Can CPS deny placement with relatives based on drug test results?

Q: Can CPS deny placement with relatives based on drug test results?

In The Interest of W.G., M.G., A.G., Children: When a parent faces long-term incarceration, the survival of their parental rights often depends entirely on the viability of their proposed kinship placements; practitioners must proactively vet relatives—specifically through independent drug testing—as a relative's substance abuse can effectively seal the parent's fate in a termination proceeding.

This question has been addressed in 1 Texas court opinion:

In The Interest of W.G., M.G., A.G., Children

COA14 — February 13, 2026

The Fourteenth Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court's decree terminating a father’s parental rights following his ten-year sentence for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Although the father was previously a primary caretaker, his long-term incarceration created a vacuum of care that he attempted to fill by proposing a kinship placement with the children's paternal grandparents. The court analyzed the case under Texas Family Code § 161.001(b)(1) and the Holley v. Adams best-interest factors, concluding that the grandmother’s repeated positive drug tests for cocaine rendered the proposed placement unsuitable. The court held that the father’s criminal conduct, coupled with the failure to provide a safe, drug-free alternative environment, provided legally and factually sufficient evidence to support termination.

Litigation Takeaway

“When a parent faces long-term incarceration, the survival of their parental rights often depends entirely on the viability of their proposed kinship placements; practitioners must proactively vet relatives—specifically through independent drug testing—as a relative's substance abuse can effectively seal the parent's fate in a termination proceeding.”