A child died and Child Protective Services (CPS) was involved. At some point a lawsuit is filed. The allegations can be encyclopedic: wrongful death, negligence, failure to properly investigate, inadequate supervision and training, etc. The plaintiff's attorney sees red flags everywhere. Defense attorneys see waves of discretionary decisions that had to be made. Wading through thousands of documents, each side seeks to identify the key players and moments in the removal decision-making process.

Many decisions to remove a child from his or her caretaker are easily made. The abuse is horrific and the person who caused it has already been arrested. Or, it's an obvious case of a disgruntled former spouse making a false allegation. In these kinds of cases, a phone call from the front-line CPS investigator to her supervisor is brief and their joint decision is clear. Many other removal decisions are not so simple. Because child protective services law, policy and practice are complex, supervisors play key roles regarding the way in which the department responds.