Childrens' Rights

[tstauffer]

We are currently under investigation by CPS for the second time. The first time cost us $6000 in legal fees and it was dismissed without prejudice after almost a year of jumping through hoops. The charge was medical neglect and unsanitary conditions. The first time, my husband had just had a stroke and I was working 45 hours a week with a disability, so the house was a disaster.

Now two years later, they are back because I answered my teacher's questions about my son's medicine wrong. But this time, we know our rights. We ended up letting the worker in the house becuase we have nothing to hide, but we asked for a warrant and she said we could make it hard or easy. We taped the interview.

Now today, my 10-yo told me she came to his school. I'd given all my kids a plastic encased notice that reads:

NOTICE TO GOVERNMENT AGENTS

You are hereby informed that I have a right to have my parents present prior to answering any questions. I am now exercising that right and request that you contact my parents immediately.

My son said he gave it to her, she read it, and then ignored it. He answered her questions because she was a nice lady. I am so angry, I could spit. She was asking questions about our housekeeping and if we cleaned the house before her visit. Of course we cleaned it. I always do extra cleaning when we are expecting visitors.

Why aren't these workers trained in civil rights? What can I do to protect my kids from these people?

[MaggieC]

The only advice I can give to you is to retain counsel. You are under their scrutiny. Also, please think about moving out of their jurisdiction.

I am so sorry that you are undergoing this abuse.
Stand up to them with counsel. The only way, in my humble opinion, to force them to stand down is to do so with an able attorney at your side.

They are scared when an attorney is involved-otherwise, again in my humble opinion, they will rake you through the coals.

[kelz03103]

my children also carry those cards , and they had better not be ignored , i have trained my children to not speak no matter what and demand some one call their parents, but I went one step further, in our case i found out the councelor at the school reports everythig, so I called a meeting , had this councelors report in my hand ,I had a meeting with the councelor the principal and the assistant principal and I let them know my children are carrying these cards. it is a seizure and a violation of the 4th amendment to be questioned at school, and any person including a child has the right to have a witness, or attorney present, and one right everyone seems to ignore is the RIGHT of a parent to speak FOR their child. 14th amendment states: No state shall make or enforce new laws ect ect, u can look up the whole thing, in my OPINION the entire child protection act is one of these new laws. here is an example 48.981(3)(c) 1.is a clearly unconstitutional provision, to spite it's good intentions. It permits government officials to interview a child at "any location without parental permission. Governmental objectives MAY NOT ovveride the constitutional protections afforded by the 4th and 14th amendments thus this provision authorizes government officials to interview children suspected of being abused , on private property without a warrant, probable cause, consent or exigent circumstances, it is clearly unconstitutional as applied. also a side note if this same child was in a police station suspected of arson or vandalism , or wutever other thing, they have to have the parent present to question the child, UNLESS the parent agrees to waive the childs rights. I don't see any of us waiving these rights in the schools. it needs to be stopped and reformed.I am going to put cell phones in my kids pockets and they can call me when the government agents illegally seize them. ok I'm ranting good luck ~Kelz~

[kelz03103]

sorry to babble on, but I wanted to add this , I agree they do tend to loose some of the wind in their sails when there is an attorney, it doen't matter to me if you have one or not, tell them you do, tell your children to tell them you do, do not be "un cooperative" just reply as many times as it takes, " I'm sorry I cannot discuss this with you until I consult with my attorney"

[samangjen]

I'm sorry to be blunt, but that card is only as good as the child that possesses it is strong minded. I don't know if it can be used later that the social worker ignored it, but being as he cooperated, I doubt it.

I am, as previously stated elsewhere in this site, anti-lawyer. But that is because I work in the manner of the Constitution. I truly believe if enough people fought in the manner of proving that CPS doesn't have constitutionally permitted power, they would soon fail. The problem is parents are not willing to chance the loss of their children to prove a point. (And who can really fault that?) If you aren't well versed in law or a quick learner, then of course, a lawyer is your best hope. However, having a lawyer doesn't mean that you don't have to learn about law. Remember lawyers MUST pass a state bar, which is administered by guess who, yes, the same state that is allowing one of their agencies put these absurd claims against you.

I think Kelz hit the main point, she trained her children to not speak no matter what. At the time that I had my case starting, they came to the school and questioned my children. My (then) 9 year old fought them tooth and nail. She had demanded that I be there, told the truth and CPS got ticked because she wouldn't lie for them on tape. They kept her in the room and wouldn't let her eat lunch until she told them what the social worker wanted to hear. My (then) 11 year old caved within minutes, but she has mental disabilities. (Moral: It takes a really strong child not to cave with a supposed authority figure and possibly a police officer having them cornered.)

To directly answer your question on why CPS isn't trained, that one is simple, unless you have raised your children to not give out information (which most parents don't, and even help CPS along by telling them to cooperate with authority figures.), they know that the child will cave. Once CPS has the information it is "too late". They know that most lawyers will give the advice to their clients to jump through the proverbial hoop to retain, get back their children. Parents will do it because they love their children. So why would they change their manner?

Unfortunately, I don't have an answer to the second question. But whatever stand you do take, just remember that you are doing the best that you can to protect them.