time and resources to devote to individual matters. This can lead to snap judgments based on perceived or incorrect claims of abuse or neglect.

At The Epps Law Group, we prioritize your best interests. If you’ve been contacted by DFCS for any of the reasons, don't hesitate to contact the firm. 

• If DFCS come to your house or interviewed your children at school
• If DFCS demands you sign a safety plan
• Neglect and Abuse
• Delinquency/ Child not going to school
• Failure to Protect/ Third party has injured your child

Our Cumming child protective services lawyer will represent your side of the story in deprivation actions, including trials, brought on by the DFCS or a private individual. We can help you prove that your child is not at-risk when they are under your care by ensuring your side of the story is told and help you cut through the system’s red tape to get your child back.

Child Dependency Actions in North Georgia

When you, as a parent, are accused of neglecting or abusing your child, which can include if a spouse or someone else has abused your child, and DFCS says you have failed to protect them, DFCS has the authority to remove your child from your home and put him or her into state custody. They then will have to have a hearing, also known as a “removal hearing”, within certain statutory time limits. You should never attend those hearings without an attorney, if your child has been removed. They will then initiate a child dependency action, also known as a child deprivation action, to keep them in the state’s custody. According to O.C.G.A. § 15-11-150, the DFCS, or a private individual, must file a petition with the juvenile court that alleges they have actual knowledge or a belief that there is neglect, abuse, or abandonment of a child or children. 

While the juvenile court will not accept petitions filed by one parent against another while they are going through divorce proceedings, as this can be seen as an unfair way to get custody, dependency petitions of this nature may be filed in the Superior Court. These actions can lead to the termination of parental rights or the child’s permanent removal from the family home. That is why it is vital that parents facing a child dependency action waste no time in enlisting the services of our CPS defense attorney in Cumming.

Are You at Risk of Losing Your Children?

If DFCS has called your house for any reason, you need to understand that they have the power to remove your children from your custody, under certain circumstances, without a hearing. Don’t wait until the issue has gotten to the final stages before contacting a lawyer to represent you and your family. No parent wants to lose their children. 

Call The Epps Law Group today at (678) 257-4507 or contact us online. We serve all of North Georgia.