Turned over to the Child Protective Services

[adhoc]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

Maryland


Our 2 year old was bit by a dog about a month ago, minor cut, was OK 5 minutes later. The dog was more or less playing with him, not seriously attacking our son.

My wife, in her infinite wisdom, called our pedi and apparently scared her badly. I think she really blew it out of proportion. She wanted to schedule an appointment (a full week later), but I canceled it since there was no reason. It was a tiny scratch that has since healed. Not body parts flying around.

Well the pedi got mad and turned us over to CPS. Now our pedi has never seen our son, so it's totally over the phone stuff. How could she relay that information accurately.

I thought that was really lacking class and just intimidating. The pedi also pushed vaccines heavily and implied that CPS can take our son away if we don't vax. My very naive spouse believed her and had a 4-day long panic attack, just totally lost it.

Now CPS contacted me, wants to come over, I said no. I heard that a lot of times they will try to build a case against you based on info they fish out from such visits. That you should never let them into your house without a warrant.
They said OK but then they demand that we come to them. I said "OK" I will come. Their office is 10 minutes away.

Do they have that right, to demand a meeting one way or another? What are our rights here? Are there any dangers in coming over there, any way they can trick us?

 

[Proserpina]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

Maryland


Our 2 year old was bit by a dog about a month ago, minor cut, was OK 5 minutes later. The dog was more or less playing with it, not seriously attacking our son.

My wife, in her infinite wisdom, called our pedi and apparently scared her badly. I think she really blew it out of proportion. She wanted to schedule an appointment (a full week later), but I canceled it since there was no reason. It was a tiny scratch that has since healed. Not body parts flying around.

Well the pedi got mad and turned us over to CPS. Now our pedi has never seen our son, so it's totally over the phone stuff. How could she relay that information accurately.

I thought that was really lacking class and just intimidating. The pedi also pushed vaccines heavily and implied that CPS can take our son away if we don't vax. My very naive spouse believed her and had a 4-day long panic attack, just totally lost it.

Now CPS contacted me, wants to come over, I said no. I heard that a lot of times they will try to build a case against you based on info they fish out from such visits. That you should never let them into your house without a warrant.
They said OK but then they demand that we come to them. I said "OK" I will come. Their office is 10 minutes away.

Do they have that right, to demand a meeting one way or another? What are our rights here? Are there any dangers in coming over there, any way they can trick us?

So...how concerned are you about the actual welfare of your child?

Do you have anything to be concerned about, should CPS visit you?

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

Maryland


Our 2 year old was bit by a dog about a month ago, minor cut, was OK 5 minutes later. The dog was more or less playing with it, not seriously attacking our son.

My wife, in her infinite wisdom, called our pedi and apparently scared her badly. I think she really blew it out of proportion. She wanted to schedule an appointment (a full week later), but I canceled it since there was no reason. It was a tiny scratch that has since healed. Not body parts flying around.

Well the pedi got mad and turned us over to CPS. Now our pedi has never seen our son, so it's totally over the phone stuff. How could she relay that information accurately.

I thought that was really lacking class and just intimidating. The pedi also pushed vaccines heavily and implied that CPS can take our son away if we don't vax. My very naive spouse believed her and had a 4-day long panic attack, just totally lost it.

Now CPS contacted me, wants to come over, I said no. I heard that a lot of times they will try to build a case against you based on info they fish out from such visits. That you should never let them into your house without a warrant.
They said OK but then they demand that we come to them. I said "OK" I will come. Their office is 10 minutes away.

Do they have that right, to demand a meeting one way or another? What are our rights here? Are there any dangers in coming over there, any way they can trick us?

At this point you need an attorney...seriously. Its possible that you could handle it without one, but the odds are not in your favor.

 

[swrdmbo]

"My very naive spouse" is probably a lot smarter than you. By acting so paranoid, and suspicious...you have probably raised the stakes significantly in what is going to be the "welfare" of your child.

While you may not lose custody I think you have brought upon yourself a lot more scrutiny that you ever wanted. Way to go.

 

[>Charlotte<]

Our 2 year old was bit by a dog about a month ago, minor cut, was OK 5 minutes later. The dog was more or less playing with it,

Will you please edit your post and change "it" to "him"? That's just really creeping me out.

 

[adhoc]

Grammar police is here, thank you for the education.

 

[adhoc]

"My very naive spouse" is probably a lot smarter than you. By acting so paranoid, and suspicious...you have probably raised the stakes significantly in what is going to be the "welfare" of your child.

While you may not lose custody I think you have brought upon yourself a lot more scrutiny that you ever wanted. Way to go.

I am just aware of CPS abuse, unlike you apparently?


Maryland CPS News Archive - Kidjacked

Thanks for the absolutely worthless advice.

Why do you even waste time typing?

To everyone else - please try not to quote the entire post. Just the relevant highlighted portions of it. It's very annoying, you know?

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

The pediatrician is a MANDATED reporter. Based on the information he/she received, they made an appropriate call.

Your behaviour is making it look like you have something to hide. As others have stated, you may want to retain an attorney.

 

[Antigone*]

I am just aware of CPS abuse, unlike you apparently?


Maryland CPS News Archive - Kidjacked

Thanks for the absolutely worthless advice.

Why do you even waste time typing?

To everyone else - please try not to quote the entire post. Just the relevant highlighted portions of it. It's very annoying, you know?

who died and made you moderator

This guy comes here, gets rude with the members and is freaking picky...what is up with that???

I'd advocate for a round of HIJACK TRIVIA but that would be rude

 

[adhoc]

This is a typical passive-aggressive behavior. A question is asked, a shallow and accusatory reply is given, (You have something to hide BS) and when *that* is confronted, the poster is told he is rude. Wonderful.

To the 'you have something to hide' crowd, here is a free lesson - people have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Just because you refuse to have your car searched under 4th Amend doesn't mean you have something to hide. Any lawyer will tell you that. Just because you refuse to have CPS visit your house doesn't mean you have something to hide, it's an old bankrupt argument. You display an astounding lack of legal knowledge.

 

[goddessoflubboc]

Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you, either.

Frankly, with a temper that heats up over such meaningless stuff (it's just words on a screen, ya' know?) you'd BETTER have an attorney present. At all times.

 

[PQN]

anti-CPS

Yes, you are right that they need a warrant to enter your house. I would strongly recommend finding an anti-CPS attorney in your area. And since you dislike your ped so much, find a new one. But understand that a long standing relationship with professionals can help immensely when dealing with CPS. We had a person file a complaint maliciously on us and all of our docs (sick child requiring specialists) stood with us as they had been seeing our children for nearly 10 years and knew that we took good care of them.

A lot of how CPS proceeds depends on the quality of the worker. As a former foster parent and former CASA, I met some amazing workers that knew their job and did it well, some young workers who wanted to do a great job but went overboard and therefore didn't do well. There are others who would improve the entire child welfare system by finding a new career.

So, be calm and polite when dealing with them. Get a lawyer. Do not let them take your child without a warrant. If they do take your child, fight it at the first court date because if they get possession of your child at the first court date, it is a long, long road to getting your child home again.

 

[LdiJ]

Yes, you are right that they need a warrant to enter your house. I would strongly recommend finding an anti-CPS attorney in your area. And since you dislike your ped so much, find a new one. But understand that a long standing relationship with professionals can help immensely when dealing with CPS. We had a person file a complaint maliciously on us and all of our docs (sick child requiring specialists) stood with us as they had been seeing our children for nearly 10 years and knew that we took good care of them.

A lot of how CPS proceeds depends on the quality of the worker. As a former foster parent and former CASA, I met some amazing workers that knew their job and did it well, some young workers who wanted to do a great job but went overboard and therefore didn't do well. There are others who would improve the entire child welfare system by finding a new career.

So, be calm and polite when dealing with them. Get a lawyer. Do not let them take your child without a warrant. If they do take your child, fight it at the first court date because if they get possession of your child at the first court date, it is a long, long road to getting your child home again.

As good as this advice is, the whole situation wouldn't be happening if he had just taken the child to the doctor when the doctor recommended it.

 

[PQN]

true

As good as this advice is, the whole situation wouldn't be happening if he had just taken the child to the doctor when the doctor recommended it.

Very true.

 

[gr8rn]

OP maybe you have something to hide, maybe you don't, but by behaving in this way you have definitely made it easy for CPS to scrutinize you. It has been my experience that CPS does nothing, but only in cases where it "appears" to be a custody battle. When they are concerned about BOTH parents having poor judgement or involved in criminal activities, they can be very intimidating. I would have let them inspect my home so they could see there was nothing wrong going on. You will at least have to produce your child to satisfy them that there has been no harm done.

In the future you should be a lot more accomodating. I know of no other government agency with so much power over your children. You need to be aware they can take your kids and once they are in "the system" you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get them back.