The allegations against L.B., made by an anonymous caller at 4:45 a.m. that day, were false. These included that she was a stripper (she worked at a home for people with disabilities); that she used drugs (none were found, and a drug test was negative for all substances); and that an abusive man lived with her and that she owned “machine guns” (after an exhaustive search and interrogation, both claims were deemed baseless).
In fact, L.B. has never been found to have committed any type of child maltreatment, ACS and court records show.
Yet the anonymous caller, whom L.B. believes to be a former acquaintance with a grudge, has continued to dial in to New York’s state child welfare hotline. Each time, this person or possibly people make outlandish, often already-disproven claims about her, seeming to know that doing so will automatically trigger a government intrusion into her domestic life.
And ACS obliges: Over the past three years, the agency either has inspected her home or examined and questioned her son at school more than two dozen times. Caseworkers have sought a warrant for only three of these searches, most recently in August. All of those requests have been rejected by judges, according to court records.
There is a proven need for the service. But it needs to be better regulated, NOT privatized and states should have rules limiting worker’s authority.
Better regulation is definity needed, in cases like this CPS themselves are practically the abusers.
Yup. They’re supposed to be there for the welfare of the child AND family, not to act as judge and jury with zero compassion.
But if that’s what their leadership (state and local) is teaching/telling them to do, it’s time for a new government.
For real, the repeated interviews could be traumatizing to that child.