Ca CPS Help

[Cygnet14]

I have a brief question on the laws in Calif regarding CPS. My daughter reported the people who live next door to CPS as they were letting their 2 small run loose unsupervised, dirty, going to the street etc and for smoking pot. To make a long story short they in return reported my daughter for having a " unclean cluttered house". This was completely in revenge for reporting them. They have never ever been in her house & since also she called the police for the pot they did this to cause trouble. So I temporarily have been staying with my daughter & husband to help out ( I have a home in another state). I answered the door 2 weeks ago and this lady identifies herself as from CPS and says she has a complaint that there are 2 children there and the house has been reported as cluttered and unclean. She then says "so you are the grandmother that also lives here" to which I replied that I do not. She then tried to get my daughters name, place of employment, the children's names ( she even had the ages wrong). I told her I would not give out any information. I did make the mistake of initially saying when I first answered the door that she was at work. So she said well she would just wait outside for my daughter to get home to which I replied suit yourself. She also ask me if there was any reason why I would not let her in the house to which I replied I do not ever let strangers in the house. She was trying to look in but I had the door only cracked. She came back 1 week later and I did not answer the door. This week she did not return ( this is the 3rd week since the 1st knock at the door). My question what should we do and can she get a court to force this info and force us to let them in the house? Please any info and suggestions will be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!!!!!!

[florida999]

this goes to show you what happens when you start calling cps on other people. unless I knew for a FACT that a child was being abused I.E. beaten, starved, left alone to fend for themselves ect, I would never call cps on anyone. you reap what you sow, just my opinion of course. unless you daughter new for a fact that those kids across the street where in grave danger, and Im sorry being filthy is not, then she had no business calling on them. my son goes out in the back yard is will come in dirty from head to toe and he is not abused in any way, he is just a toddler having fun. and then you come here because they relatilate against you? if your daughter minded her own business you all wouldnt be in this situation no would you?

[Marina]

.

Hi and welcome to the site.

Here is the federal site

http://www.childwelfare.gov/

and here are the state sites.

http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/ ... /index.cfm

Here is the Parent's Guide to the System
http://www.fightcpspackets.info/Parents ... ystem.html

Ten Tips when the social worker is at your door
http://www.fdno.org/10_tips.html

4) The same rule applies whenever an officer of the court, be it a social worker, police officer, or deputy sheriff, wants you to do anything against your will. You cannot be made to "report to the office" of the social worker or to "bring your children in for an interview" without being served with a court order. Only a judge or magistrate, presented with evidence that you have committed a crime, can issue an order that you are obligated to obey.

5) Ask the investigators the nature of the complaint against you. Ask them to give you the actual state statute number or local ordinance that you have alleged to have violated.

.

[Cygnet14]

It was a hard decision for her to call CPS. She lives in a small maybe 25 unit apt complex on a busy major street. There is a locked iron gate out front but people always leave it ajar since there is no bell and visitors have to go a block around to get in from behind (no gate). My daughter was getting her mail one day and ran after one child who got out the gate and was running to the traffic. There had been MULTIPLE times of stopping this child who is 4yo from the street. I even on 2 occasions stopped the child from the back street. And when they are smoking pot in front of her kitchen window which is beside their living room window the smell was horrible. My daughter was furious as I would have been if I were in her position. But she refuses to have her children exposed to other people cigg/pipe smoke let alone pot smoke coming through your closed window. So no it was not taken lightly to report this. These 2 children are neglected on a daily basis. She had never ever reported anyone prior to this.

[Cygnet14]

Thanks Marina I will check out those sites immediately.

[Frustrated]

That's what happened if we get to call CPS on other people and we get retailiated against. It is very unfortunate. CPS should care about these children. I surely hope for the sake of these poor children, that they are being looked at and investigated. But now it is on record, and if should something happened to these children, these parents will be charged for neglect.

Do not answer the door no more. If there is a court order warrant to see your house, look at the court order to see if it is signed by a Judge. Call the courthouse to make sure the warrant is legit and signed by a Judge. Sometimes they pull up a fake warrant. If they do come back demanding to see your house with a warrant, I would suggest you to clean the house spic and span. Just in case. If she asks invasive questions, make sure to Listen carefully and respond yes or no answers. but no more than that. Do not diviluge all the information to her. Any thing out of sorts, she can use against your daughter. Be careful of these people, they are not the type of people to cross with. They can play dirty games. They are capable of lying, cheat, conning, fabricate reports. Like you said, she even got the ages wrong. All of that will be in the report. And for not showing her the house, she will put down in the report that you have something to hide which is untrue. You are just merely excercising your privacy rights. Make sure you read all the Laws, Rights, and CPS Manual in your State to be knowledgeable and be prepared. Use the Laws against them.

If it goes further than that, and gets worse. Get a Lawyer immediately and do not talk further with this Worker.

[anxiousmom]

There is no way that they will be able to get a court order based on an annoynmous call that the apt. is an "unclean cluttered"home.

To get a court order, there has to be MORE than an annonymous caler---some "evidence" etc.

Most likely they will be able to see that this call was made in retaliation. They are use to those things happening.

[katgotsteve]

we are taught as a society that if we suspect abuse we should report it. that being said, what your daughter did was right if she felt it is what she had to do. unless you have dealt with the system you never know how it can turn on you.
based on what you have said, i do not think you have much to worry about as far as the law is concerned. the way that most agencies change personnel, you probably dont have to worry about the cps case.
if there is no court order or signed safty plan then you just ignore the calls. a dirty or cluttered home does not mandate child abuse/neglect, unless there are health hazards. just hang in there.

[Frustrated]

Come and think of it, I did not even think about this but totally forgot about the possibility!

What if the CPS Worker went to the WRONG HOUSE? What if she is supposed to go over there? That's why the ages are wrong...etc...etc...

I think if she comes back, tell her you were the mandated reporter who called it in. That's it. no more than that. Even they make mistakes like these, such as wrong names, wrong birth dates, WRONG HOUSE! They did this to me once, and I said I am not E******* H********. She goes opps, then asked me where she was. I said right next door. they do seldomly go to the wrong address.

It happens. Did she clearly asked for your daughter's name???? Did she state:

"Hi, I am the CPS Worker name bla, bla....for the CPS Agency *********, I am here for the allegations that your daughter caused on her children ***** from anymomous caller, and I am here to discuss that with you." (something like that of same nature of wording)

Did she say that? She was supposed to identify herself, and why she is there, and she has to state what allegations are....and what the nature of the investigation are....

It could very well she got mixed up with your daughter with the other neglecter.