CPS Investigation

[Anonymous]

I've been on another parenting forum where multiple posters have brought up CPS investigations they have gone through that later were dropped because the claims were unsubstantiated. A random scratch on an the child's ear that the pediatrician called CPS for, a journal entry in Kindergarten where a child wrote "I hate when my dad beats me" (that, after she was removed from the home, turned out to be about beating her at board games), and so many stories of random things children said at daycare that were taken out of context.

These stories have rocked me to my core. Of course I understand that it's best to be cautious but some of these stories involved the children being taken away for a week or more during the investigation... it's horrible! Has anything like this ever happened to you?

[Anonymous]

Lots of people have had this... Its stressful but ultimately necessary to have such a system

[Anonymous]

Not me and I don’t know all of the details but I have an acquaintance that lost custody of her 3 children and still doesn't have any access to them, years later. They were all split up and living in foster homes across the country, no contact with their family of origin. She would go on these long rants on social media about how it was all part of a mass conspiracy and she was being innocently framed by a spiteful neighbor.

She was a nurse practioner and by all outside appearances seemed to have her life together. I guess not, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of people have had this... Its stressful but ultimately necessary to have such a system

No, it is not necessary to have a system with a hair-trigger for removing kids from the home.

In answer to your question OP - I knew someone who had a false Shaken Baby accusation made against them. Preemie twins, one had a brain bleed at home that is common in prematurity. The ER doctor saw this as a per se sign of child abuse and referred to CPS. This was a wealthy, professional family. Thankfully they had the resources to fight this, and the babies were never removed from the home to fostercare. I think the babies went to the grandparents, and one parent (the one who was not home at the time of the brain bleed) was allowed visitation. Once it was sorted out, the family literally left the US to never return because it was so scarring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of people have had this... Its stressful but ultimately necessary to have such a system

No, it is not necessary to have a system with a hair-trigger for removing kids from the home.

In answer to your question OP - I knew someone who had a false Shaken Baby accusation made against them. Preemie twins, one had a brain bleed at home that is common in prematurity. The ER doctor saw this as a per se sign of child abuse and referred to CPS. This was a wealthy, professional family. Thankfully they had the resources to fight this, and the babies were never removed from the home to fostercare. I think the babies went to the grandparents, and one parent (the one who was not home at the time of the brain bleed) was allowed visitation. Once it was sorted out, the family literally left the US to never return because it was so scarring.

I knew a family who, when putting the baby to bed one night, found a bump on the back of his head. Took the child to the ER and the doctor called CPS immediately. They took the child into protective custody for two weeks. They were all interviewed and it turned out the nanny dropped the baby and never told the parents. That family, especially the mother, was traumatized. She quit her job to be a SAHM and they never had another kid. It's awful

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of people have had this... Its stressful but ultimately necessary to have such a system

No, it is not necessary to have a system with a hair-trigger for removing kids from the home.

In answer to your question OP - I knew someone who had a false Shaken Baby accusation made against them. Preemie twins, one had a brain bleed at home that is common in prematurity. The ER doctor saw this as a per se sign of child abuse and referred to CPS. This was a wealthy, professional family. Thankfully they had the resources to fight this, and the babies were never removed from the home to fostercare. I think the babies went to the grandparents, and one parent (the one who was not home at the time of the brain bleed) was allowed visitation. Once it was sorted out, the family literally left the US to never return because it was so scarring.

I knew a family who, when putting the baby to bed one night, found a bump on the back of his head. Took the child to the ER and the doctor called CPS immediately. They took the child into protective custody for two weeks. They were all interviewed and it turned out the nanny dropped the baby and never told the parents. That family, especially the mother, was traumatized. She quit her job to be a SAHM and they never had another kid. It's awful

You are writing pure fantasy.

[Anonymous]

Listen to the Podcast Do No Harm if you really want to lose sleep over this.

[Anonymous]

My 4 yo is an indoor parkour enthusiast and this is a real fear I have...he’ll get hurt, we take him to the ER, and enter unwarranted CPS investigation hell.

[Anonymous]

This happened to a friend of mine. Mentally unstable (as later came out in the investigation) childcare provider made false accusations of abuse against multiple families. In the end my friend's children were not removed, but my friend believes it was only because they were able to hire a very expensive lawyer and because the accuser was mentally unstable enough and accused enough people that she was suspect.

It was very, very traumatic. My friend got PTSD, and moved away. The investigation record never goes away even with a false accusation that is technically closed, so they live in constant fear of another false report. They won't use any childcare, and are homeschooling.

Watching from the sidelines, I flat-out don't trust CPS at this point. They were shockingly eager to go to removal over very shoddy evidence. I firmly believe there are many poorer kids whose families could not afford lawyers who have had their children separated unfairly and wrongly.

I don't know what the right answer is. But I suspect that a lot of families have been totally traumatized by this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of people have had this... Its stressful but ultimately necessary to have such a system

No, it is not necessary to have a system with a hair-trigger for removing kids from the home.

In answer to your question OP - I knew someone who had a false Shaken Baby accusation made against them. Preemie twins, one had a brain bleed at home that is common in prematurity. The ER doctor saw this as a per se sign of child abuse and referred to CPS. This was a wealthy, professional family. Thankfully they had the resources to fight this, and the babies were never removed from the home to fostercare. I think the babies went to the grandparents, and one parent (the one who was not home at the time of the brain bleed) was allowed visitation. Once it was sorted out, the family literally left the US to never return because it was so scarring.

I knew a family who, when putting the baby to bed one night, found a bump on the back of his head. Took the child to the ER and the doctor called CPS immediately. They took the child into protective custody for two weeks. They were all interviewed and it turned out the nanny dropped the baby and never told the parents. That family, especially the mother, was traumatized. She quit her job to be a SAHM and they never had another kid. It's awful

You are writing pure fantasy.

I believe the PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lots of people have had this... Its stressful but ultimately necessary to have such a system

No, it is not necessary to have a system with a hair-trigger for removing kids from the home.

In answer to your question OP - I knew someone who had a false Shaken Baby accusation made against them. Preemie twins, one had a brain bleed at home that is common in prematurity. The ER doctor saw this as a per se sign of child abuse and referred to CPS. This was a wealthy, professional family. Thankfully they had the resources to fight this, and the babies were never removed from the home to fostercare. I think the babies went to the grandparents, and one parent (the one who was not home at the time of the brain bleed) was allowed visitation. Once it was sorted out, the family literally left the US to never return because it was so scarring.

I knew a family who, when putting the baby to bed one night, found a bump on the back of his head. Took the child to the ER and the doctor called CPS immediately. They took the child into protective custody for two weeks. They were all interviewed and it turned out the nanny dropped the baby and never told the parents. That family, especially the mother, was traumatized. She quit her job to be a SAHM and they never had another kid. It's awful

I don’t understand. How is CPS in the wrong in any way here? Their investigation turned up that the nanny dropped the baby and never told the parents. If not for CPS and the doctor who called the baby could have suffered from more neglect from that caregiver. I’m sure it was traumatizing but this story illustrates why we need CPS and why we have mandatory reporters.

[Anonymous]

This happened to me. My neighbor and I had a carpool for preschool and my son was at her house a lot. Her son was also at my house a lot but her neighbor did not know that.

The neighbor would see me drop off my child and pick him up in the afternoon often from her house. I was in work clothes.


My h worked 3-11 so he was home and would pick up from preschool often and had the kids over too.

The neighbor reported us to CpS for a unlicensed daycare.

[Anonymous]

These are not common situations. Far more common that children who should be removed aren’t and have to stay in an abusive or neglectful situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These are not common situations. Far more common that children who should be removed aren’t and have to stay in an abusive or neglectful situation.

Agreed - there are way too many drug addicted parents getting their children back from foster care after doing a 6 month stint of drug rehab, etc. And then 12 months later, child is taken away again because parent relapsed, OR if not taken away it's very close to the edge of doing so, which means child is not in a truly healthy home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been on another parenting forum where multiple posters have brought up CPS investigations they have gone through that later were dropped because the claims were unsubstantiated. A random scratch on an the child's ear that the pediatrician called CPS for, a journal entry in Kindergarten where a child wrote "I hate when my dad beats me" (that, after she was removed from the home, turned out to be about beating her at board games), and so many stories of random things children said at daycare that were taken out of context.

These stories have rocked me to my core. Of course I understand that it's best to be cautious but some of these stories involved the children being taken away for a week or more during the investigation... it's horrible! Has anything like this ever happened to you?

This question raises many questions