Today’s guest post contributor is Robert Franklin. He’s an attorney and parenting activist who writes the blog and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Parents Organization, the largest organization in the country promoting shared parenting post-divorce. – L
Free-Range Parenting Frees Kids & Child Protective Services Too, by Robert Franklin
The case of Alexander and Danielle Meitiv of Maryland has done a lot to bring the issue of Free-Range Kids to public consciousness. Good. The more we question the notion that no unsupervised child can be safe for an instant, the better.
But the Meitiv case highlights yet another reason we need to give parents more leeway: Child Protective Services caseworkers have a lot more to do than hounding obviously responsible, loving parents. Unlike the Meitiv children, there are kids in real danger who need CPS services.
The Administration for Children and Families that’s part of the Department of Health and Human Services, collects data from CPS agencies nationwide. In 2013, CPS agencies received about 3.2 million complaints of abuse or neglect of children. In 686,000 cases — about 1 in 5 — abuse or neglect was found. Of those, about 170,000 were cases in which a child had literally been abused.
One obvious lesson is that there are still children being hurt in our country, and that is tragic. The flip side is that out of about 74 million kids under the age of 18 in the United States, children have about a 0.9% chance of being abused or neglected, and about a 0.2% chance of being abused. This statistic tends to be obscured by the steady drumbeat of horror stories that make the news.
Perhaps more importantly, each of those 3,200,000 complaints has to be dealt with by someone at CPS. As the data demonstrate, the vast majority of those calls (about 79%) are about kids who aren’t at risk.
But each complaint takes CPS time and attention — that’s time and attention away from cases in which children face real danger.
In state after state, CPS agencies are understaffed and underfunded. Many caseworkers face caseloads 50% higher than industry standards — or even twice that number. In states like Texas, Arizona and California, caseworker turnover is so high that only inexperienced staff are left deal with some of the worst cases.
The more time caseworkers spend on meritless complaints, the less time they have to spend with families who truly need their help. Every hour a caseworker spent with the Meitivs was an hour he or she wasn’t attending to a child potentially in danger.
Understandably, many people assume that it’s “better to be safe than sorry,” and so they report the least sign of questionable behavior by parents or kids. But the complaint that was made about the Meitivs was not free of consequences. It could easily have taken a caseworker away from a child in need. In so doing, it may have actually lessened the safety of children.
Free-Range Kids asks parents to loosen the apron strings a bit and realize that children aren’t in constant danger. But it also asks friends, neighbors and passersby to allow parents to do that. It asks everyone to understand that (a) children are far safer in this country than the news suggests, and (b) children do better when they’re given some free, unsupervised time to explore, invent and solve problems on their own.
But there’s another reason we should open ourselves to the Free-Range concept. We need to use CPS’s scarce resources far more wisely than we’ve been doing. That means leaving people like the Meitivs alone, so that they can get on with being the fine parents they’ve always been, and CPS can get on with doing the job we all need them to do. – R. F.
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“The Administration for Children and Families that’s part of the Department of Health and Human Services, collects data from CPS agencies nationwide. In 2013, CPS agencies received about 3.2 million complaints of abuse or neglect of children. In 686,000 cases — about 1 in 5 — abuse or neglect was found. Of those, about 170,000 were cases in which a child had literally been abused.”
Reminds me of the Police Detective working in the Child Protection Investigation Unit that only a third of complaints of neglect and abuse of children is factual. The rest of the complaints are mostly made by those seeking revenge against a parent and those who merely have a different idea of how to parent a child.
My main issue with his numbers is that there are probably many more real cases of abuse than we know. People will gladly report the most harmless of things just to be busybodies but true abuse very often goes unnoticed. Abusers know how to keep those things under wraps.
People should learn to pay attention to instances of true abuse and neglect and leave people doing perfectly ordinary, safe things alone.
I agree with the above. I would also add that I understand that there are two additional problems with these agencies:
(a) they are often, due to conditions at the time their enacting legislation was passed, given great latitude in their power and this can be easily abused by the agency.
(b) their motivating principles rest on psychological assumptions and theories that can themselves be dated or outmoded.
I used to work in education, and was therefore a mandated reporter. I had to call CPS on three different occasions for situations that were clearly abusive.
Nothing happened.
CPS did follow up with each family, but it took several days (which in one case meant the injury from the abuse had healed and was no longer evident once CPS was able to follow up), but there was absolutely no movement to get these truly at-risk kids some help.
I cannot comprehend why CPS was able to follow up on the same day with the Meitivs, but could not spare the time to see a child sporting an injury before it healed.
My only conclusion is that I worked in very low-income areas, while Silver Spring, MD is anything but. CPS in the area where I worked was completely overworked, and I imagine they have little to do in Montgomery County. (Of course, high income is no bar to child abuse, but a high income does make it easier to hide in plain sight.)
In any case, I heartily agree with Robert’s assertion that CPS should not waste its time on responsible and loving parents like the Meitivs. But I think it’s not quite so simple that FR parenting calls take time away from real abuse. In low income areas, no one is calling about the FR parents, but people are calling about actual abuse. In high income areas, no one is calling about the actual abuse, but people are reporting the FR parents.
Emily, I don’t know whether this is the case or not, but another possibility is that if you go harass the Meitivs, it’s almost certainly a pretty safe situation. People in Silver Spring who are accused of nothing worse than letting their kids walk to the park are a safe bet not to be threatening. People in different circumstances might be.
I agree with this article that unfortunately CPS does have a job to do in this country. I also agree that their job should be protecting harmed children rather than protecting the sensibilities of every concerned onlooker that sees a 10 year old child outside without a parent. I don’t know what the answer is though. Should CPS investigate every complaint? Probably so. I can imagine a scenario where I could meet a child and have my intuition triggered by some very small thing that wouldn’t make me think twice with someone else. I think my main concern is how easily the police and courts are involved, (my kids first experience with the police was an officer screaming at me in front of them and calling me an idiot, as well as threatening the children could be taken away in front of the children. Needless to say, they don’t buy it when I tell them police are public servants that help people.). Secondarily it concerns me that outside of removing children and sending parents to court, the system is poorly equipped to do useful interventions. In the CPS questionnaire they wanted to know about my support network, mental health history, and history of abuse in my family. So clearly they understand the variables that set parents up for failure. But there aren’t extensive services available to support parents who need assistance. This outside party of one sits across the table and determines whether you are the bad kind of parent that should go to court and have your kids removed, or the bad kind of parent that isn’t like other parents and is making this CPS worker waste her time. Totally discouraging, and not helpful to families at all.
The world is better when Franklin and Skenazy are talking. This is a complicated subject and it is hard for anyone to know how much to tell. Maybe as an outsider I can stress one helpful point. The number given here, “Of those, about 170,000 were cases in which a child had literally been abused” is actually the annual number labeled by CPS as are the other numbers. From them you can show that 80% of kids will be investigated sometime in their childhood, but because CPS is literally accurate less than 50:50 in their decisions, you cannot say “literally abused.” The scary thing for parents is both the caprice and that other parents aren’t sharing their experience out of fear and shame.
This. My daughter, raised free-range along with her three brothers, and an advocate of free-range as an adult, is a CPS worker. She does deal with the parents on meth, the parents who are alcoholics to the point that they can’t take care of their kids. She does deal with the kids who have been sexually abused by family members. And those kids need to be protected. (She still grumps when she has to pick up a kid (who was already in the system for one of the above) from school for an appointment and the car line is long – she called me one day and asked me why the the heck most of those kids weren’t walking, like she and her brothers did.) She does a real job, and some of the stuff she has to deal with would make your skin crawl. (She doesn’t – can’t – say much, but I know the stuff that slips out is just the tip of the iceberg.) Those kids do need help, and do not need to have time taken away from them by pointless non-cases. They do have to follow up on reports, whether the individual worker thinks it is a real report or not. So yeah – busy-bodies and cops who file reports on latchkey kids and kids playing outside need to stop and think that there are people who honestly need CPS, and then NOT file those reports. It hurts more than just the family they report – it hurts the kids that don’t get the time and need it.
As someone who has been on the receiving end of a meritless CPS call as well as having to watch helplessly as CPS does nothing for children who I know need intervention, I completely agree with this post. When CPS *has* to investigate every claim regardless of how full of bunk that claim is, and it stays on the record of the parents involved even if unfounded, it does more damage than good. Something needs to be done to fix this system because it is too broke for words.
In any given year there are about 168,000 to 172,000 kids under 15 who are injured or killed in car accidents.
It’s hard to find statistics about how many crashes happen where kids are in the car, but no one gets hurt. However, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has statistics that say about 77% of accidents are “property damage only”, meaning no injuries. So, there may be something like 750,000 crashes (or more) every year where kids under 15 are passengers (about 14% of all 5.5 million crashes in the US each year).
Some part of the 3.2 million CPS complaints may be redundant–two or more complaints each year about the same family. And I’m sure the number of complaints varies by region, family income, etc. Even so, it looks like CPS investigations are more common than car crashes involving kids. And that is shocking.
I don’t buy the argument that CPS “must investigate every complaint”. Every year in Chicago there are a handful of 911 calls because caller thinks the wild birds look too cold outside, and the Police are not sent to investigate cold sparrows.
Again I say that 911 callers and any reporters to authorities must be identified. No more call in and hide in the shadows.
If the reporter is not willing to give their contact info, then the complaint does not get investigated.
It’s the same with reports of neglect or abuse of animals. Most of the time it’s either bogus (revenge or another less-than-honest motivation) or just a different idea of what constitutes good care. So next time you hear about some ‘horrible’ case of animal abuse or neglect, remember that it’s the exact same thing as what we get with kids and CPS: Most of the time, it’s not true.
(Incidentally the real “substandard animal care” rate is just 0.4%, per actual inspections.)
Warren: Totally agree with you that if someone is willing to make a report to CPS (or animal control), they should take responsibility for their report. That person is accusing someone of wrongdoing, whatever spin the authorities put on it. And if they’re accusing, then the accused should have the right to face their accuser. Anything less is a violation of the U.S. Constitution.
Incidentally, in Los Angeles County, CPS (and animal control) are required to regard all complaints as true, and you will be treated as guilty with little or no chance to prove your innocence — all on the basis of an anonymous complaint. And you will never be allowed to face your accuser. (I know people who lost their children due to an anonymous complaint, and had hell’s own time in court getting even “supervised custody”. They never did get to face their accuser.)
It’s totally ridiculous for Child Protective Services to be harassing the Meitivs when they should be focusing their time and energy on real cases of abuse. But, playing devil’s advocate for just a moment here, the root cause of this nonsense could be the American witch hunt mentality that every time a child gets hurt, heads must roll and anybody and everybody associated with that child or children need to be made accountable. So examples must be made of them right down to their parents, their teachers, their neighbors, their parents’ friends, their parents’ friends’ friends an on down the line.
What I’m getting at here is what if, what if, one of the Meitiv children were struck and killed by a drunk driver or struck by lightening or even fell down and broke an arm and it was uncovered that CPS was notified of their unsupervised walks to the park but chose to ignore the case? Everybody and their brother and sister and aunt and uncle would be calling for the head of CPS to be delivered on a platter! This is how Americans are when it comes to children. We completely lose perspective and refuse to look at the other side of the story and I think much of this is fueled by the media.
It’s not that simple, Warren. Yes, people should have to face their accuser. However, how often do you see those cases where the accused does step up and then gets harrassed by friends of, family of and the accused themselves. I would have to see something pretty horrendous to put myself and those I love in potential jeopardy. When it comes to someone I don’t know well and love, I can be pretty cautious. (You might even call it cowardly, although I wouldn’t.)
David
I meant the accuser does step up….grrr, the new site should have had an edit button, lol.
Dhewco,
No it is that simple. If you are not willing to stand up and say “Yes I am the one” than keep your phone in your pocket.
If you do not believe that it is important enough for you to get involved in, then obvously it isn’t. And calling in and then hiding in the shadows is not getting involved. You are right, it is cowardly.
That whole put up or shut up thing applies to when calling the authorities.
This article really hits home here in Douglas County Oregon. We’re a small town kind of place and then things like this, where a 7 day baby was starved to death (http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/crime/oregon-couple-arrested-after-infant-son-starves-death), happen here and I can’t help but wonder, why didn’t anyone call CPS before this little one lost his life? Were there really no clues? No neighbors or family who wondered or worried? While on the other hand people are losing their kids for leaving responsible 10 year olds sitting in the car for 5 minutes in front of the mini mart. So sad…
@Brandi-
I saw that story (news of dead babies travels fast) and it is heartbreaking. It’s easy to see how these neglectful parents slip through the cracks when resources go to cases like the Meitivs
We had a local story where I wondered why they didn’t have more CPS intervention. No food for the kids (but food for their animals) and infested with bugs, 5 kids under 5(1 autistic, 1 downs syndrome) with 2 intellectually challenged parents:
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/1-Month-Old-Baby-Has-Face-Eaten-by-Familys-Ferrets-289601801.html
What should be the first cause for concern here is the fact that limited resources are not free to be used for those most in need.
Starting with the premise that a healthy, caring society must be capable of protecting those most in need of protection.
In order for that to happen, a functional system needs to separate the grain from the chaff.
Otherwise, we wind up with a grim reaper who delivers something with no nutritional value.
In a wealthy nation, such underfunded nonsense is a travesty.
The one time in my childhood I was saved, literally, from most certain peril – it all happened tickety-boo. No fuss, no muss, and I thrived ever afterward.
It was simple and direct. Action, reaction, response, resolution.
Were all “cases” so simple. (It was hardly a “case” at all.)
Yet we continue to abuse the limited resources we do employ.
By the general public, and the resource providers themselves.
As if we are somehow incapable of figuring it out…..it looms beyond us.
And in the meantime, an awful lot of kids get caught in the crossfire.
Every single bullet misses every adult who is childless.
Attach a kid, and the minefield shows up.
What makes this such an issue with free range sensibility, has all to do with perceived risk.
(which is a thing that is entirely subjective)
Just imagine – if every single incident of a car alarm had to be followed up by authorities, with full report.
(My car does this every time I forget to unlock the doors before opening the back hatch…loading groceries)
Guilty, as charged.
My point being that it would descend into chaos.
Authorities of course – have far better things to do.
Mandated reporters are people who should know and understand children, be capable of reading signs, and acting accordingly. This only requires proper perception.
Most of us are not professional assessors.
Yet the majority of us do have the basic native smarts to apply proper response.
If fools are bequeathed the power to cause grief for no good reason – then what they have created is public mischief.
The greater the mischief – the greater the liability……should be placed back squarely on the shoulders of those who cause it.
We all know what lack of accountability does.
(Just consider the mayhem on Wall Street back in 2008.)
Apparently they’re still up to their old tricks……but that’s entirely another story!
So Yeah, Warren.
I do agree with you on that one.
Would every decent and observational cititzen suddenly defer and bow out?
I wonder.
Perhaps not…..if a consensus were reached among a few like-minded individuals.
A whack from a baseball bat (at play) or a clenched fist both produce a black eye.
Same result.
The sources of the injury are miles apart.
And the wisdom to know the difference……………..
I agree with Warren (!) – if it’s worth reporting, it’s worth the “risk.” It’s not the same as the actual words of the Constitution about the right to face your accuser, but it’s the same principle.
The right to “face your accuser” applies in a prosecution. If the case never goes to court, then you won’t get to confront them. You could FOIA the reports and find out. That being said, I would suspect that most people already know who is making the report. I worked as a mandated reporter in a previous job. On the handful of occasions that I had to report, I told them what I was doing and why.
Excellent article and I agree with his points and most of the comments here. In my state, the definitions of abuse and neglect allow some discretion in investigations, but judges seem to have a bigger impact than investigators. CPS workers are well aware of what kinds of cases their judges like and don’t like and aren’t going to bother to bring a case in front of them if they know that the judge is going to find that it isn’t abuse or neglect.
I’m not sure why you all have this idea that anonymous 911 calls are a big problem. I can only think of a single case I’ve had involving an anonymous 911 call and I won a motion to suppress in that case because the police improperly got a search warrant based on said anonymous call. I may have had a DUI case here or there that involved unidentified callers reporting erratic driving, but otherwise anonymous 911 calls are not the bane of the criminal justice/CPS system so many of you want to make them. The name of the 911 caller may not be published, but the people involved in the case generally know who called as that person may be needed to be a witness at some point.
What’s so ironic about this article, is that this “Free-Range” concept is NOT new. This is how children were raised prior to the late 90’s. In fact, it’s how children were raised since the dawn of man, until the late 90’s. So we aren’t trying to do something new, we are trying to get back to something that has been tried, tested, and found to be true for generations.
If the CYS worker’s time is so scarce, then this Meitiv issue is even more outrageous. How hard is it to see that there is no abuse or neglect and dismiss it and move on? Why waste your precious time on an obvious non-event? Is there a policy in place that makes them pursue this?
Jim Collins – Yes, CPS must complete an investigation. That generally means talking to every family member able to communicate and laying eyes on every child. That is all CPS has done in the Meitiv case. It took a long time to get it done because the father wouldn’t speak to them until the mother returned from out of town (or something like that), but CPS has done nothing more in the case to my knowledge. I’m sure the Meitivs would have taken to the press again if there had been any CPS follow up so I assume it hasn’t happened.
The problem with the Metiv case, is now CPS has to find some way to come out of it while saving face. They are going to have to find something, or make some sort of offer that allows CPS to tell their bosses and the public, that all the time and money was worth while.
But CPS hasn’t. It has been awhile since this happened and CPS has not contacted them again (again, I believe without a doubt that we will hear if CPS contacts them). That, in my experience, is what happens in these cases, at least in my area. CPS does an initial investigation and then you never hear from them again unless they choose to investigate further. They don’t call and say “we decided your case was unsubstantiated and closed your file.” They just never contact you again and you are left to wonder.
Donna,
So in the states you have a gov’t agency that
– is above the law as far as searches and entering your private residence
– can at any time remove your children from your custody
– then when all is said and done, can just walk away without any sort of accountability for their actions
I have heard of other agencies having powers like that. KGB and Gestapo come to mind.
CPS has become too powerful for their own good. The agency needs to be torn down to the foundation and rebuilt. And rebuilt with very limited authority, and very restricted guidelines.
Oh, dear Lord, I cannot shout “Hallelujah” loudly enough.
Thank you.
THANK YOU.
The statistics are grossly distorted. In cases of custody disputes up to 90% of reports may be false accusations. On the other hand, some forms of abuse and neglect are never reported because they are considered politically correct: such as the mother who caught her daughter and other girls in the local Brownie troop masturbating themselves with a vibrating heating pad, and the mother then beat the child with the electric cord.
Many confused people would defend that parent as having reacted appropriately. Rather than reporting parents who attempt to mentally castrate kids, e.g. girls-only pajama parties, no sex information at all, or only inaccurate, unbalanced information about sex, such forms of abuse and neglect are considered unspeakable by politically sensitive legislators and other government employees.
CPS is not a model of responsibility, they are a shameful example of political expediency.
That was as well-worded and respectful as well as *direct* as I could ever hope to read!
I still believe anonymous reporting is important. Yes, it allows abuse of the reporting system and that is a problem. However, I’d rather get that 10 percent of honest reports of abuse than allow those kids to go on getting abused. If it allows honest reporters to step up, than I’m all for it. To paraphrase an old saying:
I’d rather let 1 true case of abuse get reported than stop 10 false reports.
“So in the states you have a gov’t agency that
— is above the law as far as searches and entering your private residence”
No. As a government agency, CPS has to fully comply with the 4th amendment. They have no right to enter your home without consent, a warrant or exigent circumstances – the same as a police officer. They, like the police, have every right to ask for consent and even to try to convince you to give consent, but if you refuse consent, they absolutely cannot force their way in without a warrant or exigent circumstances.
However, it has become abundantly clear in reading this website that people have absolutely no idea what their rights really are. People here seem to think that they have far more rights than they do and that asserting those (often wrong) rights ends the investigation into them completely. Asserting your rights does not mean that the police or CPS must just say “oh well” and stop investigating you. It means nothing more than they need to investigate you in a different way. They can’t come into your house or make you speak to them, but they can still do anything else within the bounds of the law to investigate you and the bounds of the law are pretty vast. They can also go to a judge and ask for that warrant and then force themselves in.
“— can at any time remove your children from your custody”
No. They can take your children after appearing before a judge, presenting their evidence and getting an order from said judge allowing them to take the children. They absolutely cannot appear on your doorstep and just take your children.
“— then when all is said and done, can just walk away without any sort of accountability for their actions”
There is tons of accountability for CPS. CPS is regularly crucified in the press and it is not uncommon for the heads of CPS to get removed from their position due to public outrage over how they handled a particular situation. It happened here very recently. I think within the last year, maybe two.
However, that outrage is largely limited to cases where CPS failed to act – children dying in their care or after they investigated and didn’t remove them. It is almost never directed at cases of CPS overreach. The mentality of society is not currently particularly live and let live. The mentality of society appears to be more “anyone who parents different than me deserves to be arrested and have their children removed by CPS” and society is not free range or remotely accepting that accidents happen with children. Reading the comments after most articles that Lenore posts here will show you that (I mean the comments on the original article, not the comments here). There is simply very little public outrage over CPS overreach so very little action is taken in that regard.
Contrary to popular belief here, the purpose of government is not to work in ways contrary to the desires of the people; it is to represent the desires of its people. That is what is at the heart of democracy. (I do understand that our divided country and large political apathy means that this is not a reality). Since the government is very much a reflection of the what the people willing to take a stand want, you have to change what the people want or who is willing to speak to change the way government operates. So until society changes away from the loud screams that kids should be removed in every situation that they don’t agree with and better safe than sorry, CPS will not change.
That is why Lenore and her movement is so important. I don’t really think the majority of people want kids removed at every turn. I just think those people are the most vocal. The people who like to be outraged just because they like to be outraged, the busybodies, the fear-mongers, etc. have been getting all the press for way too long while the average Joe’s remain silent.
“To paraphrase an old saying:
I’d rather let 1 true case of abuse get reported than stop 10 false reports.”
I think Sir William Blackstone is turning over in his grave in outrage right now. The original quote is “better 10 guilty men go free than 1 innocent man perish” which is the complete opposite of what you just used it to say.
donna, i’m glad for you and those that live in your area that cps is so constrained. that said if you personally were the subject of a cps investigation,especially where the caseworkers wanted to make an example of you for the others in your social class, i beleive that would change your view.
yes cps workers can take children without going before a judge, even if child is not in danger, simply because they want to teach the parents a lesson. and yes they will outright lie to a judge about why they took the kid, because the chances of the parent being able to financially challenge it in court is usually nil[ unless you are on public assistance, which is why they won’t usually take those children, public defenders they don’t personally have to pay for]. even if your lawyer knows they are lying, chances are they won’t fight very hard because”i have ti deal with these people every day and don’t want to piss them off”. so come down off your high horse and just try to imagine the world if you weren’t a lawyer.
@Donna, so the Meitivs are lying when they report that the CPS worker said that the children would be immediately removed if dad did not sign the safety plan at that exact moment? Because that story doesn’t sound like a judge would have been involved, at all.
I understand the why CPS must investigate every complaint, but shouldn’t they have some ability to say “that is not an investigatable complaint?” IE, a kid walking down the street or playing in their front yard is not enough to warrant investigation. Then go on to clarify with the caller to see if there’s some other factor, like the kid is eighteen months old or naked in the snow or something. There really needs to be something that might BY ITSELF (or with other factors present) warrant concern, otherwise getting the police involved is harassment.
I would like to see an analysis of how many cases of abuse or neglect exist vs how many instances where CPS does more harm than good. Let’s face it, a .02% chance of being abused is horrible … when you or some child you know is the .02%. But it isn’t exactly a galvanizing mandate to grant a bunch of government busybodies the authority to pester a lot of parents. A child abused or neglected because of bad parents is a tragedy, but a family abused and damaged by the government is an outrage because it is done in MY NAME.
I also suspect that CPS is the present day descendent of the kind of well intentioned swine who took Catholic children away from their families so they could be brought up Protestant.
Some people make up their own minds about what is acceptable or unacceptable. Some others look to their peers, and some follow authority figures. One part of the effort to make (or keep) the world free-range-friendly is to change hearts and minds–for those who make up their own minds or follow their peers. Another part of that effort is to constrain or reform the authorities — for the sake of those who follow them and those who are affected by their actions.
I used to work with code enforcement officers in the ‘burbs. Their job was to enforce property maintenance ordinances. The officers got calls with complaints about people neglecting their homes and yards, and the officers would investigate. They use a trick that I see CPS using in these stories.
Let’s say a neighbor calls and complains that you are growing tomatoes in your front yard and it looks “messy”. But, there are absolutely no ordinances that ban tomatoes in front yards. The guidelines for the code enforcers call for them to resolve complaints and keep yards from looking “messy”. So what do the code enforcers do? They roll up to your house in their modified squad car, walk up to you, show you their code enforcement badge and say, “We’ve received a complaint that you are growing tomatoes in your front yard. I don’t want to have to write you a ticket, now, so you go ahead and pull out those tomato plants.” The officer’s goal is to get compliance. He knows that if he writes you a ticket, and if you choose to contest the ticket, that it will be thrown out because there is no law against tomatoes. But he also knows that you’ll probably comply. He also knows that if he prevents you and a few other people from growing tomatoes that word will get around that the town is ‘cracking down on tomatoes’. Your neighbors, taking a cue from the authorities, will start to frown on anyone growing tomatoes as despicable law breakers.
It’s true that if everyone knew their rights, code enforcement would have a hard time intimidating everyone into compliance. It is also true that a campaign to change hearts and minds about tomatoes might prevent complaints to code enforcement. However, code enforcement should not be in the habit of using threats and intimidation to prevent people from doing things that are perfectly legal.
In the Meitiv case, CPS used threats and intimidation to try and get them to comply with CPS guidelines. They want to discourage people from letting their kids walk unsupervised, even though it is legal to do so. Some people take their cues about what is acceptable from CPS. In this case CPS says it is unacceptable for kids to walk without an adult, and that means some adults will continue to call CPS when they see otherwise capable kids walking home.
I had no problem reporting my name & contact information to CPS when I called about my mentally unstable brother and my concerns for my niece’s safety. And I was terrified of what my brother would do if he found out. Being schizophrenic isn’t against the law, but it can be harrowing for family members when medication isn’t taken and help feels far away. Warren, please remember that there are lots of CPS calls made by loving family members and our concern is real and a level of anonymity prevents escalation. Blanket judgements don’t protect anyone, abusers or free-rangers.
Sorry Abigail, but that is a cop out. If you are willing to report, than be willing to stand by it, not hide. There is nothing loving about calling in a report and then hiding in the shadows.
Even more so when it is family. By calling in a nameless report, all you are doing is soothing your guilt. You can walk away telling yourself you tried to do something, without actually doing anything.
You know, I’d written out a long defense of my paraphrase, going on and on about how it was more about the victims of abuse and blah, blah. However, I think I’ll just go back to lurking. I am a coward, after all.
“so the Meitivs are lying when they report that the CPS worker said that the children would be immediately removed if dad did not sign the safety plan at that exact moment? Because that story doesn’t sound like a judge would have been involved, at all.”
Nope, I believe fully that they said that to Mr. Meitiv. Saying something and doing something are two completely different things though. It is certainly possible that they know their judge well enough to know that he would agree to removal under these circumstances so what they said was essentially the truth. Or they could be expressing the fact that they will seek a removal order as if removal was definite when it really wasn’t. Or they could be lying their asses off in order to get the father to do what they want which is sadly completely legal.
Also these emergency removal hearings are not lengthy. They are ex parte and can be done over the phone. The CPS worker doesn’t even have to leave the Meitiv’s house. S/he simply calls the judge, explains the situation and gets an oral yay or nay.
“It’s true that if everyone knew their rights, code enforcement would have a hard time intimidating everyone into compliance. It is also true that a campaign to change hearts and minds about tomatoes might prevent complaints to code enforcement. However, code enforcement should not be in the habit of using threats and intimidation to prevent people from doing things that are perfectly legal.”
Everything you say is true, except that it is legal for code enforcement or CPS or the police to try as best they can to manipulate you into giving up your rights. It is like police interrogations where the police completely make evidence up and tell outright lies in order to get people to confess to things. Whenever people wonder how someone could confess to a crime they didn’t commit, my response is always that you’ve obviously never seen a police interrogation. It’s insane the things that they can get away with. It is completely immoral, but the Supreme Court has long upheld their right to do it and I don’t see it ever changing.
@ Dewcho: I still believe anonymous reporting is important. Yes, it allows abuse of the reporting system and that is a problem. However, I’d rather get that 10 percent of honest reports of abuse than allow those kids to go on getting abused. If it allows honest reporters to step up, than I’m all for it. To paraphrase an old saying:
I’d rather let 1 true case of abuse get reported than stop 10 false reports.”
So your saying it’s acceptable for busybody, sanctimonious people to react before looking at the big picture, just in case (a big just in case) children are being “abused” and “neglected”? At the very real risk of innocent families like the Meitivs, to have to go through a long legal battle, spending a lot of money, and losing their child in the system?
This is where simple common sense, and resourcefulness comes in extremely handy. If I were concerned about 2 kids walking alone from a park. I would first do my due diligence, and actually asking the children if THEY ARE OK. And if there parents are aware of where they are. If they said “yes”. I’d leave it at that. They look fine, they sound fine. If I were REALLY concerned, I’d offer to walk the children home, and talk to the parents. Sort it out. The last thing I would ever do is call the cops and CPS on something I clearly have no idea about. Feelings often steer people wrong. Because their feelings are never warranted by actual facts. In fact, they actually make the person think…well…worse case first. And we all know how that turns out.
People just don’t seem to care or think their actions can ruin an entire family for life. And end up doing far more harm to the children, than the figment of their imagination. EVERYONE should always THINK BEFORE speaking. Jumping the gun does no one good. Unless of course it’s very evident there is abuse and neglect. Which in the Meitiv’s case, wasn’t the case. They are now suffering the consequences of someone else’s ill thought out actions.
Ironically, giving kids more free range would give them an out from staying with an abusive parent. And forcing a stressed out parent to wait on kids hand and foot is, IMO, more likely to lead to abuse.
“it is legal for code enforcement or CPS or the police to try as best they can to manipulate you into giving up your rights”
Yep, true. Except, just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it is right or fair.
Hey Donna. It’s good to agree with you about something. You bring a lot of experience and insight into the discussions here.
In a lot of states, the CPS director is appointed by the governor. Wouldn’t it just take an executive order by a state’s governor to reform how CPS investigations are conducted? Something to the effect of:
“at no time shall a CPS investigator intentionally misrepresent the powers of the agency, the rights of parents or guardians, the procedures to be followed during an investigation, or the nature of any evidence or matters of law. Any employee found making such a misrepresentation shall be subject to disciplinary action.”
Then there would be a procedural check against CPS investigators telling lies, making empty threats our using intimidation to get someone to do what they want. No law to pass, no court ruling needed, just the governor’s letterhead.
Sometimes I really think that the elephant in the room is the cost of the fight.
My nose smells money: lots and lots of it.
Spent by honest hardworking people who are far from wealthy.
Spent to protect that which they love the most.
Spent to the last dime without question.
Vultures are known to lick up every last drop of stale blood from something dead or dying.
They actually provide a necessary and valuable service to the ecosystme.
They have more natural grace and beauty, for all their ugliness.
Humans, on the other hand, often don’t.
It is a heartless thiing, after all…to prey upon the weak.
And it is most often the weak who serve the strong (who come in whatever mask.)
A beloved child is a precious thing.
Precious to them that love that child.
For that alone, they deserve respect.
(as Aretha Franklin once sang…)
“You don’t know what it means to me.”
I’m a 911 dispatcher/calltaker, and someone above (don’t remember who) said that the cops pretty much know who called 911 even if the name isn’t released. It may of course be different in other communities, but in mine, if someone refuses to provide their name or address, that’s it. They get to be anonymous. All we might have is their phone number as a way to for cops to identify them if needed, but if they want to be anonymous we are supposed to erase the phone number from our call screen.
I’m a 911 dispatcher/calltaker, and someone above (don’t remember who) said that the cops pretty much know who called 911 even if the name isn’t released. It may of course be different in other communities, but in mine, if someone refuses to provide their name or address, that’s it. They get to be anonymous. All we might have is their phone number as a way to for cops to identify them if needed, but if they want to be anonymous we are supposed to erase the phone number from our call screen. There may be a way to track back to that phone number for an investigation or FOIA, but I’m not sure that’s happening.
CPS is an out of control agency that needs total reform. Ninety percent of federal money is paid to states when children are removed from their homes. And if they are adopted away from their family the state gets a BONUS. This has caused much corruption. http://www.fixcps.wordpress.com
“I agree (yikes!) with Warren”
“I agree with Warren (!)”
Hey, if he talked nonsense 100% of the time he’d be in some institution. Just keep breathing. It happens to the best of us 😛
And if we filter “abuse” from abuse the number gets even lower.
It’s now “abuse” to mildly spank a child, even talk to it in an angry voice…
Don’t give a child the candy it wants in the supermarket when you take it out shopping and the child starts crying or raging? “Abuse”, even worse if you tell it to shut up…
The Maryland couple threatened with warrantless removal of their kids {called a pull in CPS} parlance is a textbook example of the ruthless, lawless revenue-seeking entities these agencies have become.
There is no need for CPS. Sworn law enforcement can (and does) handle actual abuse like battery, molestation and the like.
Social service programs like SNAP, Medicaid and Chips, etc. already exist for poor families. They comprise the vast majority of families CPS preys on. Neglect is CPS code for poor. In most locales, 80% of so-called abuse is just poverty.
CPS is an expensive layer of unchecked bureaucrats who neither have more social services to offer nor power of law to arrest and prosecute actual abusers. They float in a gray area of busybody, and they exist so that CPS depts. can win federal incentives.
Title IV-e of the Social Security Act offers money per head, cash for kids. More money attaches to the foster system and additional cash is available when seized kids are adopted out. This money pays for the social services agencies, in large part.
Thus, pulling kids becomes revenue-seeking. It’s a vicious system.
End CPS. Let cops and social services programs do their jobs. CPS wastes money, disrupts families and needs to end.
http://actionchildprotection.org/documents/2009/pdf/April_Why_We_Remove_Kids.pdf
@been there , done that..i’ve been saying that for years since it happened to me and my kids. however, even on this site, there are those who will say this never happens and mon ey the agency gets is not a motivation.
On February 18th we get a call from a cps workers saying they have to follow up the investigation because they couldn’t find us 3months ago when someone called to report drug use and neglect. So she says we have to go take a drug test but while we wait I have to either willingly give up my rights to a relative or my daughter goes into the system so I let my mom take her. my husband goes Thursday February 19th takes the test but since I forgot my Id I had to wait until Monday February 23rd I go take the test and they say by Wednesday I should have the results. Well Wednesday comes we call and they say they don’t have a case number and that my name isn’t in the system. What do I do I don’t want to take my daughter home and then they come back and say she has to go to foster care.. my daughter has everything and some never been abused I don’t trust her with anyone she’s always with me but yet I’m a bad mom?. I think their taking advantage of us because we’re young don’t know who to go to or call I don’t want to risk losing our daughter because of their mistakes any advice or anything would help please
On February 18th we get a call from a cps workers saying they have to follow up the investigation because they couldn’t find us 3months ago when someone called to report drug use and neglect. So she says we have to go take a drug test but while we wait I have to either willingly give up my rights to a relative or my daughter goes into the system so I let my mom take her. my husband goes Thursday February 19th takes the test but since I forgot my Id I had to wait until Monday February 23rd I go take the test and they say by Wednesday I should have the results. Well Wednesday comes we call and they say they don’t have a case number and that my name isn’t in the system. What do I do I don’t want to take my daughter home and then they come back and say she has to go to foster care.. my daughter has everything and some never been abused I don’t trust her with anyone she’s always with me but yet I’m a bad mom?. I think their taking advantage of us because we’re young don’t know who to go to or call I don’t want to risk losing our daughter because of their mistakes any advice or anything would help please..