Unfinished garage in FL-Calling Gracie

[Gemini]

What is the name of your state? FL

My stepdaughter has just sent me text messages stating that she is being made to stay in her room, an unfinished garage, and there is no a/c, it is 94 degrees right now!! The a/c is out in the entire house and has been all week. She is not allowed to go outside to cool off because mom's boyfriend, who is at home with her, is asleep. She is 14 not 3, she wouldn't need someone to watch her. My husband is wondering if this would be considered child endangerment or if there is anything that he can do about her living situation. There are modification papers filed and he is waiting for a court date. She was staying with us, but mom went to school and withdrew her and forced her back home even though the police wouldn't get involved due to mom's boyfriend "alleged abuse". Mom is CP, dad NCP~mom not allowing ANY contact. Stepdaughter only text us because we passed a cell phone on to her at her new school. Mom doesn't know that SD has the cell phone and has been in contact with us for the last month.

 

[CJane]

Well, there's no law against not having AC. But if you're that worried about her safety, call CPS.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state? FL

My stepdaughter has just sent me text messages stating that she is being made to stay in her room, an unfinished garage, and there is no a/c, it is 94 degrees right now!! The a/c is out in the entire house and has been all week. She is not allowed to go outside to cool off because mom's boyfriend, who is at home with her, is asleep. She is 14 not 3, she wouldn't need someone to watch her. My husband is wondering if this would be considered child endangerment or if there is anything that he can do about her living situation. There are modification papers filed and he is waiting for a court date. She was staying with us, but mom went to school and withdrew her and forced her back home even though the police wouldn't get involved due to mom's boyfriend "alleged abuse". Mom is CP, dad NCP~mom not allowing ANY contact. Stepdaughter only text us because we passed a cell phone on to her at her new school. Mom doesn't know that SD has the cell phone and has been in contact with us for the last month.

If you really believe its that bad then call CPS.

 

[Zigner]

Oh my god - there is SO much more to this story - I hate to think that anyone would even TRY to answer based on this one post.

EDIT: Except to say "call CPS if you are truly concerned"

 

[Silverplum]

Oh my god - there is SO much more to this story - I hate to think that anyone would even TRY to answer based on this one post.

EDIT: Except to say "call CPS if you are truly concerned"

I remember going my entire childhood without AC. In fact, my parents bought a window unit for their room, and left me to swelter. Is it too late to sue? Whoops, we didn't provide AC to the kids for most of their upbringings, either...



And DUH, call CPS if you think it's so horrible. Be prepared to face ALL the consequences.

 

[Gemini]

The problem that he is having is that she lives in an unfinished garage. He is concerned about that and the fact that she is without a/c right now. Mom's boyfriend is making her sit in the garage room and not allowing her to go outside to try and cool off. My husband doesn't want to start any problems with CPS if that is not something that they would have an issue with.

 

[Silverplum]

The problem that he is having is that she lives in an unfinished garage. He is concerned about that and the fact that she is without a/c right now. Mom's boyfriend is making her sit in the garage room and not allowing her to go outside to try and cool off. My husband doesn't want to start any problems with CPS if that is not something that they would have an issue with.

Tell her to "Sweat To The Oldies!"

 

[jbowman]

What is the name of your state? FL

My stepdaughter has just sent me text messages stating that she is being made to stay in her room, an unfinished garage, and there is no a/c, it is 94 degrees right now!! The a/c is out in the entire house and has been all week. She is not allowed to go outside to cool off because mom's boyfriend, who is at home with her, is asleep. She is 14 not 3, she wouldn't need someone to watch her. My husband is wondering if this would be considered child endangerment or if there is anything that he can do about her living situation. There are modification papers filed and he is waiting for a court date. She was staying with us, but mom went to school and withdrew her and forced her back home even though the police wouldn't get involved due to mom's boyfriend "alleged abuse". Mom is CP, dad NCP~mom not allowing ANY contact. Stepdaughter only text us because we passed a cell phone on to her at her new school. Mom doesn't know that SD has the cell phone and has been in contact with us for the last month.

Couple things: if mom is CP, she had every right to go to school and get her child unless it was during dads visitation time.

If mom is not allowing any contact, he needs to take mom to court to enforce visitation IF there is a court order currently for visitation. You say there are modification papers filed--is that to modify CS or what?

"Passing" the cell phone to your step daughter is pretty dang shady if you ask me. Talk about undermining the other parent.

And lastly 14 year old girs DO exaggerate--and sometimes they lie--and I would think this would be even MORE true if she was getting attention by telling stories. Sounds like she knows how to work ya. She got a cell phone out of it.

 

[Gemini]

Ok first of all, the modification papers are for custody. SD accused mom's boyfriend of hitting her. She was with us during the summer and mom and boyfriend moved out of state, leaving her with us. Since school began, we enrolled her out the local school. Mom came back a week later and tried to have her removed from our home. Police twice refused based on these allegations. Mom then went and took her out of school. I know there is nothing wrong with that which is why dad did nothing more than file the modification. She does live in the garage, it is only a 2 bedroom house and her little brother gets one bedroom and mom and boyfriend get the other. She had the cell phone already, but mom's boyfriend took it away and sent it to us. She asked us to return it to her. They do not allow her to use their phone and she is extremely scared of the boyfriend. She needs a way to get help if she needs it.

Thanks for the advice. I didn't want my husband to fly off the handle and start anything if it wasn't "a hill worth dying on". I know I didn't provide enough info in the post to account for the decisions that my husband has made (cell phone) but he is only doing what he thinks is right for his daughter.

 

[CJane]

The problem that he is having is that she lives in an unfinished garage. He is concerned about that and the fact that she is without a/c right now.

Ya know, I get dad being 'concerned'... but it's not an issue, really.

Growing up, there were 7 kids in my parent's 3 bedroom house. My oldest sister's room was in the unfinished basement until she was out of high school and she moved up to the screened in back porch, after my step-dad filled the screened areas w/sheetrock. The floor was still concrete, it was still technically not part of the house.

We didn't have central heat (they still don't) and heated the entire house with a woodburning stove. It was so cold in my bedroom at the opposite end of the house that when I got up in the mornings there would be ice on the INSIDE of the windows.

And ya know what? I didn't hate it. I couldn't text message my dad for 'rescue'. I dealt with it because that was my life. And all 7 of us turned out quite nicely.

Dad's ONLY option is to call CPS. Or get a GAL involved in the case and see if she/he has an issue with the living arrangments.

 

[Gemini]

Thank you CJane. I am glad I asked, even if I seemed a DORK! I appreciate everyone's comments. My husband was unsure of what to do and while the unfinished garage is not legal (from what I get from google) I didn't know if it was an endangerment issue. I will tell my husband everyones advice and appreciate the help in working through this issue.

Thanks again everyone~have a nice weekend!

 

[haiku]

Why is living in an unfinished garage illegal? my garage is attached to my house, we use it as a studio currently, and I know my kids would bunk in there happily if it gave them an excuse to have thier own room! not to mention they do hang out in our unfinished basement too... LOL

 

[tuffbrk]

What is the name of your state? FL

She is not allowed to go outside to cool off because mom's boyfriend, who is at home with her, is asleep.

Lost me on that one - he's in the house asleep and she can't go outside to cool off? How would he even know? If she opened the garage door for a breeze or sat in the backyard it would be a problem?

I do not understand if there are allegations of abuse why Family Services wasn't immediately contacted - and frankly, I'd be happier that she is out in the garage as opposed to in the house with someone who is abusive.

 

[Gracie3787]

What is the name of your state? FL

My stepdaughter has just sent me text messages stating that she is being made to stay in her room, an unfinished garage, and there is no a/c, it is 94 degrees right now!! The a/c is out in the entire house and has been all week. She is not allowed to go outside to cool off because mom's boyfriend, who is at home with her, is asleep. She is 14 not 3, she wouldn't need someone to watch her. My husband is wondering if this would be considered child endangerment or if there is anything that he can do about her living situation. There are modification papers filed and he is waiting for a court date. She was staying with us, but mom went to school and withdrew her and forced her back home even though the police wouldn't get involved due to mom's boyfriend "alleged abuse". Mom is CP, dad NCP~mom not allowing ANY contact. Stepdaughter only text us because we passed a cell phone on to her at her new school. Mom doesn't know that SD has the cell phone and has been in contact with us for the last month.

In Florida it is not illegal for a child to have a garage as a bedroom, even without air conditioning. (My own son wanted his own room, we set his room up in the garage after speaking to CPS to see if it was illegal) Oddly, my son and his friends thought it was soo cool to have his own "apt".

Since there is a hearing pending, your husband can bring up the issue in the hearing, but it may not do any good.