I'm still new to BYC, but I feel like this place is a wonderful sounding board for chickens as well as life experiences. I appreciate any feedback y'all can give.
Some of you may remember my post from a few days ago where I detailed my job loss. I wanted to preface my story with that to let you know that I am no longer affiliated with the high school and as such I'm no longer bound by law to any specific actions.
I teach 9th grade biology and had a student this year with a troubling home life, but would have never guessed until she told me. She attempted suicide back in early April which came as a shock to *everyone*. She was hospitalized for a few days and attended intense therapy for about 30 days or so, but seemed to be doing "better." About two weeks ago, she came into my room in tears. I pulled her into the back room where she told me that her dad was angry with her and drinking heavily. She told me how he drinks every night and takes out his anger (mostly verbally, but sometimes physically) on her and how he's abusive to her dog. I listened with a sympathetic ear while she talked, but then told her that she was way beyond my realm of experience and suggested that she go talk to her school counselor (as per S.O.P.). I went ahead and gave her my cell phone number in case of an emergency but told her to put it under my first name.
She seemed okay for the rest of the week and into the next. I saw her at the beginning of this past week and could tell she'd been crying. She came into my room during my conference period and told me that she'd called CPS up to the school but that they didn't believe her. Come to find out, Dad had told them that she was making everything up for attention and had them talk to one of her former friend's mother who said the same thing. CPS went on to threaten her with juvenile for filing false reports. Mom is not in the picture because she ran from him after years of repeated abuse. The girl had gone with Mom, but opted to come back because she missed her friends and hated moving around. Again, I listened in shock. The only thing I could think to tell her is to find a way to obtain hard evidence of the abuse. She needed pictures or a recording of her father in his drunken, abusive state. She seemed to think that was a good idea and I didn't see her again for the rest of the week.
She sent me a message yesterday asking if it was ok for her Mom to call me. I said that was fine and received a call this morning. Mom went on to chronicle the abuse she and the girl had endured for more than an hour. She tells me the Dad is very manipulative and a former member of law enforcement. He has also filed false CPS reports on Mom. So Mom has no custody and no visitation as per the outcome of the custody hearing Mom wasn't present at (because she was never notified). There are other grown children that have been through the abuse (though only one willing to testify), but she doesn't have the money for an attorney. All she asked me to do was to see if I could find the name of a local attorney who would be willing to help pro bono.
Ok. I don't know where to go from here. I have family that work in the legal field, so I can inquire about the attorney. Do you folks think I've gotten too involved? I'm a trusting individual, but I'm a skeptic at the same time. I'd hate to be inadvertently placed in the middle of a custody battle, but at the same time I can't ignore this girl's cry for help. I also know that our county CPS is *WAY* backlogged and if they even have a tiny seed of doubt that she's crying wolf, they'll place her at the bottom of the stack. I also know that I don't want some crazy man find out that I'm interfering and come banging on my door or destroying my property somehow. I'm fairly certain Dad doesn't know she's talking to me. So what should I do? Find the number and wash my hands? What if she calls me crying asking me to come get her?
Any advice? Thanks for reading another long post. And if this is in any way too controversial for this forum, I'll completely understand if this post is removed.
Some of you may remember my post from a few days ago where I detailed my job loss. I wanted to preface my story with that to let you know that I am no longer affiliated with the high school and as such I'm no longer bound by law to any specific actions.
I teach 9th grade biology and had a student this year with a troubling home life, but would have never guessed until she told me. She attempted suicide back in early April which came as a shock to *everyone*. She was hospitalized for a few days and attended intense therapy for about 30 days or so, but seemed to be doing "better." About two weeks ago, she came into my room in tears. I pulled her into the back room where she told me that her dad was angry with her and drinking heavily. She told me how he drinks every night and takes out his anger (mostly verbally, but sometimes physically) on her and how he's abusive to her dog. I listened with a sympathetic ear while she talked, but then told her that she was way beyond my realm of experience and suggested that she go talk to her school counselor (as per S.O.P.). I went ahead and gave her my cell phone number in case of an emergency but told her to put it under my first name.
She seemed okay for the rest of the week and into the next. I saw her at the beginning of this past week and could tell she'd been crying. She came into my room during my conference period and told me that she'd called CPS up to the school but that they didn't believe her. Come to find out, Dad had told them that she was making everything up for attention and had them talk to one of her former friend's mother who said the same thing. CPS went on to threaten her with juvenile for filing false reports. Mom is not in the picture because she ran from him after years of repeated abuse. The girl had gone with Mom, but opted to come back because she missed her friends and hated moving around. Again, I listened in shock. The only thing I could think to tell her is to find a way to obtain hard evidence of the abuse. She needed pictures or a recording of her father in his drunken, abusive state. She seemed to think that was a good idea and I didn't see her again for the rest of the week.
She sent me a message yesterday asking if it was ok for her Mom to call me. I said that was fine and received a call this morning. Mom went on to chronicle the abuse she and the girl had endured for more than an hour. She tells me the Dad is very manipulative and a former member of law enforcement. He has also filed false CPS reports on Mom. So Mom has no custody and no visitation as per the outcome of the custody hearing Mom wasn't present at (because she was never notified). There are other grown children that have been through the abuse (though only one willing to testify), but she doesn't have the money for an attorney. All she asked me to do was to see if I could find the name of a local attorney who would be willing to help pro bono.
Ok. I don't know where to go from here. I have family that work in the legal field, so I can inquire about the attorney. Do you folks think I've gotten too involved? I'm a trusting individual, but I'm a skeptic at the same time. I'd hate to be inadvertently placed in the middle of a custody battle, but at the same time I can't ignore this girl's cry for help. I also know that our county CPS is *WAY* backlogged and if they even have a tiny seed of doubt that she's crying wolf, they'll place her at the bottom of the stack. I also know that I don't want some crazy man find out that I'm interfering and come banging on my door or destroying my property somehow. I'm fairly certain Dad doesn't know she's talking to me. So what should I do? Find the number and wash my hands? What if she calls me crying asking me to come get her?
Any advice? Thanks for reading another long post. And if this is in any way too controversial for this forum, I'll completely understand if this post is removed.
