Investigation was leaked- false accusations- forced safety

[Jayncarao]

Six weeks ago two "investigators" (Title Child Welfare Specialist) I live in Oklahoma . Came to my house, I welcomed them with open arms, I had nothing to hide. They wouldn't tell me why they were here, except that a call came in and they want to follow up on concerns, They used the term assessment, but they really did an investigation, called all four of my children in a separate room one by one, then me (mother) then my husband (father) and in 1.5 hours assessed my family enough to tell us that that they will either have my husband be removed from the house for possible DV and maybe child abuse. They threatened to either put our children in DHS custody or have us sign a voluntary safety plan. My oldest is 13, second is 6 and two that are 5. Two days later we had a big meeting with the whole department, along with my two family friends as our safety monitors. They forced us to either admit guilt to things that never happened, or take our children from us. The FCS division took action, even though it had been less then a week since this interrogation meeting. A lot has surfaced since then and the CWS don't listen to anything, all my 13 yr old child wants is his cell phone back, more freedom and time with his friends, he stated nothing about abuse, he only mentioned he want more quality time with his Dad. The last day of October 2014 our investigation was closed with findings, I've called the supervisor and director to find out the findings and they blew me off. my three smaller children and my oldest are completely traumatized about what DHS is doing in our house and want their daddy back, we have passed with flying colors the DV assessments, there is no history of any abuse or neglect, I even provided them a letter from the children's pediatrician stating everything. To top it off a couple weeks ago my mother and brother, had a friend they new in the system pull up our case and read everything to them, I've now been constantly harassed by them on a daily basis via text messages, they even tried to reach out to my safety monitors at midnight, the same night I heard my brother trying to break in to my back yard. Both my husband and myself have nothing on our background reports, I did turn right on red once 2 years ago, and got a ticket for that. And of course not a single case worker we have worked with has been out of training for more then 3 months. we have followed everything possible to be compliant. I need help, CPS is forcing us to divide our family for no reason. And it's causing trauma on my children, myself and I can't even imagine what my husband is feeling, all our friends look at him as a role model Dad and us as a role model marriage,

[LindaJM]

Hi there... sorry that you're having trouble with CPS and honestly, I am shocked that they wouldn't tell you what complaints they had against you (when they first arrived) because it is the law that they must do that. The only thing they withhold is the name of the person who contacted them.

But that is not the big issue now...

Many times the CPS agents get people to sign the "safety plans" and bypass court. This means that you will not be given a court appointed attorney, and you are probably not even informed that you need an attorney because this is a legal matter.

These safety plans are often open-ended meaning nobody is sure when they'll be able to reunite their families. Everything is based on a caseworker's subjective judgement; the juvenile court judge never reviews the case.

I never really know what to say about these safety plans because they can go on forever if there's no end date. Your "safety monitors" are being used as spies for the system to tell the caseworker if you're in contact with your beloved husband. Also your family is being poisoned against you to also act as spies to tell them what you're doing.

All this without any proof of anything. No court, no judge, no trial....

You see why we're fighting CPS? There's no justice!

So... all I can suggest is that you get an attorney. I do wish that Family Man would come tell you how he handled his similar case.

In the meantime if the caseworker tells you to stay away from your husband, please do so. Cooperate with all the requests and requirements of the safety plan unless you have an attorney with a better idea. If you deviate from the plan this over-zealous social worker will probably hear about it quickly and be happy to swoop in and take your kids.

Treat the caseworker respectfully. If you get upset around him or her, it can be used against you later on to try to make you look like a crazy or dangerous person.

[family_man]

The reason I didn't reply immediately after I read your story was that you are in a delicate, dangerous situation. I was reluctant to give any (free, non-legal) advice that could blow up in your face.

It sounds like the CPS in your community is acting like they are on a mission from God to "protect" your children from your "negligence." Anything you do might prompt them to seek custody from a judge. If this happens, you will then have to present your evidence that your children are safe, or face 12+ long months of jumping through their hoops. Evidence includes reports from doctors, teachers, psychologists, people willing to testify in your favor, drug tests, home inspections, pictures, etc. You should begin your evidence collection now.

I agree with Linda that you should probably play along with your safety plan as long as it doesn't cause unbearable hardship on your family, until you are able to retain an attorney who believes in his/your ability to convince a judge that the safety of your children is not in question. Safety plans are supposed to have expiration dates. Does yours?

In principle, I would never sign a statement admitting guilt of any kind. Such a statement could be used in a criminal prosecution, and once made is difficult to retract credibly. I would never sign any false statement of your spouse's guilt, even under the threat of losing your children. Do not sign a request for a protection order that is based on false statements. (CPS wanted me to do that. I refused and CPS backed down.) I would also go so far as to refuse to sign any case plan that contains allegations that you do not agree with, unless you are allowed to black out the items of disagreement. Make it clear that you intend to follow the plan even though you don't sign it. When you and your attorney feel you have a strong enough defense, then you can inform CPS that you intend to unilaterally terminate the safety plan. Be prepared to have them take you to court.

[Jayncarao]

Linda & Family Man,

Thank you so much for responding. We have now received our findings letter from the initial investigation, when we had a short notice "team meeting" with CPS. I took a different approach to get this moving because CPS is pretty worthless, I got in touch with our Governor and our Senator, the same day in the afternoon I received a call from the State office DHS director and the "Deputy Director of CPS region 3.

Our finding blow my mind. And I'm new to all of this. Overall we got substantiated without court involvement. But listed under my children: oldest abuse by Dad and two others, one on me and on on my husband for exposure to Domestic Violence
Two of my other children just got two, one on me and on on my husband for exposure to Domestic Violence
My 5 year old, who for the past 7+ weeks CPS never mentioned got abuse by Dad and two others, one on me and on on my husband for exposure to Domestic Violence

I passed my DV victim assessment at the YWCA before the finalized the findings.

My husbands results for his DVI assessment are confusing to say the least, 5 of the 6 sections he was low in the lowest risk range, however the truthfulness score was in the problem risk range, trumping everything else. They said they didn't do the computerized report findings, and the truthfulness score they only compared to the initial investigation ( 1 1/2 hour)

I've filed for a requests to appeal, however they told me I don't need to include and documentations or a letter stating why I'm requesting an appeal, after they received my mail request they have 15 days to tell me if they denied or approved the appeal request.

I have an attorney who said he could help write the appeal $150 an hour and would take him around 3 hours.

Also, after the first night CPS showed up at my house, since then I have secretly recorded all conversations with the case worker, and CPS meetings.

Family Man- my safety plan does not have an expiration date

[family_man]

I thought from your original post that you both passed your DV assessments "with flying colors." Were the results from your latest post from that same test that you thought you passed, or from another test? Was the test administered by someone that was recommended by CPS? If it was, it is likely to be interpreted in a way that is biased against you. Knowing what I now know, I would never consent to any psych eval administered by someone recommended by CPS. I would choose someone else with equal or greater qualification, someone you feel is sympathetic to your cause. Now you will probably have to do this, because if it ever does go before a judge, he will decide on the basis of 51+% of the evidence.

So CPS is still requiring you and your spouse to live separately for an indefinite time period? Do you realize that appeals sometimes take years to be heard?

Another option you might consider before this gets too much farther out of hand is to pick up your children and leave the state now. As long as no court orders are in effect, nothing prohibits you from doing so. If you took this route, you would have to do it secretly, not leaving word of where you're going, or CPS will refer their open investigation to your new state. You would have to resolve never to live in OK again until all your children are grown. This would be a major disruption in your lives, but possibly not as bad as having to live separately the rest of your lives, or (worse) losing custody of your children or (still worse) termination of parental rights.

[Jayncarao]

Family Man,

I had passed my DV victim assessment with "flying colors" my spouse passed his first and they did a second round DVI assessment and this agency was referred to us by CPS, and somehow are affiliated.
He was told nowhere has to do a 52 week class, but couldn't even schedule that till our case worker put in a referral after seeing the DVI results... They DVI truthfulness was based off of the investigation.

The psych evaluation is for my 13 year old, it was not recommended by CPS, but by our pediatrician. They said maybe husband can come back day before thanksgiving, but nothing ever is set in stone with CPS

[family_man]

Agencies that get a lot of their business from CPS referrals have an interest to slant their results in the way CPS wants them to come out. That is how they get their repeat business, and it's one more way CPS tips the scales in its favor.

[Jayncarao]

How do I find a local independent agency to do a second DVI?

[family_man]

I'm not sure. Maybe a private psychologist could administer a "test" for DV tendencies. Search web services for counselors, psychologists, etc. Of course, there's no way you can "test" for such a thing. That's why it's highly subjective, and you should try to find someone who is sympathetic to the injustice and hardships you are experiencing. On the other hand, if you get a counselor who believes that government agencies are always right no matter what, you will have wasted your money. If you and your spouse could get a second favorable opinion, then the score would be 2:1 in your favor, if it ever comes before a judge.

[Jayncarao]

I think I'm going to strongly lean toward your idea of up and moving out of state. From what I heard today with CPS, if I file appeal it goes straight to DA and becomes court order.. I just don't know how to up and move like that, I've lived in the same town my whole life

[family_man]

If you're going to take that route, may I suggest that your husband leave state first and pave the way for you. Let him find a job, a place to live and establish residency. On your end, just carry on as you're doing now. If you need to sell your home, put it on the market. If CPS asks you why, just say that with your husband having to live separately from you, you can no longer afford to live in your present house. When your husband gets everything set up in your new state, the move will be relatively easy for you.

[Jayncarao]

We have 2 meetings a weeks with CPS- I'm sure they would catch on... And the good thing is we are renting

[Jayncarao]

Family man or anyone else that can give me advice- tonight once again, verything changed. they gave me a ISP (individual service plan) it was suppose to be 6 seperate ISP for each fmaily memeber. I'm freaked out, it only has 2 ISP, and threats and all the sudden when now both my husband is back in the house on a in-home safety plan so we finally are reunited. And this ISP ( which our case worker showed up late at night saying we need to sign now) said 19X worse then anyother report CPS have given us, they changed the "physically observations" out of no where.

help me please.

[monkette31]

omgosh, i wish you could all just leave, leave now and never look back! You might want to look up Dana Lawhon on facebook, she's a cps advocate out of Oklahoma city and I've known her a few years. This sounds awful!! I am very sorry.

[Jayncarao]

So my husband was told this week, that if CPS doesn't agree to an appeal, and they keep their findings as substantiated for DV, my husband will never for the rest of his life be able to own a gun. He will also never for the rest of his life be able to be around someone with a gun.

I know this is destroying him, he's been a hunter since he was only 7 years old. It's like CPS is making him/us look like criminals...

Has anyone heard of this before??

[Jayncarao]

Monkette31- I tried contacting Dana Lawhon, but never heard back from her. I am following her facebook page,,

[family_man]

I think this is more hot air from CPS. According to the federla Gun Control Act of 1968, a person is prohibited from owning a firearm for various reaons, including the case where the person:

(8) is subject to a court order that restrains such person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner of such person or child of such intimate partner or person, or engaging in other conduct that would place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury to the partner or child, except that this paragraph shall only apply to a court order that— (A) was issued after a hearing of which such person received actual notice, and at which such person had the opportunity to participate; and (B) (i) includes a finding that such person represents a credible threat to the physical safety of such intimate partner or child; or (ii) by its terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against such intimate partner or child that would reasonably be expected to cause bodily injury; or
(9) has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

Since up to this point your case has not involved a court in any way, your husband is not restricted in his gun ownership. However, if you remain in your present state and CPS escalates matters, he could be.

[Jayncarao]

Family Man-

What about (B) (i) it's saying something about findings only- our CPS findings they substantiates. Also, I had 15 days after receive the findings letter to make a request to appeal. I mailed it on 11/19 CPS appeal department says they only have 15 days after receiving my letter requesting appeal to mail me back the decision if they accepted my request or denied it. From the day they/I get that letter- I only have 30 days to submit my documentation to use on my appeal (we can only appeal once)
I still haven't received anything regarding my letter requesting the appeal and it's been well longer then 15 days... Advice?

[Jayncarao]

Family Man and Linda I NEED your help,
It's coming to an end, but I want to sew, I was to file grieves I want to make a stand to our community, state officers that what they are doing is wrong, maybe turn to the media,,,

Again they messed up our appeal. My 13 yr old son is smarter then any case worker. They ruined ouR lives, I lost my job, my husband lost his job. But CW/CPC says "you're safe I guess"

This can no long era happen to innocent families, what can I do for my own family and equally important what can I do to keep this from happening to innocent families nationwide.

[LindaJM]

Hello, glad to hear you and your children are safe now. I'm sorry to say I do not have any idea how to put an end to CPS injustice, as I've been trying for more than 20 years now, and am not making much progress.

On an individual case basis… You could sue them either through your local courthouse or through federal courts. Of course it would be best to find an attorney to help with that. I suggest talking to civil rights or constitutional law attorneys.

I wish I knew the solution to ending CPS injustice. So many things have been tried over the years. Many people have spent a lot of money making trips to Washington DC to talk to legislators or to join protests or rallys… But it seems that no matter what is tried, the end result is nothing.

I was very hopeful when I heard of the state sovereignty movement that protested the violations to constitutional amendment 10 ... I posted about it here on fightcps… because all the federal child welfare laws are a clear violation of that amendment. But even then I had people in the family rights movement consider it a waste of time and it seemed that anything I tried for bringing about real change had naysayers. Everyone has a right to an opinion, but it is sad that there's no cohesive way to bring people together... it has been tried, for example, by AFRA, and there are always argumentative people spoiling the effort.

Every attempt at reform either by the grass roots movement or by official regulation has ended up with a child welfare system that is unchanged, just as bad, or much worse.

So, if you come up with anything that would help change the system so there won't be injustice to families… Please let me know! I am happy to give my support to all hopeful attempts at positive change. I would like to be informed of anything that I could post on my site to help promote efforts for seeking change.

[Jayncarao]

Linda,

I would love to talk to you on the phone for your advice, I can PM you my phone number or vis versatile if you are comfortable with that

[Jayncarao]

Oklahoma is being ran by Brooklyn with the pinnacle plan

[LindaJM]

I honestly don't like phone calls... sorry to say. I'm so busy... it is hard to take time for them.

[noroses4u2c]

CPS has been known to retaliate if you try to advance your rights. Best thing you can do is move away. They often come back. They claim someone had filed a complaint against you, but I have my suspicions. Since the accuser is always kept confidential there is no proof there ever is a complainant, especially when there's been a previous case. Once there's been a previous case then you are on their radar. If you're one of the lucky families who kept your children after the first go round with them what's to say they don't make up the complaint to justify opening another case and try harder to win this time? See what I'm saying? They often come back too.

And if you move do not ever tell anyone where you went nor tell anyone in new place about troubles with CPS. CPS has a lot of supporters among regular people who think like them. They love the ideology of being able to decide who is allowed to be a parent based upon his/her personal beliefs.