Question about child services......?

Question

My friend & I want to call child services on her mother-in-law but we have some questions. Can you call anonymously & will they call the person in question ahead of time to let them know they are visiting to check out the situation?? We don't want to call if they contact her ahead of time about visiting. We hope that they'll just show up without warning cause sadly this woman will have the house spotless & act like she is the perfect mom if she knows ahead of time that someone is coming. The woman is seriously completely unfit to be a mother to the 3 young kids (6 & 8 yrs old) she adopted, my friend's husband & his 19 year old sister (they are from the dad's previous marriage) & the house stays a complete dirty disaster that is close to being not healthy to live in.

Father is fine other than the fact that he smokes pot when family is not around. The kids (two 6 yr old girls & an 8 yr old boy) seem to get to do as they please & make the house a disaster. The boy has major attitude & anger issues & has gone thru 3 bedroom doors cause he's broken them all...once by punching a hole thru it & the others by throwing stuff at it just cause he was sent to his room. He attempted to hit my friend once WHILE SHE WAS PREGNANT just cause she told him "no". The mother yells & screams at the kids if they are supposedly annoying her or making her mad (literally "yells get the **** away from me") & half the time makes the 19 year old girl take care of them & clean up after them. The mother does NOT know how to properly grocery shop & there's rarely enough food in the house. The kids had mixed vegetables for dinner one night a while back & an apple for lunch before they had gone off to kindergarten & they waste milk by just leaving it out.

The parents do NOT communicate with each other either! (mom doesn't know about dad & pot smoking) The mother will say stuff & badmouth someone & then if a person goes to tell that individual what was said then the mother will insist that she didn't say anything & that they are a liar.

Answer 1

Yes you dont have to give your name. At least 15 yrs ago thats how it was unless it changed.

Answer 2

First, in most cases like what you suggest, they can't do much. A dirty house, even if it is a disaster isn't really their problem. They would probably suggest parenting or life skill classes but they probably wouldn't be morethan a suggestion. There are many a foster familiy in my area that have houses that even "Clean Sweep" on TLC wouldn't touch.

You can call in Child and Family Services and make an anonymous complaint however, they will not take it as serious without leaving your name.

If you do let them know who you are when you call, thy take it more as something they should look into. They CAN NOT and WILL NOT let the person you complained about know who called in the report! If the clam is found to be false, the person that was investagated, with a lawyer, can go through the court to get the name of the person that reported them ONLY if they can show that it was done in a way to harras them.

Know also, if a social worker comes to the door, their is no requirement that they will be allowed in the house. If there is no urgent emergancy, the social worker must ask to come in and the home owner can say, "No". The fourth ammendment protects us from unreasonable search and without a court order or a police officer there to see that there was an emergancy (threat of life or limb or something that would not be able to reverse by the time the social worker got a court order.

She, the home owner that has a complaint brought against her to social services, can have letters given to the social worker from friends and family or church leaders saying that she is a good person and takes good care of the children.

The link below is where parents can parents are given tips on how to deal with a social worker being at their door.

If you want something to be truly done about the home situation, before you contactsocial services, you may want to seek the help of a pastor or leader at your church. They are able to better help sometimes in that situation.

Answer 3

OK here is what little I know, hope it helps. Yes, you can call anonymously to report. Depending on CPS's policy and what state you are referring to they may or may not alert her of their visit. Georgia's policy for example requires that the state give a 2 hour notice (unless the police phones it in to them) while Tennessee and other states do not. To make a long story short, my GA friend was reported by the police for leaving her 6 month old baby @ home alone. GA's follow up visits after she got her baby back was with a 2 hour notice each time. If I were you, I would call Child Services and ask to speak with a social worker (anonymously) and explain why you think she would clean and stuff if they notified her of their visit. Maybe they would decide it would be best to just "pop"in.......

Answer 4

Let me tell you that you can call child services anonymously at any time. Thank you for being who you are, a caring sensible person who cares deeply for thoughs who cannot take care of themselves and I'm not talking about the mother who isn't doing right by her children. You can explain the situation to the service and share what you know only, giving them heads up that the woman will make all nice nice before they get there.

Answer 5

Yes, your call is anonymous.

Also, you need to tell them exactly why you are calling (i.e. children living in squallor). I don't think they call ahead of time, they just show up, and for some reason if the mother-in-law gets wind of it and cleans the house, social services is already hip to that game and knows what to look for.

Please make sure that the only reason you are calling is because you are seriously concerned for the children. Make sure that there are no personal politics involved as this could be used against you later if you just use social services as a harassment medium.

Answer 6

Yes you can call anonymously. You can tell whoever you are on the phone with the situation and they will make sure to make it a suprise I'm sure. That is usually how they do it anyways. I'm sorry to hear about that. No kids should have to live with unfit parents. Especially adopted ones b/c they already come from a rough place.

Answer 7

No they don't call ahead of time but once the case has been closed for a certain length of time she will be able to call their office and find out who called in many states.

Answer 8

Yes, you can call anonymously.
Unless it is a case of extreme neglet or abuse, the mother may have some warning. They will, however, conduct interviews with the children while they're at school or daycare, without the parents' knowledge.

Good Luck.

Answer 9

I've heard that you can't anonymously report someone. They need all sorts of information about you and the person you are reporting. I don't believe they annouce when they are coming but it has to be a valid reason for them to show up.

Answer 10

Yes, you can call anonymously. Or you can tell them who you are and how you know the details, and they are still not allowed to tell who reported them. Of course they show up unannounced, for that exact reason.

I don't know about your state, but that is how it works here,

Make sure the problem is REAL, I know first had what false accusations can lead to.

Answer 11

It depends on the state, Some states work on a guilty until proven innocent premise. They go in unannounced and the parent has to prove they are not doing what they are being accused of.