How to Ask for an ARIF (Administrative Review of CPS Findings) in Texas

The short answer

An Administrative Review of Investigation Findings (ARIF) is an informal review by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) Tex. Fam. Code §261.001(2) for a person who has been designated a perpetrator, or a victim/perpetrator, of child abuse or neglect 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(a). You must ask for it in writing within 45 days after you receive notice of the findings 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(b). Within 45 days after DFPS receives your request, DFPS must hold the review or tell you that you are not eligible, unless the review is postponed 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(d).

Who can ask for an ARIF?

The Family Code says a person alleged to have abused or neglected a child who disputes DFPS's findings may ask for an administrative review Tex. Fam. Code §261.309(c). DFPS policy says it provides an ARIF when its investigators make a Reason to Believe finding against a person, and that designated perpetrator (the person DFPS found responsible) asks for a review DFPS CPS Handbook § 1240 (Administrative Review of Investigation Findings).

A victim/perpetrator is a child age 10 or older whom DFPS found was abused or neglected and also abused or neglected other children in the home 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.497(b). If you are a minor, your parent or guardian may also speak for you at the review 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(g). If you are now 18 or older and want to challenge a Reason to Believe finding made when you were a minor, your request counts as on time if you have not had an ARIF before and are not otherwise ineligible 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(b).

Which findings qualify?

The ARIF rule is written for people with the designated perpetrator or victim/perpetrator role 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(a). Under DFPS policy, the finding that leads to an ARIF is a Reason to Believe finding against you DFPS CPS Handbook § 1240 (Administrative Review of Investigation Findings). Other findings lead to other roles. If the overall finding is Ruled Out or Administrative Closure, everyone named gets the role "no role," and Unable to Determine and Unable to Complete carry "unknown" roles 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.497(b). None of those is a designated perpetrator role 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.497(b).

You are not entitled to an ARIF for a finding if a court has already issued a ruling consistent with that specific finding 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(c).

If your question is about where your case stands, or you have a complaint about staff conduct or DFPS policy, the Family Code gives a separate informal review Tex. Fam. Code §261.309(b). DFPS must do that review within 14 days after it receives your request or complaint Tex. Fam. Code §261.309(b).

What is the deadline, and when does the clock start?

Your deadline: 45 days, counted from when you receive notice of the findings, not from the day the investigation closed 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(b). The request must be in writing 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(b).

DFPS's deadline: within 45 days after DFPS receives your request, it must hold the ARIF or tell you that you are not eligible 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(d). The Family Code also says the review must happen as soon as possible and by the 45th day, unless DFPS has good cause to extend it Tex. Fam. Code §261.309(d). In fiscal year 2025, DFPS reported that ARIFs in family investigations took an average of 62 calendar days, not counting time to produce records DFPS, Briefing to the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services (July 2026).

Stay reachable. After you ask, DFPS will contact you to schedule the review 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(e). If DFPS cannot reach you and you do not respond within 30 days of its first attempt, the review will not go forward and you give up your right to an ARIF 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(e). DFPS may reschedule if it decides you had a good reason for missing that window 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(e).

Postponements. DFPS may postpone the ARIF while a civil or criminal suit, or a criminal investigation, about the same events is pending, or for other good cause 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(f). If it does, it must tell you in writing within 45 days after receiving your request 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(f). The notice will give the length of the delay or tell you to let DFPS know when the case or investigation ends 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(f). If you are still eligible, DFPS must then hold the ARIF within 45 days after it is told the case or investigation is complete 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(f).

How do I ask, and what happens at the review?

Before interviewing an alleged perpetrator, DFPS must tell the person in writing that they may ask for an administrative review Tex. Fam. Code § 261.3091. The findings letter DFPS sends at the end of the investigation explains how to ask DFPS, A Guide to Child Protective Investigations. DFPS says requests should go to its Office of Appeals at [email protected] DFPS, A Guide to Child Protective Investigations.

The review is run by a DFPS resolution specialist who was not involved in the investigation and did not directly supervise it 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(g). It is informal. You may appear, make statements, give relevant written materials and ask questions 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(g). You may bring a lawyer or other legal representative and a support person, but the support person may not take part 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(g). Your witnesses must send their statements in writing 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(g).

The resolution specialist may review the case record, ask questions and gather other relevant information 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(h). Formal rules of evidence do not apply, and there is no formal witness testimony 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(h). The specialist must confirm that any Reason to Believe finding is supported by a preponderance of the evidence 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(h). DFPS explains that phrase as meaning more likely than not, once all the evidence is weighed DFPS, Investigations. The specialist may look at every allegation in the investigation, but decides only the findings that pertain to you 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(h) 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(i).

You can ask for a copy of your record. DFPS says a person seeking an ARIF may request a redacted copy, and that its timeframe to produce it is 45 business days from the request DFPS, Briefing to the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services (July 2026). See How to Get Your CPS Case Records in Texas.

What can the outcome be?

The resolution specialist must issue a written decision that upholds, reverses or alters the findings 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(i). A Reason to Believe finding may be upheld, or reversed to Unable to Determine or Ruled Out 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(i). It may also be changed to a different type of abuse or neglect 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(i). If a finding is reversed or altered, DFPS must change its records to match 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(j). State law also says DFPS's rules must require it to remove your name from the central registry within 10 business days after it gets notice that the finding was overturned in an administrative review Tex. Fam. Code § 261.002.

If the finding is upheld, you may be able to appeal to the DFPS Office of Consumer Affairs (OCA) DFPS Office of Consumer Affairs Handbook § 5000 (Appealing an ARIF). You must go through the ARIF first DFPS Office of Consumer Affairs Handbook § 5000 (Appealing an ARIF). The OCA request must be in writing, and OCA must receive it within 45 calendar days of the date you were notified of the ARIF decision DFPS Office of Consumer Affairs Handbook § 5000 (Appealing an ARIF).

If you are entitled to a hearing at the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH), DFPS may skip the ARIF and go straight to that hearing 40 Tex. Admin. Code §707.505(k). You do not have to finish this review process before seeking a remedy in court that the law provides Tex. Fam. Code §261.309(e). The review does not cover court orders Tex. Fam. Code §261.309(f).

What the law says

If, after the department's investigation, the person who is alleged to have abused or neglected a child disputes the department's determination of whether child abuse or neglect occurred, the person may request an administrative review of the findings. A department employee in administration who was not involved in or did not directly supervise the investigation shall conduct the review. The review must sustain, alter, or reverse the department's original findings in the investigation.

In plain words: if you dispute DFPS's findings after an investigation, you can ask for a review by a DFPS employee who was not part of the investigation.

To be eligible, you must request an ARIF, in writing, within 45 days after receiving notice of the findings of the investigation. If you are 18 years of age or older and are requesting an ARIF to challenge a reason-to-believe finding made against you when you were a minor, your request will be considered timely and we will grant your request if you have not previously had an ARIF and are not otherwise found ineligible.

In plain words: your written request is due within 45 days after you receive the findings notice.

Questions to ask a lawyer

• When did I receive notice of the findings, and what is my exact ARIF deadline?
• My finding was not Reason to Believe. Is there any way for me to dispute it?
• Should I request my case record before the review, and will that affect timing?
• Is there a pending court case or criminal investigation that could postpone my ARIF?
• Am I entitled to a SOAH hearing instead of, or after, an ARIF?
• What written materials and witness statements should I send to the resolution specialist?

Related

• CPS Investigation Findings in Texas: Reason to Believe, Ruled Out and More
• How to Get Your CPS Case Records in Texas
• Your Right to a Lawyer in a Texas CPS Case
• The Texas CPS Investigation Process, Step by Step (Family Code §§261.301–261.302)
• Texas CPS Glossary: Plain-Language Terms Parents Hear