An angry, out of state family member called CPS on me...

[PeepsInc]

Quote:
There is no penalty for false accusations. A person can report you weekly with false accusations with out reprocution & CPS has to keep the persons name confidential. Once reported your case stays on record for 10 years. That's why it's not OK to send the authority's to someones house just to check things out!(With out just cause) ....It's the same with the SPCA! People abuse the system,& it's costing us all $millions$.

 

[redhen]

I think some folks are forgetting that Quail IS the victim here. I know what the charges were..(she told me) and i can tell you, being a foster parent myself, that they are a joke! What they are accusing her of is SO minor and PETTY it makes me sick that the state is EVEN checking up on it! Yet the crack head down the road still hasent gotten her kids taken away!!
She hasnt done anything wrong at all. And i think thats WHY she feels so upset and VIOLATED over this whole thing! As I would too! Lets back off her a bit... Give her the same respect you would expect in this situation!

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

CASE CLOSED!!!!!!!!!!

CPS came this morning, and they spent a good hour talking with me and dh outside. They were nice and took our concerns seriously. They understood that we were afraid that the allegations would mean they'd take our kids.

Well, he said here's the deal, if we see your kids and the house, and we are confident the allegations are false, then our mission becomes protecting your family and preserving it.

They are now helping US get protective orders and no contact orders against the inlaws! We gave them details about all the harrassment we've put up with from the inlaws, and they are going to help put a stop to it all!

They also encouraged us to not give up our property, to stay here and fight for it, since we put $ time , etc into it. We were planning to move in 2 weeks to get away from the inlaws.

 

[redhen]

Yay!!! *can i say..i told ya so?*

I knew you would be fine! You did nothing wrong!

I'm so glad these people are going to get it now!! That just makes my day!

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

OH I almost forgot, they saw our garden and all the produce we have harvested, and they couldn't believe it!

They thought our poultry were really cool, too.

 

[saddina]

I'm glad it worked out for you QA.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
There is no penalty for false accusations. A person can report you weekly with false accusations with out reprocution & CPS has to keep the persons name confidential. Once reported your case stays on record for 10 years. That's why it's not OK to send the authority's to someones house just to check things out!(With out just cause) ....It's the same with the SPCA! People abuse the system,& it's costing us all $millions$.

State laws differ. I know that in Arizona they have opened some of the secrecy. Not enough, but it's an ongoing effort, fought tooth and nail by CPS. States with more open laws have much better success rates at keeping good families together and removing children from truly dangerous situations. That and a couple of high profile cases is what started Arizona legislators demanding more openness.

I do believe that suspected abuse should be reported, but there needs to be grounds for suspicion, not just "could be." And people who in good faith are trying to see that a child is not abused should not face penalties for reporting when investigation shows it was not abuse. But when someone deliberately makes a false accusation, they should have the book thrown at them. Same as if they make a false police report, but maybe even more as they have not just wasted public $$ and time from real cases, but have also caused harm to the persons they reported and the children involved. Note I didn;t say this is how the law is written, but I believe that that is the way I believe it should be.

 

[wyliefarms]

What a relief for you and your family! Praise the Lord!!!!

 

[Big Chicken Little]

If your in laws are doing this you need to say good bye to the in laws.

 

[LarryPQ]

Congrats on the green flag!



I have had a similiar (if opposite) experience with the in-laws. They would report us for petty, petty crap. They kept insisting we were nuts, and long story short: as of Friday

--the MIL is now in a mental instatutio until she is sentenced,
--3 out of 5 children are in prison long-term for drugs, prostitution, and assault,
--1 child (22) died of OD last Monday
--We are adopting my (very young) BIL

You can't pick your family, but you sure can build a "Cone of Silence" around your children...protected by a barrier of 100 black-hawk ninja-trained attack chickens.

All those BYC friends could probably help too...