So What's a Father to Do?

I've found quite a few websites relating to the struggles parents have had in dependency court. It's certainly understandable how the pain and frustration of the experience leads people to seek a place where they can vent their feelings and maybe figure out a way to either "get back"at the beast that bit them or help others stay out of the meat grinder of the CPS system. One thing that is common to all of these websites is that the parents believe that they have been wronged.

I am wondering whether there are any serious academic studies of dependency court cases. Given that these cases are confidential, any studies would no doubt have to de-identify the parties involved. The first thing it would be interesting to know is just what percent of petitions filed against parents by the state are contested by the parents, and what percent are not. When we had our very first hearing, I wanted to contest the allegations of the petition. I was certain that if my wife and I had the opportunity to explain our side of things, someone in a position of authority would certainly listen to reason, realize that the whole matter was a huge mistake and dismiss it at once.

Boy, was I naive.