This is a tough one (regarding child maltreatment)

[Mister Bent]

Originally Posted by puregrrl

As a therapist, I worked only with clients with open CPS cases for years in my current state of residence. And I am basing everything I am saying on my experience and rules here in my state.

I have made numerous reports, none of which were anonymous and many of which were not investigated by CPS; however, the anonymity of an anonymous report is based on the fact that they won't be able to follow up with you to get more details. If you give your name and such when you make a report, the investigative and on-going (if it gets to that point) CPS workers ARE NOT supposed to tell the family they are investigating/open on who made the report. That part is supposed to always remains anonymous to the family no matter if you made an anonymous report or not. Does this always happen? Hell no. But it is supposed to, at least here it is.

I would talk to the apartment complex about the smoke if you can smell it all the way in your apartment, I would do that whether there were kids or not because I am persnickety about that. If the "fight" between the guy and his GF got physical there is the whole domestic violence aspect you need to report. If not, and you do not suspect any physical abuse or obvious neglect,I would say that you would have to have a REALLY good relationship with Duane to be able to talk with him about it because if you don't he may feel like you are trying to tell him how to parent and are meddling.

This, particularly the entire last paragraph seems exactly right. Adult, sound and addresses the reasonable concerns.

And after all that, keep paying attention.

[Novelafemme]

Such great advice here. And I will throw in my two cents as well.

I lived in an apartment complex for almost a year and saw some crazy stuff go on...one situation that was very similar to yours. What I ended up doing was calling the non-emergency 911 number and they patched me through to the department in charge of anonymous child welfare concerns. They took my call very seriously and converged on the apartment within 24 hours. I also called an animal abuse hotline as there was a dog being severely neglected there as well. They also came within 24 hours. As it turned out, the mother had allowed her ex-boyfriend back into the apartment even after he had been incarcerated for 4 years for molesting her then 5 year old daughter. This little girl played with my daughters and confided in them that she had to sleep in bed with them at night. I simply could not sit by and do nothing.

Trust your gut and be an advocate for the innocent. I have never once regretted my decision.

[tantalizingfemme]

Originally Posted by Novelafemme

This little girl played with my daughters and confided in them that she had to sleep in bed with them at night. I simply could not sit by and do nothing.
Trust your gut and be an advocate for the innocent. I have never once regretted my decision.

I think that you are to be commended for stepping up and helping that young girl! You took information presented to you by the victim and moved forward.

To me, that is much different than watching something from the outside and making an assumption based on your own opinions, thoughts, beliefs, and/or gut instinct and then calling it in.

That little girl is lucky you were there.

ETA: I think what I am struggling with in some of the posts is this attitude to just "throw caution to the wind" and report it so CPS and let "them" sort it all out. That is not what they are there for and there can be very serious, long-term reprocussions to it.

[Novelafemme]

true...but even if i didn't have that first-hand information I would have made the same choice. Placing a call to authorities to investigate a suspicious living arrangement is well within ones rights. Especially when infants and children are involved.

[Soft*Silver]

I am not suggesting calling on a whim. She was clear about her concerns. I am also addressing her as a professional to a professional. Again, she is not doing this on a whim. No one suggested calling on a whim...thats when reprocussions would occur.

Originally Posted by tantalizingfemme

ETA: I think what I am struggling with in some of the posts is this attitude to just "throw caution to the wind" and report it so CPS and let "them" sort it all out. That is not what they are there for and there can be very serious, long-term reprocussions to it.

[tantalizingfemme]

Originally Posted by softness

I am not suggesting calling on a whim. She was clear about her concerns. I am also addressing her as a professional to a professional. Again, she is not doing this on a whim. No one suggested calling on a whim...thats when reprocussions would occur.

And this is what I am talking about... whims. You must have some kind of factual information behind accusing someone of something; not just "I think", "I feel" , I believe".

[Heart]

Adult domestic violence, (I mean actual violence and control, not yelling and arguing), in and of itself, is not reportable to CPS, it's a 911 call. This is an important distinction. If children are caught in the crossfire -(or you suspect, from what you hear and see that they might be), then reporting may be necessary.

Be aware that when CPS is called into a DV situation, they have on many occasions removed children from non-offending mothers and left the mother there to deal with her abuser. They have also charged non-offending mothers with failing to protect their children because they "allowed" DV to happen in the children's presence. CPS is notorious for punishing victim mothers, and traumatizing children through removal, and doing nothing to hold abusers accountable. In NY there was a class action lawsuit related to this called Nicholson vs Scoppetta. The class won, and ACS was ordered by a Federal judge to stop removing children from battered mothers and instead offer safety options and services.