How Common is a CPS investigation?

[rainbowmama]

Maybe I'm being judgmental, but three moms I know admitted to having had a CPS investigation against them or their spouse. I was shocked. The reasons they gave seemed outrageous for an investigation. Is it really that common to have been investigated by CPS? Only one of them has ever homeschooled.

[Zinnia]

I have one friend that had one. Totally unsubstantiated, reported by a play therapist after they saw her for 6 months and decided that their child didn't need therapy anymore. The therapist wanted to keep seeing the child and reported a "hunch" to CPS.

 

This is the only person, friend or acquaintance, that I know about. But....with so much shame attached to the accusations, I can imagine that I know a lot more that have never mentioned it.

Edited November 8, 2017 by Zinnia

[eternalsummer]

We've had CPS come by after neighbors called when our kids, ages 9 and 6, were biking down a dead end-street and back to our house.  I don't know that it was an investigation, though, necessarily - they just came out, knocked on the door, wanted to know if our kids were allowed to bike down the street, etc.

 

The police came once when the same kids, at the same ages, were playing outside in the front yard.  I was watching them through the picture window (although to be honest, at 9 and 6 I don't know that they needed watching anyway), but DH had gone somewhere in the van and I guess a neighbor thought we had both left and just left the two of them home to play by themselves?

 

We had obnoxious neighbors at that time, obviously.

 

 

[Rosie_0801]

People can call CPS for anything and nothing. You might think the anythings get investigated and the nothings don't, but you'd lose money betting on it.

 

 

[Joker]

I had CPS and the police show up because a neighbor said they heard my kids crying and I wasn't home. I had to point out to the police that dh and I only had one car that he took to work and I stayed home. So, the nosy neighbor could have just knocked on my door to see if any adult was home before calling police. They came in, woke youngest from a nap, and took pictures. I received a letter weeks later saying the investigation was complete and nothing was found to be wrong. It changed the way I parented for a long while because I was afraid of either kid crying too long or loud.

 

That kind of thing seems rather common.

[Tap]

Not yet, but with how loud dd10 screams when she is mad, it is a matter of time. Kinda LOL, kinda not. 

 

 

DD10 has sparked a CPS investigation, when she told her teacher that she saw her male daycare providers pink underwear.  She went to a large commercial daycare that had excellent procedures in place to avoid any one-on-one alone time between kids and staff.  She maybe 2nd grade at the time, and was telling a teacher about seeing the daycare worker's pink underwear, which dd10 thought was funny. The teacher did absolutely the right thing and called CPS.  CPS investigated and cleared everyone.  They day care worker in question, was a male PE teacher at the daycare/preschool and since he was always very active with the kids, sometimes his pants would sag in the back and that is when she saw them.  

No hard feelings between the daycare and dd since they are mandatory reporters too, they understand.  CPS was kind and considerate about the investigation and not overzealous. 

Edited November 8, 2017 by Tap

[Guest]

A friend of mine was investigated because her preschooler liked to walk around the house nakkey or in a diaper only. Friend is sort of a free spirit and did not think this was a big deal at all. But a nosey neighbor thought it was wrong or creepy or whatever.

 

I have known a couple people whom I thought could stand to be checked in on but weren’t.

[Carrie12345]

My ex had me investigated. It was unfounded.

[Rachel]

I know someone who was investigated after taking their child to the doctor for bruising. The doctor couldn’t determine the cause of the bruising but reported to CPS anyway. CPS didn’t come out for one quick interview, they came to the home a couple times, the sitters home, and had lengthy interviews midweek during business hours that required both parents to miss work multiple times. It was a huge ordeal that eventually ended with a form letter declaring no findings.

 

I know someone else that was called due to a neighbor spat, but it didn’t amount to anything.

[Selkie]

I know of one couple that was investigated. The mom worked and the dad stayed home with their seven kids. One day, a stranger found their 2 year old wandering several blocks from home wearing only a diaper and CPS was called. Turns out that the dad was locking the kids out in the back yard for several hours each day and no one had even noticed the 2 year old was missing.  :( Nothing happened to the parents.

[hellen]

I guess I'm technically under investigation right now. My 7 year old was in the kitchen with me when she suddenly fell off a chair. She fell in the direction of the stove and pulled a pot of boiling water onto herself. I was about five feet away. The burns were extensive enough that she was flown to Children's hospital. A police officer questioned me outside the ambulance while we were waiting for the helicopter. He then went to my house and questioned the other two kids. CPS interviewed me in the ER. She said it was just routine. That was about 6 weeks ago. I haven't heard from them.

 

I was on the other end of a COS investigation in the fall. My older daughter was the victim of a crime. The defendant is a minor. My daughter was interviewed as part of the investigation.

[Selkie]

I guess I'm technically under investigation right now. My 7 year old was in the kitchen with me when she suddenly fell off a chair. She fell in the direction of the stove and pulled a pot of boiling water onto herself. I was about five feet away. The burns were extensive enough that she was flown to Children's hospital. A police officer questioned me outside the ambulance while we were waiting for the helicopter. He then went to my house and questioned the other two kids. CPS interviewed me in the ER. She said it was just routine. That was about 6 weeks ago. I haven't heard from them.

 

I was on the other end of a COS investigation in the fall. My older daughter was the victim of a crime. The defendant is a minor. My daughter was interviewed as part of the investigation.

 

Oh, how awful! I hope she is okay (and your other dd, too).  :grouphug:

[abba12]

I've been checked up on, justified in my case due to a mental health crisis. Not every investigation (at least in Australia) is about abuse and taking the kid into foster care. In my state of health I was not able to be alone with my child as I was not in a fit state to be a responsible supervisor, I needed DH or family around or daycare for her. At no point was anyone ever considering foster care, they just needed to ensure that my 2yo at the time was appropriately supervised and cared for, which was my concern also and the reason I co-operated and self-reported to the doctor in the first place. They had a social worker coming out every week until I was cleared and who continued to come for a short while afterwards to do some counselling and stuff as we were an 'at risk' family, not because I'd abuse the kids but because our situation could lead to unintentional neglect or family hardship. Of the 3 people I interacted with, only one ever made me feel uncomfortable or concerned about an overreaction and I only saw her once, I suspect she was generally involved in more serious cases and was at the visit to assess whether there was signs of risk beyond what I had disclosed.

 

No drugs, abuse or serious neglect was ever a concern, and yet I worked with them for a year, so, just because CPS is involved doesn't necessarily mean someone thinks a child is being beaten. There are actually quite a lot of reasons they could be involved. 

 

Having said that, now the kids are school-age I would be far more hesitant to self-report if things got that bad again because homeschooling could be an issue. I have the plans and backups in place if a worst case scenario occurs (presenting at emergency with psychosis) but I would definitely try to handle things alone a lot longer now they're older (I also have a much stronger support system around me now than I did then, so that helps)

[Rachel]

I guess I'm technically under investigation right now. My 7 year old was in the kitchen with me when she suddenly fell off a chair. She fell in the direction of the stove and pulled a pot of boiling water onto herself. I was about five feet away. The burns were extensive enough that she was flown to Children's hospital. A police officer questioned me outside the ambulance while we were waiting for the helicopter. He then went to my house and questioned the other two kids. CPS interviewed me in the ER. She said it was just routine. That was about 6 weeks ago. I haven't heard from them.

 

I was on the other end of a COS investigation in the fall. My older daughter was the victim of a crime. The defendant is a minor. My daughter was interviewed as part of the investigation.

I hope both your daughters are doing ok!

[maize]

I guess I'm technically under investigation right now. My 7 year old was in the kitchen with me when she suddenly fell off a chair. She fell in the direction of the stove and pulled a pot of boiling water onto herself. I was about five feet away. The burns were extensive enough that she was flown to Children's hospital. A police officer questioned me outside the ambulance while we were waiting for the helicopter. He then went to my house and questioned the other two kids. CPS interviewed me in the ER. She said it was just routine. That was about 6 weeks ago. I haven't heard from them.

 

I was on the other end of a COS investigation in the fall. My older daughter was the victim of a crime. The defendant is a minor. My daughter was interviewed as part of the investigation.

Depending on the state not every CPS contact = opening an investigation.

 

I've been interviewed by a social worker when I took a child in with a skull fracture; I believe she was employed by the hospital though not CPS.

[hellen]

Oh, how awful! I hope she is okay (and your other dd, too). :grouphug:

The burned daughter is doing well. She was called a model burn patient. Everyone was impressed with her bravery and work ethic. The paramedics came back and brought her presents. She worked very hard on her physical therapy and has no range of motion issues. Her skin will take months to fully heal but it's looking good now. They don't think she'll scar.

 

My other daughter went through months of counseling. She's doing much better. I don't want to disclose more due to privacy concerns.

 

Thanks for asking.

[hellen]

Depending on the state not every CPS contact = opening an investigation.

 

I've been interviewed by a social worker when I took a child in with a skull fracture; I believe she was employed by the hospital though not CPS.

This was definitely a CPS worker. The hospital is in another state and she drove up. She did apologize. She said normally they would see the report and know it didn't warrant an investigation. Because of the time of day, nobody was around to do that. She didn't have the authority to disregard it, so she drove over an hour to interview us that night.

[Ausmumof3]

I don't know anyone personally or no one that has shared that info.

 

I think it would be great if we could call and assume that a quick visit and rational assessment could be made for any concern but given the nature of some of the workers that have been in our system I would be extremely hesitant to call unless I was totally positive that the child was in an extremely harmful situation.

 

I believe that a much stronger emphasis and investment in recruiting highly professional well trained and well balanced people to these roles is needed here but mostly they seem to be desperate for workers and take people that really shouldn't be there. Not to mention the ability of certain people to look professional and put together and put a confident front forward when they really are not suitable people for the role ...

[LMD]

I know one family who was investigated. They were treated horribly and illegally and traumatised. They received a written apology afterwards. The investigation revealed no problems.

[abba12]

I guess I'm technically under investigation right now. My 7 year old was in the kitchen with me when she suddenly fell off a chair. She fell in the direction of the stove and pulled a pot of boiling water onto herself. I was about five feet away. The burns were extensive enough that she was flown to Children's hospital. A police officer questioned me outside the ambulance while we were waiting for the helicopter. He then went to my house and questioned the other two kids. CPS interviewed me in the ER. She said it was just routine. That was about 6 weeks ago. I haven't heard from them.

 

I was on the other end of a COS investigation in the fall. My older daughter was the victim of a crime. The defendant is a minor. My daughter was interviewed as part of the investigation.

 

Poor baby!!!

 

And the automatic investigations at hospitals are a problem... They kind of have to happen, I totally understand why, but at the same time they cause a lot of fear and potential lack of treatment. When I was 8 I fell in the bath onto the top of this stupid hard plastic dolphin ring toss toy. The 'nose' of the dolphin penetrated, and the two sides where the top and bottom pieces met were very sharp rough edges and tore through my skin, which left an injury that looked exactly like tearing from penetration of a large object or, uh, male. My parents were homeschooling (and in those days in my country you couldn't register unless directly supervised by a qualified teacher, we were all 'under the radar' and technically illegal, part of the trailblazer generation of homeschoolers here). After much worry and debate it was decided not to seek medical attention because of the fear of the inevitable subsequent investigation. There was a chance we would get a reasonable person, but there was also a chance we would get an unreasonable one who found the story too far fetched (even if they somehow accepted the dolphin caused the injury it would be impossible to prove it was caused by falling and not intentional. and falling in the correct place and angle for it to slip inside was incredibly unlucky). Panic about child services investigating homeschooling families was also at it's peak, as this was right at the time the government became aware of the number of homeschoolers but had not even considered legalising registration yet, so, it was much too risky in my parents eyes. 

 

I healed fine, and it's kind of ironic in hindsight because of the severe and prolonged sexual abuse I DID endure which began about a year after the incident (not my parents actions, someone else they were either oblivious or in denial of). Red flags were waving in front of dozens of mandatory reporters over the years and yet it never managed to catch their attention. As previous posters have said, child services and busybodies worldwide have a long history of spending endless hours chasing innocent families while ignoring serious cases/signs of abuse. I suppose it's because an obvious injury that parents bring a child in for seems obvious (even though, if they'd caused it they'd have never taken me in) but people can easily turn a blind eye to more subtle but far more relevant red flags.

 

My parents were investigated a few years before that because my brother was born blind as a bat, (I'm visually impaired too, but his vision was worse). He kept falling as he learned to walk, obviously, but in his case he managed to repeatedly fall in such a way as to hit his front teeth against furniture, even despite the cotton wool taped to the corner of every table in the house. They were hit so many times they became wobbly at 16 or 18 months old. My parents were investigated for that one but we were in school at the time so nothing came of it once someone with common sense looked at his file.

[nixpix5]

It is very common and can be quite destructive and disruptive in someone's life. It happens way more than you might realize.

[TeenagerMom]

Around here, I really don't think they are that common.  I only know of a couple people and 2 of those were people I reported myself because of severe neglect issues (children were removed until the situations were remedied).

 

My kids have gone to the ER with multiple head injuries, neck injury, broken finger one time, broken collarbone another time(at 2 years old).......I've never so much as seen a hospital social worker interview me.  I explain how the injury occurred to triage, the doctor, etc and have never had any issues, even when I have expected them.

[ChocolateReignRemix]

Not common.

[Liz CA]

I have one friend that had one. Totally unsubstantiated, reported by a play therapist after they saw her for 6 months and decided that their child didn't need therapy anymore. The therapist wanted to keep seeing the child and reported a "hunch" to CPS.

 

This is the only person, friend or acquaintance, that I know about. But....with so much shame attached to the accusations, I can imagine that I know a lot more that have never mentioned it.

 

 

We've had CPS come by after neighbors called when our kids, ages 9 and 6, were biking down a dead end-street and back to our house.  I don't know that it was an investigation, though, necessarily - they just came out, knocked on the door, wanted to know if our kids were allowed to bike down the street, etc.

 

The police came once when the same kids, at the same ages, were playing outside in the front yard.  I was watching them through the picture window (although to be honest, at 9 and 6 I don't know that they needed watching anyway), but DH had gone somewhere in the van and I guess a neighbor thought we had both left and just left the two of them home to play by themselves?

 

We had obnoxious neighbors at that time, obviously.

 

 

People can call CPS for anything and nothing. You might think the anythings get investigated and the nothings don't, but you'd lose money betting on it.

 

 

It is quite common. You'd be surprised.

 

The above mentioned scenarios are fairly common in CA. Things have to be followed up because if the agency did nothing and there was abuse /neglect, it could go on undetected.

However, spiteful or even just overly concerned neighbors can make a phone call. Depending on the initial assessment a case is opened or not. The initial investigation results are by nature rather subjective and much depends on the social worker - some are very cautious, others require more substantial proof something is wrong.

[rebcoola]

Quite common certain injuries are automatic broken femurs for one.  Our gymnastics coach's toddler snuck out onto the main floor he was messing around, fell broke his femur, their was an investigation even though their were dozens of witness's.  

[Tanaqui]

CPS has to investigate anything reported, even if it's ridiculous. A few years ago somebody called child services on us (and adult protective services, and the housing authority...) with a bs claim. All three authorities agreed when told that clearly somebody had it out for us, but still, they had to stop by and make sure that everything was on the up and up. That's their job. But it was pretty open and shut - they walked in, saw that we did not in fact have 21 cats and a mouse problem or rotting food all over the place, walked back out again.

 

(And once we had a child services call because somebody very dear to me claimed that we were beating her up every day. If she'd realized the trouble it would cause, she would've never told that story, but she told it to her friend, her friend told it to her mom, and boom - child services knocking at the door. She might've done better to stick to the truth! This is a different sort of unfounded, but it was still unfounded.)

 

Edited November 8, 2017 by Tanaqui

[Katy]

Well we're foster parents, so we hear about them constantly.  But I don't think they are that common unless you're in a somewhat predictable demographic.

 

You can probably figure out how common they are in your area - most states publish this information eventually.  Stuff like how many reports of abuse have occurred, what percentage are founded, what percentage are unfounded (about 2/3), how many of those cases are one-time events where the family just needed a bit of support and there have been no ongoing problems after six months (most), what type of abuse occurred is all public information.

 

I our state there's about a one to three in ten thousand chance you've been reported for child abuse in the past year.  That doesn't mean we don't get called to take new kids almost every day.

[Scarlett]

People can call CPS for anything and nothing. You might think the anythings get investigated and the nothings don't, but you'd lose money betting on it.

Holy crap so true. I have such a conflicted feeling about them. Ugh.

[Seasider]

CPS has to investigate anything reported, even if it's ridiculous. A few years ago somebody called child services on us (and adult protective services, and the housing authority...) with a bs claim. All three authorities agreed when told that clearly somebody had it out for us, but still, they had to stop by and make sure that everything was on the up and up. That's their job. But it was pretty open and shut - they walked in, saw that we did not in fact have 21 cats and a mouse problem or rotting food all over the place, walked back out again.

 

(And once we had a child services call because somebody very dear to me claimed that we were beating her up every day. If she'd realized the trouble it would cause, she would've never told that story, but she told it to her friend, her friend told it to her mom, and boom - child services knocking at the door. She might've done better to stick to the truth! This is a different sort of unfounded, but it was still unfounded.)

With 21 cats how could you have a mouse problem?

 

(Lol sorry I couldn't resist. Sorry those folks harassed you.)

[Tanaqui]

With 21 cats how could you have a mouse problem?

 

Word for word, that's what I said.

 

[Sneezyone]

Goodness, I only know of one dysfunctional part of my family that’s dealt with CPS and we’ve had tons of broken bones, stitches, etc. between us. I don’t know of anything like that among my friends.

[SKL]

There is one person I recall whom I know IRL and who told me she was investigated.  Supposedly she left her two young kids in the car at the gas station while she ran in and bought milk.  Honestly, given some things I know about her, it could have been more than that.  But her kids have always appeared healthy and cared for, so maybe not.  Nobody is a perfect parent.

 

I have been afraid a few times, but so far no investigation.  I have taken some steps to reduce my risks - for example, taking my kid to the doctor just to document that a swollen spider bite was not a mark of abuse.  And telling everyone "that bruise-looking mark on my kid's backside is a birthmark - google Mongolian Spots."   I've had the cops called on me for leaving school-aged kids in the car for a few minutes, and worried I'd be getting a visit from CPS, but it did not happen.

 

I have mixed feelings.  I am glad we have mandatory reporters.  Kids deserve to be safe and cared for.  But parents also need to be able to make choices that fit their own families.

[Carrie12345]

Quite common certain injuries are automatic broken femurs for one.  Our gymnastics coach's toddler snuck out onto the main floor he was messing around, fell broke his femur, their was an investigation even though their were dozens of witness's.  

 

I think it is important to recognize that not every "investigation" is opening a full case.  My sister happened to break her femur when she was 2.  My parents were questioned by a social worker (separately) in the hospital, and they were definitely terrified.  Fortunately, everyone fully believed my chatty toddler sister when she told them she had been jumping on her bed and fell.  Their questioning may count as investigating by literal definition, but there was no child abuse case opened.

 

(And that is the story of why my own kids never had "safety" guards on their beds.  Her leg had slipped between the mattress and the guard.  One of our family mottos is, in toddler dialect, "You jump on da bed, you break-a your leg!")

[Rosie_0801]

  I am glad we have mandatory reporters. 

 

Me too, but even that seems to be a flexible concept.

[Carrie12345]

 

I have mixed feelings.  I am glad we have mandatory reporters.  

 

 

Me too, but even that seems to be a flexible concept.

 

My neighboring state deems every breathing human being a legally mandated reporter.  I find that... interesting, in both good and bad ways.

 

I do think most people agonize over their decision to call.  Even if just for the fear of retaliation.  Or maybe I'm biased because I'm in those shoes. The legal definition of neglect is so subjective in that state, in many cases it's impossible not to second (and third, and fourth) guess oneself. Especially when weighing against the known issues of the system.

[Laura Corin]

My brother had the police and a social worker come round.  A neighbour had reported his daughter screaming, 'Daddy don't do that, I don't like that' every evening.  He was brushing her teeth.  There was just one visit but it was very worrying.  I know of one other person who was investigated - she thought it was because of a neighbourhood feud; I'm not keen on her parenting style but wouldn't have reported her myself.

[DawnM]

Maybe I'm being judgmental, but three moms I know admitted to having had a CPS investigation against them or their spouse. I was shocked. The reasons they gave seemed outrageous for an investigation. Is it really that common to have been investigated by CPS? Only one of them has ever homeschooled.

 

Any time there is an allegation, it needs to be investigated, so this doesn't surprise me.

 

I have not been investigated but I have done my share of reporting.  I hate it, but sometimes it has to be done.

[ktgrok]

I know one family that had a case open...their child was a victim, but had also acted out against another of their children (innocent, but not okay). They were under the radar for 6 months...partly for "letting" their child become a victim, partly for taking a few days to report it (they wanted to deal process what had happened and contact a private therapist first), and partly for what she'd done to their other child. It all worked out okay in the end but was very stressful for them, and the original caseworker was AWFUL. She told them that if they'd waited another day to report it they would have taken their daughter away! 

 

On the flip side I've called CPS once, on a coworker who admitted she was afraid she was going to hurt her adopted daughter, and was also letting strange men sleep in the house with her and said daughter on a regular basis, and was prostituting herself for groceries and money. Again, with her daughter in the house. It was a really bad situation. CPS showed up MONTHS later, asked a few questions,and never opened a case. 

 

These incidents were in different counties, which may explain the different experiences. 

[bettyandbob]

I know two different families investigated because pediatricians reported babies with broken bones In both cases parents asked doctors for further referrals because parents didn't understand why child was hurt either. In both cases pediatrician (different doctors, different practices) refused. In both cases the families found other doctors and both babies were eventually diagnosed with brittle bone disease.

 

For one family the specialist actually also identified that the mother gad mild symptoms of the disease though never diagnosed. After diagnosis, the family presented all the medical info to CPS. CPS continued to follow the family for months and refused to close the case. The family moved out of state to 1. Get away from CPS and 2. Be closer to the mother's family for support.

 

The other family happened a couple years after the first. In their case the disease was determined to have been caused by a gene mutation. Again after being presented with all the medical data seeing the child in continued treatment, CPS doggedly hounded the family for a couple of years before closing their case. That child has grown up, learned to manage the disease , and studied genetics in college because of her interest in the disease.

 

Why did the first pediatricians in both cases refuse further referrals? I know they have to automatically report to CPS, but don't they also need to look for medical reasons.

 

Why did CPS caseworkers refuse to close these cases. My theory these families were easy and nonthreatening. The caseworkers have to fill hours with family visits and these families were a lot easier to log than some other cases where workers are physically threatened.

 

Imagine getting a devastating medical diagnosis and having to balance how to deal with that while having a CPS case following you and also knowing you never put the same trust you had in doctors again even though you now heavily dependent upon them. Pretty dark times.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I know of two.  The situations were very extreme and IMO were warranted.  So from my POV, it doesn't seem common for it to happen with no reason whatsoever. 

 

But I don't know for sure.

 

 

[JFSinIL]

I was several months pregnant with #4 when #3, almost two, ran right into the corner of a doorway and bonked her forehead, which immediately developed a huge "egg".  Screams, wails, frozen peas (which only pissed her off more) and i took her into ER to make sure she hadn't cracked her skull, etc.  Hubby, who had had a beer and felt he shouldn't drive (maybe two beers?) stayed home with the twins.  At ER I had to strip DD down to diaper so they could make sure this poor screaming child with a huge swelling on her noggin wasn't showing signs of further abuse.  I get it. They have to check, and I am glad they do, But then I was made to stand next to a crib for two hours while DD, enjoying the attention, stopped crying and smiled at everyone.  No one besides a nurse who kept giving me the stink-eye came by to look at DD, and I was getting a bad back ache when DD's godfather, a local paramedic, came by after bringing in an accident victim.  He immediately got us a doctor and signed off to leave ("This is my goddaughter. I know these people.")

 

Hubby (an attorney) a few years later had to go with a neighbor to court when there was an investigation. Neighbor was a lunch lady at the local school, and when she was told to "take that class outside, not their time to eat yet" had put her hand on a child's upper arm to stop her from entering a crowded lunchroom (she was first in line of the class, and it was very noisy).  Child was startled, and must have gone home that day to tell her folks that Mean Lunch Lady had grabbed her and yanked her etc. etc.  Anyway, witnesses had to come say what actually happened, etc. No yanking, no abuse, but neighbor really knew to NEVER touch a child not her own after that.  Stuff can be so easily misunderstood, etc.   Hubby was there for moral support/character witness as much as potential legal help (pro bono).

 

DD  (#4 in tale above) is now in college majoring in Elementary Education.  She had to become a mandated reporter as part of school AND for her job as a before/after kid kare worker for the local park district.  She has had to report something in her first year of work :-(   unfortunately, it was substantiated so thank goodness she paid attention to a child and made the report.

 

Hubby is now on the Finance Counsel for the local Catholic school at our church.  He was required to do the on-line class and become a mandated reporter to be on the committee, which only meets in the evening in a classroom when there are no kids in school. 

 

 

Edited November 8, 2017 by JFSinIL

[Mimm]

I have two friends who have been investigated. One whose son reported being abused and I'm as certain as I can be that it was a lie. He was enjoying the attention at school. There was no evidence that it happened, including the bruises that would certainly have resulted from what he was talking about. My friend was a complete wreck while she was being investigated. She had her son in counseling and did everything right and nothing ever came of it.

 

Another friend was reported repeatedly by her step kids who hated her. She finally said enough is enough and sent the kids to go live with their mother. My friend didn't even spank her kids.

 

ETA: Forgot, my sister was also reported. Her son needed a minor medical treatment, for a thing that wasn't affecting his life at all. She had talked to the pediatrician about it before who said to see if it would resolve on it's own so she was. She talked to the school nurse about needing to go ahead and get it taken care of because it had been a while and wasn't going away. When you're a single mom working two jobs and going to school full time, taking time for doctor's appointments for non-emergency things is kinda hard to do. The school nurse reported her even though my sister said she was going to take him back to the doctor. :confused1: My sister was furious, of course, but the social worker stopped by for a chat and that was it.

 

So yeah, I'm guessing very common since I can thinking of three people I know in real life off the top of my head who have been investigated. I definitely don't judge this type of thing. I even knew a woman online who had a child taken away for a broken arm that the doctor said could not have happened the way she said it happened. He was only 18 months old when taken away, and they didn't get him back for 9 months when someone finally tested him for brittle bones. She was totally traumatized by it of course, terrified to leave the house if her children didn't look perfect. It was a lesson in not jumping to conclusions for me. We always think, "Well they wouldn't have taken the kids without a good reason" and that's mostly true, but there are exceptions.

 

ETA again: Just remembered another friend who was also reported by some psycho vindictive family member. Nothing ever came of that, but she's pretty paranoid. She has mandated reporters in her house all the time for therapy for her child who is on the spectrum and she feels like she has to keep everything nice and clean.

Edited November 8, 2017 by Mimm

[luuknam]

BTDT, found to be unfounded. The CPS guys were nice, and one of them said I was a great parent. DW got told to not leave a bottle of cayenne pepper on her desk because one of the kids could potentially grab it (she ate at her desk very often, and puts cayenne on almost anything). The cayenne had nothing to do with the (unfounded) reason for investigating, but once they're investigating, they have to look into *everything* (at least in TX, or at least that's what the CPS guys said... I haven't checked the law on that), do a complete walkthrough of your house (even if your house has nothing to do with the reason they were called), etc. So, even if you're innocent of w/e someone reported you for, you could still get into trouble for something random unrelated (not that DW actually got in *trouble* for the cayenne... I'm just saying... once Pandora's box is opened, you don't know how nitpicky they're going to be about random unrelated stuff). 

 

For some numbers:

 

https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/canstats.pdf

 

 

During FFY 2015, CPS agencies received an estimated
4.0 million referrals involving the alleged maltreatment
of approximately 7.2 million children. 

 

Of these referrals, approximately 2.2 million reports concerning approximately 4.1 million children (duplicate count) were screened in as “appropriate†for CPS response.

 

Approximately 3.4 million children received either an investigation or alternative response,  

 

Approximately one-fifth (18.0 percent) of the children investigated were found to be victims of abuse

or neglect 

 

The remainder of the children investigated (82.0 percent) were found to be nonvictims of maltreatment. 

 

Edited November 8, 2017 by luuknam

[luuknam]

Continuing with numbers. There are roughly 73 million children in the US. So, 3.4 out of 73 is 4.7% of children are investigated in a single year. If there are no duplicates, you'd end up with an 84% chance of a kid being investigated at some point from 0-17. Now, obviously, there are many, many duplicates... I thought I'd found some figure a couple of years back that said that there's about a 15% chance you will be investigated by CPS at some point while your kids are minors, but I can't find it. Either way, it's certainly not rare. 

[shawthorne44]

I have gone from a "When in doubt, call" to "Call if I think that the kids need to be taken away."   

 

I know one family where the children hate and distrust police and government authority figures because of the questioning they were subjected to after a neighbor reported a normal, wholesome outdoor activity.   The woman I knew online who was the one who told me about WTM had a similar thing happen to her with a similar reaction from the kids. 

 

I used to know a man who is in jail now because his stepdaughter lashed out by saying he'd sexually abused her.     She recanted and both the psychologist she'd already been seeing, and a specialist in that said that they believed her recantation.   But the prosecutor only cared about his stats.   He was scared into taking a plea deal, which I think was dumb.  

 

Then there is that CPS worker in Dallas who tweeted about how she thinks that parents married to each other with a SAHM are weird and suspicious.  The tweets were taken down after a news article, but nothing else.   

 

Then there is the court cases about the CPS worker that traumatized the small child by taking many very close-up photos of the genitals.   The eventual decision boiled down to CPS workers can do no wrong.  Even though they'd have taken the child away if the parents had done the same thing.  

 

In our former upper middle class city, my husband couldn't take our daughter without the police being called.  Literally, every time.   The other parents weren't helicopter parents, they were Apache Helicopter Parents.  The local police got to know my husband and when he'd see them drive in, he'd wave to them.  Fortunately, the police were reasonable.   But, if one of them wasn't, or if DD had hurt herself in the park (we are anti-helicoptering) then CPS would have been called, and we might have ended up with one the crazy ones.  

[SKL]

I do think it happens often enough that it affects our parenting and even how our kids react to people.

 

For example, the age at which I send my kids to the park on their own was not when they were developmentally ready, but when I felt the neighbors along the route were ready to accept kids their age walking "alone."

 

And one of my kids got freaked out by a neighbor watching her on the sidewalk a block or so away - not because he was a creep, but because she thought he would call the cops because she wasn't with a parent.

[AimeeM]

I don't know about "common," but it isn't abnormal around here.

 

For example, my best friend's oldest child (a DD) is autistic. She enjoys "escaping" -- always has. One morning, she went bolting out their front door, in bare feet, onto the ice-covered sidewalk, and my friend quickly reached and yanked her back in, before she fell flat on her face (or worse; her head). Apparently she scratched her DD's hand/arm in the process (and I saw the scratch -- it was literally not an inch long and very thin. Anyway, the school nurse saw it when her DD asked for a band-aid. Nurse (who knew this child's diagnosis) asked who scratched her, child answered the direct question with a direct answer -- "Mom." Nurse never asked any follow-up questions like, you know, "Oh, how did that happen?" Instead, she just called CPS.

 

Of course, when the social worker (CPS worker) came to the house, mom was terrified, but when asked DIRECTLY HOW it happened, the DD was happy to relay the incident. But, technically, even for that short period of time, there was a report and an open investigation (it was closed after, but it was open for that period of time).

Edited November 8, 2017 by AimeeM

[Dmmetler]

I have two friends that I know of who have been. The first was reported by a member of her church congregation for educational neglect-her older DD was 13 and was enjoying whining to this sympathetic elderly woman who was horrified that this sweet child was being forced to stay home, expected to watch her brother ALL THE TIME (try one day a week while her mom was doing work at the church-and half of that day the kids were in a homeschool co-op), expected to do "SO MANY CHORES" that she "NEVER SAW HER FRIENDS". What it came down to was that she was 13, her best friend had gone to a private school that would have been out of her family's budget, and she liked to complain. It wasn't until she had social workers banging on their door that she admitted that she was exaggerating just a tad.

 

The second was reported by teachers at the school behind their house because her kids were outside during the school day "unsupervised". Except that a) Mom was in the house and b) big sister who was 14 at the time was outside with them, and she was perfectly capable of looking after a 7 and 4 yr old. (Teen was pretty tiny, and looked young, but still) If they'd bothered to talk to the kids, they'd have realized that there was a responsible kid old enough to babysit present, mom was home, and that the kids were homeschooled, not playing hooky, and that them being outside was no more surprising than the school kids in the other side of the fence being outside. Homeschooled kids need recess, too!

 

And I agree that it affects parenting. I didn't let DD walk to the local park by herself until she was middle school aged, and only after school hours largely due to such stories.

Edited November 8, 2017 by Dmmetler2

[Harriet Vane]

A few in this thread have mentioned that CPS is required to investigate anything that is reported.

 

That is absolutely not true.

 

The hotline workers have guidelines. If the report fits the guidelines, it is referred for investigation. There are many, many reports that are never, ever referred.

 

The investigator also has latitude to investigate or not. Everything that is referred from the hotline is not necessarily investigated.

 

Yes, frivolous things are sometimes investigated. Much depends on the guidelines. Much depends on that jurisdiction's interpretation of guidelines. Much depends on WHO is taking the report and WHO the investigator is. And much depends on how many foster homes are available. For example, it's almost impossible to refer an abuse report for a teenaged black male in Chicago. It's much easier to refer an abuse report for a six-year-old girl in a middle-class suburb.

[shawthorne44]

...

And I agree that it affects parenting. I didn't let DD walk to the local park by herself until she was middle school aged, and only after school hours largely due to such stories.

 

Yeah, I sat with many moms on a park bench where everyone but me thought a 12-14 year old girl on the swings at twilight without a parent should mean a call to CPS.   The reason no one called wasn't my persuasive skills, although I tried, but that one mom convinced the others that CPS wouldn't DO anything anyway.