What can I do if CPS won't do their job? My grandson lives with his mom. She is a drug user and neglects him.

Question

The most recent, the mom took my grandson to the emergency at 3:00 am. She told my son that she had been up drinking and found my grandson with a bottle of pills. The pills had a childproof cap on them and she claims that my grandson ( 1 1/2 yrs old) got the cap off of her sleeping meds and she found him with pills in his hands. She took him to the emergency. I asked my son "What was Kayn doing up at that hour"? I believe he should have been in bed hours ago, and if he had been in bed the incident would never had happened. I called Ingham protective services and told them what happened. They blew me off and one of the workers said to me " Well children go to bed when they go to bed". I asked her " Are you kidding me"? She is a known drug user, anything from meth, coke, pot and pills. I have called child protective services on her drug use. At a time when my son and her were together a CPS worker called my son and told him well as long as your not doing the drugs in front of the child.

Answer 1

You need to take a trip to your State Ombudsman's office. Look them up in the phone book. I assume you are in the US. File a complaint for lack of investigation and services to protect your grandson. That may get them moving. If that doesn't work, write a letter with what you just said here to your Governor's office. Be sure to address him/her in the letter as "Honorable Governor Name".

Here's the big question, can you prove a history of drug abuse? Can you get their criminal histories from the courthouse (you should be able to, but it may cost to do so). I can look up people in most states to see what they have been doing. I can try that if you want. Let me know if I can help you further.

Answer 2

Sadly, you might have to go through the Michigan State Police drug unit. They may be your only hope, and that means getting the child's mother off the street and into jail or rehab. Why is your son not doing anything about this? He is the other parent and it would be much easier for him to gain custody than for a grandparent. Our CPS is in a sad condition in this state. You live in Ingham county, contact your representative and stay there until you get heard. Good luck and God bless your grandson.

Answer 3

Wow, what an awkward situation to be in.
The problem is, if the CPS get involved the children could be taken away and separated from you. Is that what you want to happen?
Is your son using drugs too? Your description is a little vague.

My advice would be to hire a lawyer and apply for custody yourself. Get as much evidence as possible and fight it all the way.
You say your son was living with her at some point............ where is he now?? Is he at all interested in the welfare of the child? If he is clean from drugs then he would be the most obvious choice to gain custody also. Again I am assuming it is his child you are referring to??

Have you tried talking to the mother?? Tell her your concerns and your intentions. It might be the kick up the backside she needs. offer to take care of the child while she gets cleaned up.
It is always better for all concerned if the child is not dragged through an unreliable system.

I wish you lots of luck, for your sake and that of the childs.

Answer 4

It's a shame, that the cps system works like it does, your case is all to familiar with the current system cps has. They usually harass the parents who don't have cps records, and may have made a genuine mistake with their kids (they forgot a long time ago that people, arents in particualr- are not perfect!) And people who are poor and may have a large family to provide for on one check, those people get harrassed by cps, but then when something like what you described, they turn a deaf ear.

My best advice to you is to get an attorney and fight for the right to have those kids placed with you if you are willing to take them. If you have a camcorder or some way to prove that your daughter is doing the things you say, prove it, and bring it to cps's attention, or if need be, your attorney's.

I wish you the best with your situation.

Answer 5

Your best bet would be to tell the police there are drugs in the house and being distributed from the house. Anon of course. This will force the hand of CPS into taking the child if the police raid it and find drugs.

Answer 6

Call CPS back again and request to speak to a supervisor. By law, CPS must investigate every call that comes into them (I forget what the time period is but I think it is within a week).

If you get no satisfaction again, get an attorney and think about suing for custody of your grandson.

Answer 7

So I am guessing your son is also a user? Why doesn't he have custody if he isn't? There is more to this story me thinks, like your son isn't on the birth certificate hence has no rights. Otherwise he would have stepped in a long time ago. I could be wrong

Answer 8

call again and document the time, who you spoke with, and the response you get.
call another time. do the same documentation.
call your state's office of CPS and ask to speak with the director or bureau chief in policy.
If that doesn't get folks moving, call the office of your states Dept. of Public Welfare and speak with the Secretary's secretary or director of policy.....
keep making a stink up the food chain...sooner or later, and usually when it concerns a child it is sooner, someone is going to pay attention to you....

Answer 9

Start getting proof and documenting everything. Keep throwing it in CPS's face and keep track of that too. Bring everything to a lawyer to try to get custody of your grandson.

Answer 10

I agree hire an attorney. You can also ask to speak to the worker's supervisor.