For Connecticut attorney Michael H. Agranoff, working in the area of child protective services simply came naturally to him, he said.
The Ellington resident would not ever tolerate child abuse, he said, but does believe parents and guardians need guidance when it comes to handling any involvement by the state in the raising of children.
Now a veteran of decades of work in that realm, he said he found the court involving juveniles by accident after he had opened his own law office.
“I think God was on my side, because I found my niche. I pioneered a lot of reform,” Agranoff said.
While Agranoff is now semi-retired, he decided to share his knowledge about his child protective services work in a new book, “When the State Knocks: A Parent’s Guide to CPS (Child Protective Services).”
The book, which shares real and detailed examples of cases he dealt with, (using pseudonyms) is intended as a public service and to help people understand “the good and bad of child protective services,” he said.
The target audience is all parents, all parents to be, and their relatives, “so they are aware of what CPS is, (if) they get a referral, and know how to best protect themselves,” Agranoff said.
The state Department of Children and Families declined comment on the book, saying they had not read it.
Noting that he grew up in 1950s when times were different in terms of child protection, he said he thought “people had to know” how it has evolved.
While he also emphasizes that “we do need child protective services because we need child protection,” he also said “people need to know their rights.”
“If you are a good parent you are not protected,” he said.
Agranoff said that when people do not understand what is occurring with DCF, “they get defensive and nervous,” and his goal is for them to learn and to know “how you can defend yourself.”
At the same time, he said. “If the parent was truly unable to be a parent … I would find a way to make sure they would voluntarily terminate their rights.”
Path to legal profession
Agranoff’s road to law and becoming an expert in child protective services was not a straight line.
Agranoff, who was born in Hartford, grew up in West Hartford with his mom and sister, as his father died just before he turned 4. He graduated from Hall High School in 1960, then went to Columbia University, but left to join the Army.
After the Army, he enrolled at the University of Hartford, studying English literature, and was accepted into a teaching program, he said.
Then, one day, in August 1968, he was driving by a school on Asylum Avenue and saw teachers picketing. He realized that teaching was not for him as he was “not going to join a union,” he said.
Instead he got a job at an insurance company as a computer program analyst and eventually went to UConn Law School, from which he graduated magna cum laude, Agranoff said.
After running into what he described as very serious “age discrimination in hiring,” he opened his own firm, he said. It was then he began the private practice defense work in the area of child protective services, he said.
“I just took to it naturally,” he said. “I started getting a reputation statewide of someone who was not a pushover, I was there to protect their rights.”
He said that at the time there was not enough action by lawyers in this realm of work, which did not pay well. Parents were being told the equivalent of “do what DCF says and go away,” he said, referring to the state Department of Children and Families.
But he believed that, “If you can’t do the job you don’t take it.”
Agranoff said a social worker once told him “you are the only lawyer DCF is afraid of.”
He said he “absolutely relished” the work. “I was able to be a bureaucracy fighter. I was able to get justice —- I protected people’s rights.”
He said the, worst time was “when I lost … for my clients.”
Being prepared
Among issues he takes up in the book are explaining what a psychological evaluation really is, and how to prepare for it, strategies for communicating with investigators and social workers, choosing the right attorneys, preparing for court hearings, and understanding legal procedures without “losing hope.” He also explains the history of child protective services.
Part of the book looks at trends that could one day reshape parenting rights in the future, including gender issues and international and political issues, and notes “homeschooling is not the problem,” he said.
In terms of examples, in the section on the court appointment of clinical psychologists, he notes that “It orders the parents (and possibly other adults, or even the kids) to have a psychological evaluation,” and that such cases are known to scare “the parents half to death.”
“They can assume they are going to an an appointed “psychologist and will be examined and possibly tricked. They have no idea what to say or do. A poor evaluation result can mean disaster,” Agranoff wrote.
He then goes on to explain questions that might be asked, documents that might be requested, tests that might be administered and more. Many real examples of cases are included, including detail of actions taken by Agranoff, parents and state officials.
Always noting child protective services have “a serious and important job,” and that “there are many good or excellent CPS social workers,” Agranoff also notes that, “like all government agencies,” CPS can overreach.
He wrote, “not everyone knows how easy it is today for the State to interfere in your family life. It can seize your children temporarily. In some cases it can end your parental rights altogether.”
Real examples he has handled include children taken from parents by protective services, adoptions, accusations against parents and more.
“It is staggering to contemplate how many parents have lost their kids, temporarily or permanently, because they were not prepared for a psychological evaluation,” Agranoff wrote. “Simply mind-boggling. Whether or not this practice should be outlawed in CPS hearings is something I must leave to another day. But lawyers absolutely must help to level the playing field.”
Agranoff noted he is aware of egregious cases involving children injured or who have died in Connecticut in the past year, but could not comment on any that do not involve his clients.
About including elements that could in the future be looked at for parents, such as political leanings, Agranoff said he believed it was “relevant because I think that is the future of child protective services.”
He notes it is a “warning that political opinions could be used as a basis to judge parenting skills.”
“Whether or not licensing of parents could happen — it is not impossible — if it did, I believe we will be no better no better than North Korea.”
Agranoff said he wants people to know he “is no Tom Clancy” but wants to get “the story of the child protective service system out.”