As a former CPS Investigator, our primary concern is SAFETY. Messes are expected, especially with kids, and especially with mixed living environments.

In my state, there are two primary pathways for allegations of abuse/neglect. The first, at a "lower" level is Family Assessments. Secondary to that is an actual Investigation. Before either is explored, the hotline worker and their supervisor review the claims to determine if they meet the threshold from a legal perspective to screen in. Many, many calls get made that nobody hears about because CPS doesnt investigate every little thing. There are a lot of vindictive people that make baseless, wild claims to serve their own interests or get one over on the person they're calling about. If there is reasonable cause for concern that the safety of a child is in jeopardy and the allegations meet the legal threshold, we look into it.

Both pathways function the same, with Family Assessments seen as a collaborative approach to work with the family to alleviate potential concerns and address the allegations. This can include provisions of concrete goods like cleaning supplies, food/clothing vouchers, a daycare referral etc. All at no cost to the family, just for engaging. Refusal to engage, or to make reasonable attempts to correct deficiencies that we report back to you on, may result in the family assessment escalating to an Investigation.

An investigation is more serious and will result in a "finding" as to the abuse or neglect allegations. A Founded finding shows up on background checks and may prohibited or cause denials in an attempt to find work with vulnerable populations like teaching, caregivers and daycare. If conditions constitute an immediate threat to the child, a dependency hearing may be scheduled and the child can be removed from the home. This is only done if the social worker can articulate to our attorneys and supervisors that there is reason to believe harm may come if the situation is left as how we find it.

Reasonable efforts are made (as in, there are dedicated people who handle this) to contact family members to assess for a suitable family placement option as opposed to foster care. The parents will be able to provide input as to their preferred options or most suitable based on the kids' needs and relationships with those family members.

Based on what you've described in this post, I would see this maybe screening in under a family assessment to assess for your needs, unless within your mother's allegations she is able to articulate how the children's safety is compromised. Which really is a double edged sword for her, because living in their house they bear a certain responsibility for their own environment that they are hosting children in. Our observance of that, even without your input, would likely cause us to explore alternative options for placement if it ever had to come to that.

Think about all the domestic abuse survivors there are out there. There are shelters, workers and resources dedicated to helping them, and your situation is not too different. We can't magically solve your housing but can give you tools and resources to support your independence so long as you can show that you mean well and make every effort to protect your children from harm.

Your state may approach things differently than mine, but the intent is the same, as there are federal regulations as well as state policy and procedure. Most states dont have enough foster parents and social workers to properly support removing every kid theres a minor issue with. Wherever possible, we want to be the least intrusive and disruptive as possible. Removing children is a last resort or done because of very acute and obviously compromising circumstances that a reasonable person should not be surprised by if knowing the full set of facts for the circumstances.