CPS should not hesitate to remove children when appropriate. A special word needs to be said about sexual assault. When children are sexually victimized, the CPS response must be swift because what begins as fondling often ends in rape, and just as physical assault often begets physical assault, sexual assault often begets sexual assault. When children are sexually victimized, they are damaged in a complex way. The damage can be beyond our capacity to heal.
Victims often become offenders.
The Criminal Justice Policy Council discusses in its report some of the data relating to victims becoming offenders. CPS treats many victimized children in programs for the offenders that they have become. Treatment is expensive and cure is uncertain. Finally, a word needs to be said about demographics. Recall that of all the states, Texas has the second largest number of children and the largest proportion of children to total population.