fightcps.com

This should work in most cases.

Let's say our fictional caseworker is Ms. Marey Smith of Tucson, Arizona (Pima County), but she refuses to give you her work email.

1. Go to your county's official website. (Google your county, for example Pima County Arizona. Their official website should be one of the first results you get.)

2. Poke around the county website until you find an email address for someone. The "Employment" or "County Jobs" page is usually a good bet.

3. Let's say the address you find is "[email protected]" or "[email protected]".

4. Delete everything before the "@". Now add your caseworker's first name, DOT, last name. In our example, we end up with [email protected].

5. Be prepared for your caseworker to be majorly frosted about this. Too bad. She's a public servant and her email address is not her personal property. It's paid for and maintained by the state. If she asks where you got her address, just tell her it was easy to figure out, since she's a county employee.

(Be aware that letters to public officials are considered a matter of public record under some circumstances. Proceed with due caution.)

Just a few precautions on how to proceed. These ideas apply whether you email your caseworker or print out a letter and mail it. Remember that documentation is a two-edged sword!

- Keep your emails or letters short, simple, and to the point. Summarize, don't detail.
- Don't include anything that might incriminate you.
- Don't insult anyone.
- Don't be sarcastic. They may take your sarcastic words at face value.
- Use plain, straightforward language.
- Be careful with pronouns. ("She said she put her shoes on her bed." Is that all the same "she," or are we talking about two or more females? Better to have a sentence that's awkward than one that's ambiguous. "Mary said that Sarah put Mary's shoes on Mary's bed," is much clearer.)
- For what it's worth, don't email in the middle of the night. Yes, I really have heard of a caseworker using this against the parent, as proof that the parent was unstable.