The government in your home
Well I am occasionally inclined to agree... I was actually asking thinking that a senior here may tell me not to let them in with out my atty being present. This is something that has crossed my mind, that not much good may result from letting them in but a lot of bad could in fact come of it. What if they are a neat freak, what if my sassy pants cat hisses at them, what if she has a melt down, wets her pants etc etc etc... BUT I see it on the flip also, that regular families live in homes far messier then my own (outside of my sewing room and the laundry area on the unfinished side of my basement there is nothing like laying out on the floor) WE love his daughter and she loves us, we do fun things with her, and we keep a fairly safe healthy home. But again the what if's are running through my brain...
This is why im here asking, if a senior sends me a PM I will literally take my camera phone and take photos of every room of my home... While my mom would say it was a wreck the avg american would probably think it's just fine.... Again... I don't really know what CPS is looking for, for all I know she made allegations during her home visit OR they could be planning to recommend to the court given there is an open custody case that his daughter be placed here.
The CPS worker that i spoke to used words like "informal visit" "just to check in to talk" and other similar verbiage, they did not ask to come the day of the call and ask when would be a good time for us. All of this could be a trap, OR it could be someone who wants to help us and most importantly help his daughter. Who knows WHAT they found on her home visit, it could have been pretty not-so-good.... With in 30 minutes of their call to me Mom called Dad in HYSTERICS going on about her "results" and that they were trying to "take her away from BOTH of them" while it could be an over-reaction for a worried mom she could be unsure on the results of her visit, she could be worried she had a dirty drug screen, the child could have told CPS something bad, who the heck knows... Thats why I signed up to ask questions I figured someone here would be able to steer us in the right direction.
I can say that out of all of this ever since CPS's first call to mom (two days after the rock incident) Mom has been leaving work earlier, child has been cleaner when we see her, and they have actually been doing things together. So in the event that she passed her CPS visit but this event scared her into better parenting well... that's a win for the child who even though she is not my own I love very much. As a woman i would never wish for child to not have a healthy relationship with mom, while I do think dad has more time for her and is overall a more attentive parent I am a firm believer that kids need two parents.
I live in a county that has really bad problems with poverty, along with that comes serious issues with children living in unsafe unsuitable situations. Pretty sure CPS walks into many many far worse places than my home. Or mom's home for that matter.
So again open to advice and suggestions on how best to handle this, I am taking the afternoon/evening off to get a little wild with the cleaning, figure the sewing room with 10,000,000 projects all over every surface including the floor probably needs attention. As well as the laundry situation....
No worries on the tone, unless you put angry faces all over it or say you think im an idiot or an overinvolved girlfriend I will assume you are just busy typing quickly and being informative
OHIOGAL you seem to have legal expertise as well as experience with CPS while I realize you are not acting as my attorney given the scenario that i have laid out here would you have CPS come as scheduled tomorrow or refuse them? HONESTLY the WORST of my home will be a Michigan basement that occasionally gets wet, some laundry on the floor near the washer (in the basement) and some dust bunnies. We don't use drugs, are not heavy drinkers, ETC ETC ETC. Tomorrow at 1130 we drive an hour to pick up the child from her new "school" that she started at a month ago and bring her here, CPS will be here within 1 hour from our arrival home. There are no other kids, 3 cats, a great big fish tank, she has her own room with her own furniture toys, there is kid art up all over the place etc etc... Oh and my lawn will be a bit bushy due to my dead lawn mower (not like super bushy, not the bushiest on the block but will look like it needs trimmed). Oh and I smoke cigarettes outside, her mother smokes as well and does so indoors. I guess thats probably less than desirable but Im not a CPS person. We do have an atty on retainer for the divorce/custody situation who we have left messages for all day today but she was at court and didn't make it back before the end of the day. She may or may not call us back before the apt.