Had To Call CPS For The First Time Today :(

[Willow]

If a two year old was raped there would be a heck of a lot more "evidence" than just a rash and a bit of bruising. OP didn't mention anything about the toddlers mental state being off and THAT would have been the most obvious indication. She certainly wouldn't have been acting normal.

If the CPS official the OP says saw the girl really suspected such a thing as toddler RAPE she wouldn't have left the girl in care and just told the OP, oh, weird rash, hotline it. Action would have been taken immediately to get the courts and law enforcement involved and the girl would have been pulled without her being allowed to return home.

Obviously it wasn't that bad if that wasn't the case.


I'm straight shocked anyone would throw out such a word without having ANY direct involvement with the situation. I'm sorry but that's disgusting. Nothing short of a witch hunt.


No, CPS does not have the authority to remove a child on their own accord. This is not the movies, or an hour long fictional dramatic tv show. They don't just show up and haul children off. Even in the most severe cases there are procedures and it absolutely has to be court ordered by a judge.

[Logged out]

Some say she shouldn't have called?! There was a couple little girls who came to the daycare I work at. The owner noticed something a little out of the ordinary than with most girls that age, but not being trained, not knowing what to look for, not knowing what constituted a call to CPS, she didn't make the call. She wasn't THAT suspicious. Later found out the dad had been sexually abusing them (the mom and Grandma knew it, but didn't do anything). We found out when the oldest girl told us "daddy does this". Children went through counseling but are still struggeling with the emtoional scars even after a few years. The owner was chewed out BIG time by CPS and warned she could be in HUGE trouble for not reporting. She had mentioned it to the mom, and she didn't seem to take it serious. Owner was told by CPS to never mention it to the parent in a suspected case like that. They can always act like they have no idea what you're talking about, come up with some "explanation", etc. and then knowing the daycare suspects it, they can call CPS on the daycare to cover themeslves, saying the daycare was abusing the child.

As for having a doctor look at it first before calling, or waiting for the doctor to call instead of a MANDATED reporter: A mom brought son to doctor one day after picking him up from daycare. The doctor saw he had a dirty diaper (3 yr old boy) and told her she should call CPS on us for neglect since we didn't change him! (apparently 3 yr olds can't dirty their diapers on way to the doctor, or while waiting in the waiting room?!) Thankfully his teacher had written down when she changed him that day, so nothing could be used against us. In my experience, the doctor's first advice is, "blame the daycare". Besides that, a doctor may have medical training and all that, but they may not know if something is sexual abuse or not, if they have never seen what it looks like for a sexual abuse victim.
If someone is trying to keep themselves out of a trouble, the first thing most people do is try to place blame on someone else, even if they know they are guilty.

The OP did the right thing. She is a MANDATED reporter. If you suspect anything, you HAVE to call. You don't just pass the buck onto someone else (like a doctor, and just hope they do their job and report it if it needs to be).

The OP was looking for advice an encouragement. NOT a bunch of critcism and rude remarks. OP, you followed the law and did what you thought was best for this child, so just know you did do the right thing! Even if it turns out to be nothing, it was in best interest of the child to call. And you kept yourself from being in a LOT of trouble, plus a guilty conscience, had it turned out the child was being abused.

[Willow]

So, are you saying that the CPS worker came to your daycare and personally examined the child's diaper area in your presence before the parents were notified, before the child saw a doctor, without the supervision or presence of any medical professional whatsoever, and determined that there was, indeed, cause for concern? Is that CPS procedure?

As a parent, I can tell you this. If I found out that one of my daughter's bare diaper areas had been examined by a stranger without my permission, to investigate alleged wrongdoing or abuse, without the notification and supervision of a doctor or nurse trained in this matter, I would be livid. LIVID.

I completely understand that when it comes to abuse, it's "better safe than sorry" but this whole thing really sounds fishy.

Completely agree.

[My3cents]

And yes, CPS can take children. They are an entity that was given that power.

[COLOR="Red"]yes they can- it has to be pretty bad to do this. They can petition the court for an emergency situation. Judges can be called in the middle of the night for this type of thing. Again it has to be severe- There is a name for this and I forget what it is called.

[Willow]

And yes, CPS can take children. They are an entity that was given that power.

[COLOR="Red"]yes they can- it has to be pretty bad to do this. They can petition the court for an emergency situation. Judges can be called in the middle of the night for this type of thing. Again it has to be severe- There is a name for this and I forget what it is called.

You're wrong with the first statement, correct with the second.

CPS cannot take kids on their own accord, they can only be court ordered to.

If the CPS investigator in the scenario put forth in this thread thought the child was in any real danger she couldn't have picked the kiddo up and put her in her car. There has to be a petition filed and a judge has to order CPS to do such a thing. No matter what the situation, no matter what time of day, it has to be ordered. The severity of the situation is moot.

If a CPS hauls away a child without that judge signing off on it the action would be considered kidnapping.

[Crystal]

I have a DCM who works for CPS. I talked to her this afternoon about wether or not she can remove children from the home witout a court order. She said that she absolutley can, but must have a police officer with her and the case must be severe enough to do so without the court order.

So, PP, yes they can and do have the authority to do so, but it must be extreme enough to warrant removing the children without appearing before a judge.

It may different for each state, but in California, they do have that authority.

[christinaskids]

Huh thats really strange because I just lived the CPS taking of children a few months ago . Court was a few days later. They most certainly do and will if they feel the children are in immediate danger. They had the police come but that was just as backup. There was no court order

[familyschoolcare]

why are we talking/debating about what CPS can and can not do. The OP did the right thing by calling CPS. If she thought she needed too call then she needed to call if CPS thought the call was an over reaction then they would have said so. Why are we debating and talking about what CPS did or did not do; and why are we debating what they can and can not do. Why are we soo far off topic.

[AmyLeigh]

CPS Detention procedures from OP's home state:

The Indiana Department of Child Services (DCS) will remove a child from his or her parent, guardian, or custodian if:
1. A reasonable person would believe that the child’s physical or mental condition is seriously impaired or seriously endangered due to injury by the act or omission of the child's parent, guardian or custodian. or
2. The child's physical or mental condition is seriously impaired or seriously endangered as a result of the inability, refusal, or neglect of the child's parent, guardian or custodian to supply the child with necessary food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education or supervision; and
3. The coercive intervention of the court is needed (taken) to protect the child.
The Family Case Manager (FCM) will obtain Supervisory approval prior to removing any child from their parent, guardian, or custodian.
DCS will obtain a written order from the court prior to removing a child, unless emergency removal is necessary to protect the immediate health and safety of the child. Emergency removal may be necessary if all of the following factors are present:
1. It appears that the child's physical or mental condition is seriously impaired or seriously endangered if the child is not immediately taken into custody;
2. There is not a reasonable opportunity to obtain an order of the court; and
3. Consideration for the safety of the child precludes the immediate use of family services to prevent removal of the child.
DCS will not remove a child without a Law Enforcement Agency (LEA) present, unless:
1. Emergency removal is necessary; and
2. LEA has been contacted, and considering the immediate concern for the safety or well-being of the child, is unable to be present during the removal.
If DCS removes a child without a court order and/or LEA present, DCS will document the reasons why such measures were necessary.
DCS will secure a detention hearing within 48 hours of detention of the child

[SilverSabre25]

Okay, moderator here--this has gotten WAY off topic, guys. If you want to continue the discussion of what CPS has the power to do, someone please start a new thread for it, okay?

[Willow]

To put it back into perspective...I've been doing foster care for 6 years now. Not decades by a long shot but I've had a lot of kids come and go and I know my way around the process (at least in my state) quite well at this point.

Some of what the kids that ended up in my care have endured would make a person unfamiliar with the world of child protection vomit on the spot, some on the other hand were "eh, maybe this warrants further investigation" cases.

NONE, upon their initial discovery, were simply advised by CPS to have a run of the mill citizen merely hotline the situation and take a wait and see stance.

NONE would have been allowed to return home.

NONE, even the worst of the worst, were pulled via a single CPS investigator without a court order despite some being beyond gruesome and very much emergent situations.


To repeat - if this CPS investigator actually thought this toddler was *raped* she would have NEVER been allowed to return home tonight. EVEN IF this investigator had the authority to immediately pull the child, EVEN IF they didn't I suppose is irrelevant - the fact that nothing was immediately done is telling enough.

If there was any inkling of concern of something that serious action would have been taken immediately.