Baby Injury

[totallystressed]

On Saturday i noticed a small bump on my godsons head. I called his mom and we took him to the ER. The Dr. said it was fine and not to worry and sent us home!! On Monday evening the small bump and turned into a huge swelling on his head!! We immediately took him to the ER. The doctors immediately admitted him and called CPS. They are now trying to say that he has a small fracture on his skull and that it was NOT accidental!!!! The baby is 6 months old and is the youngest of 5 children. The mother is a very good mom and would never harm her kids!!! We are unsure if one of the kids might have accidentally dropped him and are scared to tell that they will be in trouble!!! They have done, X-rays and MRI and that is the only problem. He has no bruise on the outside of his head or body!!!! CPS is standing firm and wanting to take the children but have no grounds or proof and are fishing for evidence. They baby is a twin and they are even requesting the other baby be checked out and the mom refused. My question is what rights do CPS actually have? Do they legally have rights to the medical records if i have not been charged? PLEASE HELP!!!! What can we do????

[mamalion]

what state are you in? do you have a lawyer? is the baby admitted?

Is there something the mother has to hide? If CPS can see the other child is fine and the other kids are happy and well and the house is OK they will feel better about the case.

Is there something in the medical record you want to hide?

If they are going to investigate they will be able to get records and do as they wish with coming into the home and interviewing the kids.


Unless there is somthing your hiding, she should work with them right now to try to prove it was an accident

[mamalion]

also if the child is still admitted the mother should ask about a vit d level, if the baby is low then that could cause a simple bump having so much effect.

Again if she refuses and is difficult they will just think she is hiding something and go further with their actions.

[totallystressed]

She has nothing to hide from any of them she's just really frustrated that no one is telling her anything and being sneaky!! The baby is admitted for observation and testing. CPS came out and saw the other kids and saw there was nothing wrong with any of the kids or her home. She just wants to know her rights about them having her medical records and she's frustrated that when we brought him on Saturday they said it was just soft tissue and that he was okay...but now that we were concerned they are putting the blame on her.

[mamalion]

if they are doing an investigation they have a right to the medical record. there can't much in it in 6 months, again is there something in there you think is harmful?

if they are the type to make up stuff they will just get a court order and do that at a later date vs today

[tonymoo]

If you can afford a lawyer, get one ASAP.

The decision whether to cooperate or not is probably the most important one for anybody facing CPS and it needs to be made early. A lawyer can discuss the pros and cons with you - especially with respect to your individual town/county/state.

They have no "right" to anything. They have policies and will make requests but it is up to the parents how they want to play it.

If you decide not to cooperate always be polite. If the CPS worker says "Our policy requires access to all the children's medical records.", just politely say "We're private people, but if you get a court order, I'll be happy to help you locate them." Try to avoid the word "No."

I remember when the CPS worker for our case (very minor case) wanted to interview me, I said I wanted to talk to my lawyer and have him present. She immediately pulled out the "if you have nothing to hide ..." speech. My quick response was "You are a government investigator. If you asked me if bin Laden was hiding in my basement, I wouldn't answer you without a lawyer present. Absolute rule I have. Sorry." There was and could be no response to that.

If your state allows it, secretly record all conversations with them. Especially if you don't cooperate, the worker may snap and give you a basis to sue them later.

[Michael]

In Texas CPS does have access to children's records, as long as there is a open investigation. They would not have access to other children in the home records.

[mamalion]

Tony I don't think you understand that they are already investigating, they will get the medical record.

A lawyer is always a good idea for any family in a case like this. I think a lot of times though people get way to defensive early on
and it makes a social worker think there is a bigger issue than there is.

We went through one "unfounded" case all by ourselves. We did everything they asked within reason. I could tell had I been difficult she would have went gung-ho.

This past time, well they just removed, they didn't even bother to investigate. We did have a lawyer so my advice to others I learned after $60,000 of legal bills

[tonymoo]

MamaLion, I don't agree that they have access to medical records just because they are investigating. I don't know the law for any state other than NY but in NY they must have the parent''s signature or a court order. I agree that because the case involves a medical issue, CPS could probably get a court order but a lawyer could also fight it and get it narrowed (perhaps to records involving injury). If I am accused of beating my kids, that doesn't give justification to check my kids' immunization records, for example.

As I said, it is simply a question of whether a person wishes to cooperate or to fight. Each case is different. I chose to cooperate (mostly) and things turned out fine. I helped a friend hire a lawyer and not cooperate at all and fight her case at every point including appealing a couple of different rulings. Her case also turned out fine although with the CPS worker screaming at her at the end that she knew my friend was guilty but all the lawyers stopped her from saving the child. LOL.