Child Abuse?

Question

My niece and nephew say their mother emotionally abuses them. She also keeps them in their house and has them do chores from 7 a.m till bed which is priority over school work during school. She moves them and hides them from us (Dad's amily). Their Dad is no longer a part of their lives' so I am lost on what I can do to help them. Next school year they begin homeschooling; my niece starts high school next year. They are both against it but fear saying that to their Mom in fear of punishment. They both want to live with me or their grandmother but we are at loss of what we can do according to California law. They also say their Mother does drugs but I have no physical proof of anything. Help please
My niece is cutting on herself and is depressed, my nephew has ADHD which she refuses to treat
They are 12 and 14

Answer 1

Report to DCFS.

Answer 2

Call Child Protective Services immediately! It sounds as if both kids need professional help and they will get it if they are taken out of the home. Both kids need to understand that their mother is sick and needs help and the only way she will get it is if they tell the truth. There will be a hearing where both sides can tell their story and if it's true that the mother is doing drugs and abusing them emotionally it will come out at the hearing. There is an equally good chance that you or the grandmother may be granted temporary custody and the courts will continue to be involved to make sure the children are being cared for properly. I am so sorry to hear about this - child abuse makes me sick and you are wonderful to care enough to do something about it. God Bless You and good luck!

Answer 3

personally i know in the state of Illinois a child age 12 is old enuff to say who they want to live with in the court system, but 1st of all if you suspect anything you should call department of child and family services and you can call and leave an anonamus call, they have to check it out within 24 hours, which means they will talk to the children as well as the family and find out what is going on.and the child with adhd mayb not need medication some children do better without the medication as long as you lim it caffeine and sugar intake and kjeep away from the red food dyes and so on they will do wonderfully. but if it is a concern you should say something or the children can report it to the school and the school will take the necesarry measures to provide help. good luck and god bless

Answer 4

You have to be careful. Kids at that age will make up things, or make things sound worse than what they are if a parent is just being strict with them. However, I would encourage the father to fight for custody of the children, or at least partial custody. If you see thing just getting worse, then I would call protective services, or fight for custody myself. It may be that the mother is just making them do the chores as punishment if they are misbehaving, but it could also be the way they tell it too. They both sound rather disturbed. Either that is a result of abuse, or they are not getting enough dicipline, one or the other. Ulitmately, you have to go with your gut on it, unless you have concrete evidence. Make no mistake, Child Protective Services will take kids away from parents, weather or not there is real evidence of abuse, so be very careful.

Answer 5

If the girl abuses herself, is that not enough proof for the police/childrens aid that there is something wrong in the household? Is it not so that the simple fact that the child claims that her mother consumes drugs dangerous enough to check it out atleast? Ok, this may be out of line but maybe you should follow the mother around, maybe plant some sort of recording device in the house, basically try to get some sort of proof, that could be used to get the children out of there. If you report your problem to the police, that the girl is cutting herself, and the children are being abused, won't they check it out? Doesn't childrens aid ask the children if it's true or not?

Answer 6

Have social services go to their house (unexpected) and check out the situation. There are grand-parents' rights as far as visitation goes, but if you took her to court to fight for custody of these teens, the judge will probably give the kids a choice of who they want to live with. If they don't feel safe, they need to speak up to the authorities. Tell them you'll stand behind them 100%, so if the mother gets angry with them and takes it out on them, something will be reported already, and if she screws up, they'll get taken away from her, then the state can decide the best place for the children to reside. Their education should be #1 priority no matter what until they graduate. You can't get physical proof that someone's using drugs, but when you report her to social services, I'm pretty sure they can perform a drug test on her to make her prove she's fit to be a parent to these children. This is awful!!! I will keep you guys in my prayers. Get them out of that house ASAP...they're too young to have to go through this. Highschool should be the best times of their lives, and I'm sure you'll ensure this will happen.

Answer 7

ask mom, in a group setting with all the family which are concerned. Tell her what was said and see if it is true, (kids do make things up). If it is true then you the group of family members must call child protective services immediatly. Mom may need some support she may be having some problems. It seems as if she is trying otherwise she would allow them to run wild. So take that into consideration.

Answer 8

omg,thats just sad,depressing and disturbing their mother...wow..terribale are they always doing work? um...i no how u can get proof without there mother noticing hide a vide camera sumware and wen shes not looking take it and watch it then give it 2 the police im hoping that would work..i dont blame ur neice cutting herself i would do the same but i t does'nt help anything..i use 2 cut but i stoped sumhow..i no i dont no u or them but im worried sumthing mite happen 2 them really badly.
he has ADHD she should treat there is no reason y she should't things can happen and they don't diserve any of this they din'nt do anything to her she does'nt diserve 2 have kids she's disrespectful 2 her kids no1 should b treated that way! i'm very very sorry about this all i'm sorry that u have 2 live threw it and watch it and im exspecailly sorry about ur neice and nephew i wish i could help im 13 so i have nothing better 2 give away but i no ppl who have been threw this and still are.. IM SO SORRY

Answer 9

Call Child Protective Services.

Answer 10

I know it would be hard but maybe you should call social services.Sounds like there is really some major issues if your niece is cutting herself.She's probably suicidal too.These kids need help and it may be ,you are the only one they can count on to get them out of there.You never know what kinda HELL those kids endure everyday and it's not going to get any better unless something changes.Good luck and I'll pray you make the right choice.

Answer 11

You owe it to your niece and nephew to report their mother. This is a very sad thing that she is doing to them. They deserve better and if you feel like they would be better off with you then by all means, do whatever is necessary to gain custody. I think that The good Lord puts us in situations that he has given us the power to somewhat control. This is one of those situations. God Bless you and your loved ones. They are so lucky to have you.