I believe very firmly in protecting the rights of a child. Contrary to popular belief, this is not in CONTRADICTION to my virulent opposition of Child Protective Services, but rather, in AFFIRMATION of it.
You see, CPS cases are tried in civil court. This is the case because civil court is where PROPERTY disputes are settled. Basically, the philosophy of CPS' actions is that the child is the property of the state, and that the parents, as stewards of the state's property, mismanaged the property. Most parents, on the other hand, defend their rights on the assumption that the child is the property of the parent, and that the state does not have the right to dictate how the parent manages their property (in fact, many child removals are challenged on the "due process" clause).
Both arguments are equally spurious. A child is not property, but is an individual, an entity, with their own beliefs and values. Those values can, and SHOULD be shaped by substantial adults in the child's life, but ultimately, the individual will grow to make their own decision.
When CPS argues for removal of a child in a civil petition, they are arguing for a reassignment of stewardship to another. The case rarely proceeds to criminal court because the investigation has been tainted, and CPS is unable to produce enough evidence to issue an indictment, let alone a conviction.
Ironically, a child's rights are most severely violated by CPS when abuse HAS occurred. You see, as an individual, I have the right to a certain degree of justice if you violate my rights. If you were to routinely abuse me and falsely imprison me, for instance, I have the right to see you go to jail, to be unable to return to further abuse me. A child doesn't have that right, but rather lives knowing that the individual who abused them is still out there, still capable of finding them and continuing the abuse.
I have related to you the story of my half brother, who was brutally murdered by his own father. While his father WAS criminally tried, he was found guilty of "injury to a child" and sentenced to 20 years. It is highly unlikely that the same court would have found the same verdict had he systematically sodomized, tortured, and murdered an adult. As adult children, we lived with the very real concern that he would be released within our lifetime (had he survived prison and served every day of his sentence, which is highly unlikely, he would be being released as a free man, without probation, this coming June). Because we knew the man, and feared what he would do if he was released, we had plans upon his release that would have made felons out of all of us. But it took the brutal rape and murder of a child to even justify a 20 year sentence in the eyes of the law!
If we respect the rights of the children, as we say, we need to RESTORE the rights of the children. When a crime is committed against a child, that child has a fundamental RIGHT to see the criminal face justice before a court of law, not to have the abuse arbitrated before a court appointed counselor.
One other incident I have detailed from my past was the abuse of my stepmother. While I must qualify this by saying I was a less than perfect teen (I must plead that I was, at that time, a product of my environment), she attacked me after I rebelled against having food withheld for three days because of a broken lamp (I was clumsy, she swore it was some kind of vendetta), and slammed my head repeatedly against the concrete pavement. Her consequences were to promise she wouldn't do it again, and sit down in counselling.
I believe very firmly in the rights of a parent to raise their children according to their values and beliefs. But I believe the rights of the children are equally important, and that when a parent's "values and beliefs" include the routine, systematic abuse of a child, then the child's rights must be protected. But in the current system, a child's rights are almost never protected until or unless the child dies. And that is probably the most compelling reason I can offer for the elimination of CPS.