Texas court punishes CPS with $127,000 fine for wrongfully removing couple’s children

Officials with Child Protective Services are weighing their options after being ordered to pay more than $127,000 in sanctions by a Harris County court, according to published reports.

The order was issued following a five-day hearing in Harris County Juvenile Court Judge Mike Schneider’s court, according to reporting by the Houston Chronicle.

The court found the agency wrongfully removed the children of Melissa and Dillon Bright and that agency officials lied about the case during the hearing. Schneider also ordered additional training for regional CPS workers.

“In light of today’s ruling we are reviewing our options, including our right to appeal, ” CPS spokeswoman Tejal Patel told a Chronicle reporter.

While outside in July with his two-year-old sister, Mason, the Bright’s 5-month-old son fell from a chair to the concrete driveway.

Hospital workers who examined Mason determined injuries they found resulted from child abuse and CPS was called, the Chronicle reported. Doctors later found that Mason suffered from a clotting disorder that might explain the severity of his injuries.

The family and CPS officials worked out alternative placement with relatives that proved to be unworkable because of the demands of caring for a medically needy child, so the parents moved the children back home with them.

About a month later, CPS officials removed the children from the home after a hearing they failed to inform the parents about, according to the Chronicle.