DCF breaking the law?

[benji13804]

What is the name of your state? Florida

Seeing as how this has been a child custody issue from the get go, I figured this as good of place as any to bring this up.

My wife's ex(baby daddy) is 1)edited for content 2) been trying for three years to take custody from my wife(bm) with: 2a)falsifying information for a basis of emergency custody hearings 2b)repeated false reports through DCF and my personal favorite 2c)had his mommy calling my wife telling her a sob story about how said child would be better off with (bi-polar)father as they have a special bond(apparently one unable to be shared with L possibly denied by mother nature by some freak accident)

On to the question at hand, according to florida statute 39.205 paragraph (5), it is stated that if the dept. of children and families recieves false reports that the department shall refer it to the local law enforcement agency having jurisdiction for an investigation.

At this point, there have been 8 reports that have been filed and all of which have been deemed false. The investigator assigned to our case has actually only shown her face twice and all of the other visits and mettings and everything else that has ensued, she has been to busy to handle herself and passed them off on her co-workers. She has dropped the ball repetedly with our cases and has even admitted that it was obviously harrassment. The problem is that it seems that she is too lazy to want to deal with the false reports and keeps telling me I will have to go through my attorney to file a suit against a**. My confusion being this is a criminal offense and once convicted criminally, can be gone after with a civil suit or at least I understand that it will work out better that way anyways with the guilty conviction and all.

The investigator and even her boss are still telling us that we have to deal with getting something done ourselves but as per said statute, the rule clearly states that they have to turn it over to athorities. I also called the state attorney and he affirmed my notions as well. What are the penalties that would be associated with failure to follow such protocol and who to take them up with after even the supervisor is failing/refusing to follow their rules and regulations.

Thanks again very much for your insight.

P.s. If you are interested in more of the humerous parts of the above story(all verifyable) just let me know, I will some day have to write a book about this as it gets much better like when a's mother claims said child(her granddaughter) is the re-incarnation of the child she had to for "medical reasons" have aborted thirty years ago!!!

Edit: Sorry for the lack of respectfulness(way too much caffine with my adderall today and spent way to much time reading and typing boundary and right of way legal documents lately) and most importantly appreciate the guidance

 

[summerdawn]

What is the name of your state? Florida

Seeing as how this has been a child custody issue from the get go, I figured this as good of place as any to bring this up.

My wife's ex(baby daddy who will be referred heron as a**)) is 1)an a**hole 2) been trying for three years to take custody from my wife, will be from hereforth refered to as L with 2a)falsifying information for a basis of emergency custody hearings 2b)repeated false reports through DCF and my personal favorite 2c)had his mommy calling my wife telling her a sob story about how said child would be better off with (bi-polar)father as they have a special bond(apparently one unable to be shared with L possibly denied by mother nature by some freak accident)

On to the question at hand, according to florida statute 39.205 paragraph (5), it is stated that if the dept. of children and families recieves false reports that the department shall refer it to the local law enforcement agency having jurisdiction for an investigation.

At this point, there have been 8 reports that have been filed and all of which have been deemed false. The investigator assigned to our case has actually only shown her face twice and all of the other visits and mettings and everything else that has ensued, she has been to busy to handle herself and passed them off on her co-workers. She has dropped the ball repetedly with our cases and has even admitted that it was obviously harrassment. The problem is that it seems that she is too lazy to want to deal with the false reports and keeps telling me I will have to go through my attorney to file a suit against a**. My confusion being this is a criminal offense and once convicted criminally, can be gone after with a civil suit or at least I understand that it will work out better that way anyways with the guilty conviction and all.

The investigator and even her boss are still telling us that we have to deal with getting something done ourselves but as per said statute, the rule clearly states that they have to turn it over to athorities. I also called the state attorney and he affirmed my notions as well. What are the penalties that would be associated with failure to follow such protocol and who to take them up with after even the supervisor is failing/refusing to follow their rules and regulations.

Thanks again very much for your insight.

P.s. If you are interested in more of the humerous parts of the above story(all verifyable) just let me know, I will some day have to write a book about this as it gets much better like when a**'s mother claims said child(her granddaughter) is the re-incarnation of the child she had to for "medical reasons" have aborted thirty years ago!!!

Hi. Have you read the FAQ? It is the first post at the top of this forum, and has a little tack next to it to keep it sticking at the top. If you haven't, I suggest you read it, and edit your post accordingly. The seniors might not help you until your post is worded in a respectful manner.

 

[benji13804]

Sorry to bump this thread but is there not any precedence of DCF refusing to follow protocol set forth in the applicable statutes of the state?

 

[Ohiogal]

It does not dictate that DCF MUST report or attempt to have prosecuted. That is the issue.

 

[benji13804]

All of the 8 cases filed against us over the last two years have been determened to be false

"quote statute 39.205-
(5) If the department or its authorized agent has determined after its investigation that a report is false, the department shall, with the consent of the alleged perpetrator, refer the report to the local law enforcement agency having jurisdiction for an investigation to determine whether sufficient evidence exists to refer the case for prosecution for filing a false report as defined in s. 39.01(28). During the pendency of the investigation by the local law enforcement agency, the department must notify the local law enforcement agency of, and the local law enforcement agency must respond to, all subsequent reports concerning children in that same family in accordance with s. 39.301. If the law enforcement agency believes that there are indicators of abuse, abandonment, or neglect, it must immediately notify the department, which must assure the safety of the children. If the law enforcement agency finds sufficient evidence for prosecution for filing a false report, it must refer the case to the appropriate state attorney for prosecution. "


Clearly stating that it shall be refered to the law enforcement agency for an investigation if I am reading this correctly.

Please correct me if I am wrong in my thinking
1) Something that is outlined in a statute is in effect a law that they must follow correct?

2) Blatant refusal(captured on tape in a legal fashion) to follow this statute has consequenses correct?

3) The only thing that I have been able to find is in the state constitution article 5, section 5, part b where I would have to request the circuit court to file a "writ of mandamas" in essence forcing them to do so and then it would be considered contempt if i am not mistaken.

Is this not a crime punishable in itself for lets say not doing their "job" for lack of better terms?

Thanks again and sorry for my confusion.

 

[Ohiogal]

What does 1 through 4 state?

 

[benji13804]

**sorry for the double post as I tried to edit to get the whole quote thing working

 

[benji13804]

Here is the full section of the particular statute

39.205 Penalties relating to reporting of child abuse, abandonment, or neglect.--

(1) A person who is required to report known or suspected child abuse, abandonment, or neglect and who knowingly and willfully fails to do so, or who knowingly and willfully prevents another person from doing so, is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. A judge subject to discipline pursuant to s. 12, Art. V of the Florida Constitution shall not be subject to criminal prosecution when the information was received in the course of official duties.

(2) Unless the court finds that the person is a victim of domestic violence or that other mitigating circumstances exist, a person who is 18 years of age or older and lives in the same house or living unit as a child who is known or suspected to be a victim of child abuse, neglect of a child, or aggravated child abuse, and knowingly and willfully fails to report the child abuse commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

(3) A person who knowingly and willfully makes public or discloses any confidential information contained in the central abuse hotline or in the records of any child abuse, abandonment, or neglect case, except as provided in this chapter, is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

(4) The department shall establish procedures for determining whether a false report of child abuse, abandonment, or neglect has been made and for submitting all identifying information relating to such a report to the appropriate law enforcement agency and shall report annually to the Legislature the number of reports referred.

(5) If the department or its authorized agent has determined after its investigation that a report is false, the department shall, with the consent of the alleged perpetrator, refer the report to the local law enforcement agency having jurisdiction for an investigation to determine whether sufficient evidence exists to refer the case for prosecution for filing a false report as defined in s. 39.01(28). During the pendency of the investigation by the local law enforcement agency, the department must notify the local law enforcement agency of, and the local law enforcement agency must respond to, all subsequent reports concerning children in that same family in accordance with s. 39.301. If the law enforcement agency believes that there are indicators of abuse, abandonment, or neglect, it must immediately notify the department, which must assure the safety of the children. If the law enforcement agency finds sufficient evidence for prosecution for filing a false report, it must refer the case to the appropriate state attorney for prosecution.

(6) A person who knowingly and willfully makes a false report of child abuse, abandonment, or neglect, or who advises another to make a false report, is guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. Anyone making a report who is acting in good faith is immune from any liability under this subsection.

 

[Ohiogal]

Here is the thing -- there have to be policies established by DCF when it comes to FALSE reports and not just unfounded reports -- those are two different things. FALSE does not mean unfounded. There may need to be proof of malice involved. If DCF has determined there is no proof of malice they do not have to turn it over. That is an educated guess based on what you have posted and where it refers to in the law. Being wrong is not the same thing as being false.

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

Having gone thru similar pains, I very cheerfully have invited ALL the workers into my home and explain, at length, all their visits AND the dates of all our court adventures. All the visits were predictable (right before or after court hearings.) What happened is that we landed up with the head honchos of various departments and us getting together, and they let the X know that anymore calls to CPS would have HIM charged with emotional abuse.

In my case, it was mostly the X's GF and her mother making the calls. I gleefully made sure that she was OUTSIDE of our meeting. Her name that day was bench warmer.

Granted, we have a long history, but I used his attempts against me, and turned them around to where the 'abuse' was.

 

[benji13804]

My wife's X and his mother are known to and have in the past tried to coerce my wife's daughter to make accusations about either myself, my wife's 8 yr old son(most recently claiming he broke something made of glass and inserted it into her vagina with those specific words coming from a 5 yr old little girl) we also have witnesses that DCF has interviewed that have first hand knowlege of this being "taught" to the 5 yr old during his scheduled visitation. And by false I mean the reports weren't deemed unfounded but were deemed false and a different investigator that was standing in for the regular investigator was taken aback by the fact that there not only was more than enough information to proceed with action against the false reporting but was also confused as to why several reports prior there was no action taken. She told my wife and I that she advised not only the main investigator but also the supervisor that there should be action taken and still she flat out blatently refuses to do so.

I just feel as though this is being avoided by the investigator as she is the "high profile" investigator and since she isnt going to make the front page for saving a child from having glass shoved in her or something else of that nature, then it just isnt worth her time or effort to have to show up to court and be a part of the legal proceedings.


Edit: @GinnyJ- The problem is that it is directly coming from the BF and the paternal grandmother. It is just an odd combination as he greatly defines the clinical requirements for Bi-Polar (have read DSM-IV) and his mother claims to have a psychotic-er-psychic connection with her granddaughter(my stepdaughter) not to mention the afore mentioned claim to her being the re-incarnation of her aborted fetus from 30 years ago. They have constantly maid claims that they will of course stop at no end until they have taken custody away from my wife(all of which has been reported to same investigator by more than one witness, one such source is even one of her other son's).

It all feels to me that it adds up to malpractice on the investigator and crazy on the rest. I have a stack of about thirty different petitions that have been filed through the court in order to request emergency releif of custody containing the same crazy statements that have, of course, all been denied.

 

[Ohiogal]

Your wife can try for a restraining order or she can also try to google malicious litigation.