CPS SUPPORTED INVESTIGATION

[kmorm]

PLEASE ANSWER MY QUESTION...I AM FROM MA....CPS HAS SUPPORTED MY NEGLECT ACCUSATION. I HAD SOME WINE IN THE PRIVACY OF MY OWN HOME AND MY SON GOT UPSET AND THE SCHOOL CALLED CPS HE IS 15 YEARS OLD I ALSO HAVE A 19 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER IN COLLEGE....MY QUESTION IS DO I HAVE TO MEETI WITH THEM AGAIN..I ALREADY MET WITH THE INVESTIGATORS....THEY SENT ME A LETTER SAYING THEY WOULD BE IN TOUCH WITH A SERVICE PLAN..WHAT ARE MY RIGHTS HERE..I DO NOT WANT TO SEE THEM AGAIN..MY SON DOES NOT WANT TO SEE THEM AGAIN.. NO CRIMINAL CHARGES WERE FILED. KIM

[Marina]

Go to your state gov. website and find the CPS policy manual.

[EvieOhshe]

What did the school report that you did?

[good dad]

Welcome to the site k

Here are a few links to look at:

http://www.fightcps.com/articles/whattodo.html

http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/cpscourtorder.php

http://kidjacked.com/legal/handbook.asp

[kmorm]

What did the school report that you did?

reported that i have a drinking problem i guess

[kmorm]

What did the school report that you did?

reported that i have a drinking problem i guess

[EvieOhshe]

What did the school report that you did?

reported that i have a drinking problem i guess

If there isn't solid evidence, like driving while intox tickets, or police reports of you being drunk in public, CPS doesn't have sufficient cause to decide you have a drinking problem.

[Momoffor]

What did CPS state is the reason for the 'safety plan"?

[kmorm]

I have not met with social worker yet...just investigators 2 of them...just a letter in the mail saying neglect was supported and social worker will be in touch with me...The doctor I work for sent the supervisor a letter of character about me and I sent a letter to them saying how I disagree with the findings of neglect...my son is an honor roll student and athlete he is 15....my husband was angry at me we are talking about divorce and he said all these horrible things about me drinking....have not drank since all this happened...do i have to sign a service plan there is no criminal charges my son is still with us...there were no police involved.

[good dad]

do i have to sign a service plan

Not unless a judge orders you to, they will have to take you to court first..

MY QUESTION IS DO I HAVE TO MEETI WITH THEM AGAIN..I ALREADY MET WITH THE INVESTIGATORS.

When you meet with investigators, if your story "appears to go along" with the accusations, they will find in support of the allegation..

Something like this could easily be overturned during an Administrative Appeal but you must request it.

What state are you in?

[kmorm]

I Am in MA I work 40-50 hours a week as a Registered Medical assistant....i don't have the time to appeal the supported allegation. Thank you for any help you can give me....Do you think they would go to all that trouble with court if no criminal charges or police were involved.

[good dad]

....i don't have the time to appeal the supported allegation.

You have to fight it, you face being placed in the National Registry as an abuser/neglector.
This will significantly effect any employment opportunities involving supervising or working with children or the elderly, it may even effect your present job.

Do you think they would go to all that trouble with court if no criminal charges or police were involved.

99% of CPS cases involve NO criminal charges or police involvement.
It is so much easier to find a person guilty in civil/family court, where guilt is based on the "preponderance of the evidence", than in criminal court, which is based on "beyond a reasonable doubt" evidence.

Here is a link to Ma. laws, CPS falls under 18B and 18C
http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/gl-pt1-toc.htm

Here is a link that may answer some of your questions:
http://www.masslegalhelp.org/children-a ... article#do

[HappyMommyx4]

I have no criminal charges against me either. I lived in a 2,400 square foot home that was appraised at $350.000 with a well-stocked fridge (2 of them actually) and my children are straight A students. They are up to date on immunizations and we go in for all of our checkups including dental. I am being accused of failure to provide adequate housing, health care, food, and clothing. My husband became violent one time and it was secondary to PTSD after the war. They believe I will not protect the children from him. My point is....you have to stand up and fight this and do it right this very minute. Don't wait until they are at your door to remove your children. Be proactive. If they think you're an alcoholic then going to AA sure wouldn't hurt even if you're truly not an alcoholic. Show them you are doing everything you can. There is no such thing as not having enough time when it comes to keeping your kids out of the hands of these people. If they say neglect has been supported then your son must have told them some pretty bad stuff. I know from experience that they twist what you say as well. I know we all have our different standards but you have to realize that to some people (meaning CPS) drinking in front of a child is not acceptable and you have to be ready to prove that this is not something you do and if you did that you are not ever going to do it again.

[anxiousmom]

HappyMommyx4,

Would you mind sharing more about your story?


Were you still living in the 2400 sq. foot home when you were accused of failure to provide adequate housing, health care, food, and clothing?

Was the house messy or something? That just doesn't make sense.

Are you & the kids still living in the house? Did your DH have to move out?

How can they charge you with not having adequate housing, food, etc?

[anxiousmom]

kmorm,

I am fairly certain there will NOT be criminal charges brought against you.

Most likely they will want to involve you & your family in a service plan for 6 mos. or so.....most likely involving counseling, perhaps having you attend AA, etc.

You stated you were drinking wine in your own home & your son got upset. What did he get upset about???

Where you drunk? Acting mean, slurring your words, unsteady in your walk? Did you throw things? Did you & your son get in an arguement? Did you get loud? I'm just trying to assess the situation. I am not judgeing you or anything.

Did you son get upset because he wants you to stop drinking and/or you had previously promised to stop drinking?

Millions of Americans, including judges, lawyers, CPS workers, etc., (i.e. upstanding individuals) drink wine or other alcoholic drinks in the privacy of their own home. Think of all the men slurping beers up while watching football on TV.

Drinking in the privacy of your own home is not criminal. Getting drunk in your own home is not criminal.

Now having said all that, have you objectively & honestly evaluated your drinking to determine if you do have a drinking problem? I am in NO way saying you do....I don't even know you. But, millions of Americans do have drinking problems.....and many, many are "functional" alcoholics....meaning they still hold down jobs, even professional & well paid jobs.

Even if CPS stays involved in your lives for 6 mos. or so, it's not going to go on for very long due to your son's age...he is almost 16. At 16, they have to also have in place...oh, I forget the word...a plan to work with him on becoming/learning independence.

At 16, and especially at 17, CPS doesn't like to be involved with the kids....since they will soon be turning 18 & out of their grasp.

I do think you should request an Administrative review. It is NOT going to take up alot of your time, or even much of your time. If you win the Admin. review, you'd be spending LESS time with CPS, as then they would no longer be involved in ya'll's lives at all.

Now.....I will tell you that CPS workers will discourage you from filing an Admn. review. But, it is your RIGHT to file it, so don't let them bully or discourage you.

That said, Admn. reviews are hard to win......it's CPS people doing the review.

[HappyMommyx4]

My story is posted in the military section of this forum.

We had moved on to the base in a beach front home that is nice, smaller than the other home though but very nice. When the CPI first came to our home we lived in the enormous house. We had already signed for the base house and the CPI knew I was moving there and knew my husband would also be living on the base and she had no problem with it. Suddenly a month later she said her supervisor thought that two miles was too close to us to live together. We could see the beach from my front porch and spent afternoons walking on the beach and collecting shells together. My house was not messy. We didn't even have much junk food in our house. We don't drink and have never done any drugs. I had just been to Sam's and bought broccoli, carrots, and grapes in bulk for snack time. I am an Army wife and keep my house very clean. There were 4 cereal bowls soaking in hot water and suds in the sink from the hot oatmeal my kids had eaten an hour before they arrived.

I have high ranking people in my house all the time. I am well liked and well respected in my husband's unit and people drop by to check on us (he was forced to move out by the judge in the criminal case until he has more psychiatric treatment). My point is that in the military if they dropped in and my house was a mess I would have been told to clean it up and that was far from the case.

The accusations are just absolute crap. My lawyer even agrees it is absurd, she thinks it will get dropped completely at the adjudication hearing next week but she also said nothing about this is "normal."

There is nothing wrong with having a drink in your home as long as you're not getting drunk while responsible for a child. If you were drunk and something happened to upset your son that is a very very different story than just having a drink in your home. Based on my experience thus far, I would NOT wait to be told to go to AA. Be as proactive as you can be.

[good dad]

Even if CPS stays involved in your lives for 6 mos. or so, it's not going to go on for very long due to your son's age...he is almost 16.

I have to disagree, in this particular case and any that future employment may involve working with kids or the elderly, the punishment lasts many years because you remain on the registry for years after the child turns 18.

That said, Admn. reviews are hard to win......it's CPS people doing the review.

CPS twists almost anything into abuse or neglect, in the appeal if you can convince the judge that, in this case, drinking wine in your home with no signs of true neglect is NOT what the legislatures had in mind when developing laws that deal with placing a person on an abuse and neglect registry.

If so, it makes the abuse and neglect registry pointless.

[anxiousmom]

gooddad,

My point was that at almost 16 years of age, CPS is not going to be iinvolved with the family for very long. My point had nothing to do with how long you are in the registry or future employment, etc.

But, I will say, that I personally am not so convinced that being in the registry affects people as much as we think or assume.

Here's why I think that:

1. 2002 was the first time CPS was involved in our lives & the first cae they opened. It had to do with our house. As I've stated here before, I had a condition called hoarding....it's an obsessive compulsive disorder....and our houe was a mess.

At that time, they just worked with our family for about 6 mos......NO threat of removing the children or anything like that.

We entered into the family based services "program."

We were substansiated (sp?) with neglect......which still burns, as the wording is something like "failure to provide adequate housing, foood & clothing." It's like a standard statement....yet, we had plenty of food & never went hungry, much less NEVER let our children go hungry. Our children also had plenty of clothes. Food & clothing was never even discussed by CPS....so, we weren't really "guilty" of not providing adequate clothing & food.....CPS never accussed of us that, but yet, there it was included in the blanket "neglect' substantiation.


I am digressing...sorry....Anyway, we ofcourse, had great concerns about being in the registry. At the time, my now ex-husb. was in school full time earning his master's degree, an MBA, which he went on to complete. So, we were worried about him being able to get a good job upon graduation.

I know CPS workers don't tell the truth at times...trust me, I know that...they lie on court forms, they exaggerate things, they lie to clients, lie in court, etc.....not all cps workers, ofcourse, but many do.

However, the cps worker assigned to us in the family based services program & our counselor (who I totally did trust & went on to use privately later at CPS was out of our lives) told us that....and I can't remember their exact wordings...that being on the registry wouldn't affect his employment.

2. That year or the next year...can't remember...my ex-husb. began working part time as needed as a substitute teacher in our school district...mostly working in elementary schools. So, being on the registry didn't keep him from getting that job & working with children.

On a side note, they also substansiated us with something else.....which really bothered me & even our counselor felt it was wrong & inaccurate of them.....I can't remember the exact wokding ...but, it was like child endangerment or something like that.....ALL because cps said our younger 2 boys rode bikes on our cul-de-sac street....which they did NOT & suppossedly a neighbor or two said they had seen them in the street before. Our younger children were never allowed in the street & if they ever did that, it was for a minute & they were well aware they were not allowed to do it, etc.

My exhusb. confronted our neighbor about it & my ex asked him "Do you mean when they would get the mail our of the mailbox (which is at the our lawn) & would make a little half circle right there by our mailbox in the street?" and he said "Yes.'

It was absolutely absured.

And, if you saw our street......IF a child was to ever be on a street (Which I in NO way think a young child should be)....it's like a picture of the safest, quietest street in Americana....a cul-de-sac in side of a subdivision that has only one entrance & the exit is the same as the entrance.

The thing that bothered me most about the substansiation of "child endangerment" (I can't even remember if that is the correct term) is it listed things like "physical endangerment, yada yada yada (can't remember) AND had in the "blanket' definition "sexual abuse' or some wording about sexual abuse.

We were appaulled (sp?) & offended that that was in there when we were in NO WAY EVER accussed of or guilty of anything like that. CPS knew we had never done that & it was not an issue in our case, but there the wording was in the blanket statement.....so, if someone read the blanket statement, they could inaccurately assume that we had done ALL of the things included in the blanket statement....i.e. physical abuse, sexual abuse, etc. when not only had we NEVER physically or sexually abused our children, but we were not even accused of doing such things by CPS or anyone else. So, WHY was it included in the blanket definition?

Regardless of that, my exhusb. still got employed as a substitute teacher in our school district working primarily with elementary school children.

[anxiousmom]

good dad wrote:

"CPS twists almost anything into abuse or neglect, in the appeal if you can convince the judge that, in this case, drinking wine in your home with no signs of true neglect is NOT what the legislatures had in mind when developing laws that deal with placing a person on an abuse and neglect registry.

If so, it makes the abuse and neglect registry pointless."

It is my understanding, from talking to our previous cps family based service worker AND from reading the Texas CPS manual that cps administrative reviews are NOT held by a JUDGE!! They are held by a dept. of CPS.

[Marina]

It varies in each state.

See

Child Welfare Information Gateway,
State Statutes Search

Review and Expunction
of Central Registries
and Reporting Records

http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/ ... tryall.pdf