Child protective services?

I have a niece that lives with her father (my sister died when she was young) who is constantly drunk and broke. They live in a trailer on some land about twenty minutes outside of town. He has a criminal record for drunk driving, doesn't pay his property taxes, gambles what little money he makes, neglects his daughter, lets the utilities get turned off, etc, etc. My niece even told her teachers at school about it, and they called child protective services, which have been contacted numerous times already about the situation. They sent him a subpena to appear in court twice, he no-showed both times, so the case is dropped, because  they can't be sure he got the notices, because he doesn't answer the door when they deliver them. It's starting to sound like child protective service is another oxymoron.

I know there are horror stories about what happens to kids that are taken from their parents too, and where they could end up, especially since she is about to turn fourteen. But she has family that is more than willing to take her, if allowed to. In fact, my father spent tens of thousands trying to get custody of her just before my sister died, but no one wanted to support him at the time, so he lost.


Anyway, does this matter?