r/CPS

I have two friends, both about 30. Between 2017-2026 they’ve had 7 children. The first 5 were girls, 6 was the boy they were trying for and they just had their 7th this week.

They live in a 900 sq ft trailer and it’s absolutely falling apart. Ceiling tiles are falling in, there are soft spots in the floor. If you step on the soft spots in the kitchen the appliances start moving towards you. The bathroom reeks of mildew and mold, the have portable A/C units that still leave the house so hot you sweat while walking, the back bedroom is so hot that the kids can’t sleep in it. They don’t have a bed for every child, some soft spots have caved in and turned into full blown holes you can see straight through, diaper boxes and are lined nearly to the ceiling. They don’t have a car big enough to fit the whole family.

Aside from living conditions, they are good parents and good people. The kids are always fed, the house has plenty of food, they’re clean, hair done, school work done. Plenty of clothes that are always washed. Their mom hardly yells, always loves on them, supports and tried her best to distribute time but it’s just not enough. Their kids don’t fear them even a little.

The kids are fearful of everything else though. Over the week I babysat the kids at their home. They’re attention starved to the highest degree. If I sat I had 4 minimum on me. They would smack at me to get my attention if I was talking to another adult or another child. They intentionally hurt themselves to get my attention, they exaggerated even mild bumps with screaming until they literally didn’t have enough air in their lungs to scream, I wasn’t even able to spray sunscreen on the oldest without her freaking out screaming she was scared of spray. They wouldn’t even go potty alone.

The parents have enough in savings to move to a bigger and safer trailer, but every time I bring it up mom gets upset and meets me with “I don’t wanna buy another trailer! I want a house!” But despite her wants, her family makes a lot less than mine and she wants to live in the second most expensive city in our area and absolutely won’t settle.

I know why she wants to buy a house, she hates storms in a trailer, but it’s either move to a bigger trailer now or wait for 3-5 years for a house.

I don’t want to call CPS, the thought of it is killing me. They really do love their kids, and if mom could fix the house herself she would. But it’s getting bad, and more and more dangerous with every child and I’m not sure they’re gonna stop anytime soon despite what they say. My sister finally jumped my ass this week and hit me with “are you really afraid of losing friends who live like that? Are you really more concerned about hurt feelings than a child’s safety?” And I know she’s right.

I called CPS on my family because I feel like my home is very disgusting and neglectful, but cps didn’t do anything when they showed up

Here is some background on what my home life/ family is like: I am already in the foster care system, I live with my grandfather, and I’ve been living with him since I was 9 (I’ll be 17 in a week now) things were already bad at first, he wasn’t the nicest and yelled at us alot and didn’t talk to us unless he was angry, but he was home and cooked for us which was more then we were used to. Then things started spiralling down, first it was him being physically abusive towards the dogs we had gotten, then it was him working to the point that he’d only be home for a couple hours a day, and then finally when I was around 14 and my sister was like 11, he met his girlfriend and basically just left me and my sister on our own. He does show up to give us food every now and again but other than that we are completely on our own. I feel like I haven’t really been raised at all because I have no idea what to do, I had no idea what to do when I got my period, I don’t know how to drive, and I didn’t even know how to do my own laundry or clean until I looked up tutorials. And my sister is even worse!! And she has no motivation to learn, she’s obese because of the neglect and negative eating habits she was given, and now she is just so lazy to the point she won’t even take proper care of herself or her room, I try to motivate her and be kind because I know it sucks to feel like no one is there for you but I’m scared she’ll always be like this or take her own life, and everyone is just allowing her to get worse! She doesn’t even have any clothes it’s just two shirts and one pair of pants she has. And also my grandpas dog shits and pees on the floor and he just leaves it there for days, at first I would pick it up but he got mad at me for using the cleaning supplies and said “he’ll get to it when he gets paid”. So after a bunch of courage I had to muster up, i finally called cps earlier this year. They came and looked in my sister’s room and then left, they didn’t even talk to us! They apparently saw nothing wrong with how we were living. When I was in elementary and middle school, I used to ask the case worker that visited us for help but she would dismiss me every time I saw her until our case was closed and she was no longer required to see us. I don’t know what to do, and I’m scared even if we do get taken by foster care no body would want us.

Please pardon any grammatical errors, I am usually a very proficient writer, I am just really upset as I am writing this.

I’m looking for advice from people who have been through something similar, especially if you’ve dealt with CPS, guardianship, or a family member with hepatic encephalopathy (HE).
I’ll keep identifying information out of this because my main concern is the children’s safety.
About a year and a half ago, my sister nearly died from liver failure and was diagnosed with hepatic encephalopathy (HE). Since then, our family has noticed significant changes in her judgment, memory, behavior, and personality. I understand HE can vary greatly, so I’m not trying to diagnose her current condition—I’m just trying to understand whether anyone else has experienced something similar.
A few months after recovering, she was involved in a serious rollover crash while driving with her young daughter in the vehicle. The police report states that she drove through a red light, the SUV rolled onto its side, and her juvenile passenger had to be removed from the vehicle before both were transported to the hospital. That incident has left our family deeply concerned.
Since then, there have been additional concerns involving the children. My oldest niece has told family members that she is scared at home and wants to leave. We’ve also witnessed what we believe is a pattern of emotional and verbal abuse toward her. There are also allegations and family conflicts involving reports made to child protective services, and it’s become increasingly difficult to separate facts from accusations.
I’m trying very hard to stay objective. I’m gathering official records, documenting events, and avoiding speculation. My mother plans to contact Child Protective Services because we’re genuinely concerned about the children’s welfare.
My questions are:
Has anyone dealt with a parent who has hepatic encephalopathy or another neurological condition that affected judgment or parenting?
How did CPS handle concerns when there was a documented accident but no criminal charges?
What types of evidence or documentation were most helpful?
If you were in our position, is there anything you wish you had done earlier?
I’m not looking for revenge or to “win” against my sister. If she’s struggling medically, I hope she gets the help she needs. My only priority is making sure my nieces are safe.
Thank you for any constructive advice.
I’m looking for advice from people who have been through something similar, especially if you’ve dealt with CPS, guardianship, or a family member with hepatic encephalopathy (HE).
I’ll keep identifying information out of this because my main concern is the children’s safety.
About a year and a half ago, my sister nearly died from liver failure and was diagnosed with hepatic encephalopathy (HE). Since then, our family has noticed significant changes in her judgment, memory, behavior, and personality. I understand HE can vary greatly, so I’m not trying to diagnose her current condition—I’m just trying to understand whether anyone else has experienced something similar.
A few months after recovering, she was involved in a serious rollover crash while driving with her young daughter in the vehicle. The police report states that she drove through a red light, the SUV rolled onto its side, and her juvenile passenger had to be removed from the vehicle before both were transported to the hospital. That incident has left our family deeply concerned.
Since then, there have been additional concerns involving the children. My oldest niece has told family members that she is scared at home and wants to leave. We’ve also witnessed what we believe is a pattern of emotional and verbal abuse toward her. There are also allegations and family conflicts involving reports made to child protective services, and it’s become increasingly difficult to separate facts from accusations.
I’m trying very hard to stay objective. I’m gathering official records, documenting events, and avoiding speculation. My mother plans to contact Child Protective Services because we’re genuinely concerned about the children’s welfare.
My questions are:
Has anyone dealt with a parent who has hepatic encephalopathy or another neurological condition that affected judgment or parenting?
How did CPS handle concerns when there was a documented accident but no criminal charges?
What types of evidence or documentation were most helpful?
If you were in our position, is there anything you wish you had done earlier?
I’m not looking for revenge or to “win” against my sister. If she’s struggling medically, I hope she gets the help she needs. My only priority is making sure my nieces are safe.
Thank you for any constructive advice.

Including lies told to a mandated reporter with the knowledge that they’d report it (which is difficult to prove so there are no direct legal consequences). This is truly the most evil trick in the book to get revenge.

Especially when it’s their own child to spite an ex. There is no way they’d know that CPS investigates (sometimes for months) before taking a child so it’s irresponsible. Their child could be taken. What if someone ate a poppy seed bagel or took Benadryl to go to sleep and hot a false positive for a drug? (This didn’t happen to me but hypothetically).

Also, this further strains under-staffed offices, which takes time and resources away from children who are in need or even in danger.

Location: Kentucky

Age: 17

(Buckle up this is a lot)

Ok so, I've had issues in my family with verbal abuse for about 7 years. It started small then it continued to get worse. But never physical. Just verbal and emotional. My mom would say she hates me, I'm ruining her marriage, I ruin everything, no one in the family loves me. My dad would tell me how he wakes up and dreads dealing with me, no one in the family would die for me, etc. On occasion my mom will throw things at me, my dad will threaten to hit me with gestures. Well today it got even worse. My dad got on top of me, pinned me down, and raised his hand to hit me, twice. My mom was throwing stuff at me, running up on me, she only stopped because of my dad, she said, "I'm going to kill her." All because I told them I didn't want to go to the lake for the weekend, I wanted to stay home with my sister. My dad was yelling at me to leave his house, my mom too. So I packed a bag, called my boyfriend, and he got me a motel room. They called the cops, the cops showed up. I explained to them what had happened. They eventually said they have to call CPS. I've never been involved with CPS ever in my entire life, so I guess I'm just wondering what to expect? What can CPS actually do for me? Can they get me out of this house? Basically what's going to happen. I'm also pretty nervous because I've had mental health issues the past 7 years too. I've been diagnosed with BPD, Major Depressive Disorder, Anxiety, and ADHD. My parents like to use that against me when talking to law enforcement. Can that play a part in this? I also have run away once before. And I do have legal charges. Can that affect anything? Any advice is helpful! Thank you!

I started therapy today to talk about issues with my husband. He had a temper that gets really out of control and leads to verbal and emotioanl abuse of me, that borders on physical from time to time. it’s not bad enough that I want to leave. I mentioned that we disagree on spanking and she asked if his speaking ever left bruises on the kids and I said well a few times.

the thing is, I understand that’s reportable now. I know it’s not good it happened. but the one thing he’s actually stopped doing is spanking the kids. now my therapist said she needs to discuss with her superviser to see if she will report it. But I didn’t tell my husband i was getting therapy. if he finds out I said anything, he’s going to be furious and never trust me again. it’s going to make the problem worse. my parents are our neighbors so I’m afraid of them finding out which i Never wanted. it’s such a horrible can of worms I opened and I’ll certainly not go back to therapy again.

I had to make a call regarding the danger and neglect of a child in my life. I couldn't live with myself or sleep at night without doing so. I was reassured that none of the specific details and events I had reported would get to the abusers. Not long after I was told that the mother of one of the abusers was giving the exact reason for the call. I was shocked. Then I got blocked and worry for my safety because the father has charges in the double digits and threatened to unalive the person who reported them when they had their first investigation. Is there a way for me to find out who gave those specific details and report them? Because now the family is torn a part and my life couls be in jeopardy.

A little backgroud:

My husband has three children (17m, 14f, and 11f) with his ex wife. She is the custodial parent and my husband is granted 6 weeks of visitation in the summer and every other Christmas and spring break. We only get them for the summer visits because the mother refuses to work with us on transportation. She won't allow them to fly, even accompanied by their father and the drive is very taxing for them for such short visits. The children and their mother live in Michigan and we live in Missouri (hence the visitation situation). She has always treated our son as less than the girls, and the youngest was clearly the favorite, held above both her siblings and spoiled (this information will be very important later). There have been red flags in the past, but nothing we could get concrete evidence on being so far away.

1. The oldest told on on phone calls that his principal pulled him into the office because of all the tardies and truancies. He recieved detention and was warned of harsher punishments should it continue. He told us that his mother doesn't take any responsibility for getting them up and ready for school and that he is responsible for waking everyone and getting them going, including the mother. She stays up all night and allows the girls to do the same. He can't drive yet so if the mother refuses to get up they just don't go to school and they are frequently late because of this morning "routine".

2. He says they're not allowed to have friends over because the house is so messy all the time.

3. They are not eating consistently. He claims that it's partly because the dishes stack up in the sink. Apparently she created some kind of chore rotation for dishes, but never cleans them on her night and then gets angry with the children because they didn't do them instead. Another part of them not eating consistently is she almost never cooks because she claims she is tired. So they either have to fend for themselves or, if she wants it herself, she will buy fast food.

4. She is verbally abusive to all of them. We have personally heard her screaming, belittling and name calling them when we have been on the phone. According to our son, it happens almost daily.

5. Our son has SPD and many trauma/emotional issues. He has repeatedly asked her to set him up with a therapist because he wants to talk to someone and hopefully feel better. The mother told him he does not need it, that she doesn't believe in therapy, and that mental health issues are ridiculous and unserious.

Now, onto the issue that has lead me here to seek advice:

We just got the oldest and youngest for the summer. The middle child did not want to come on this visit (she told her dad its because she has cheer camp this summer). The two that are here arrived three days ago and the red flags are much worse now.

1. Our son has said she refuses to take them to the doctor. None of them have had a checkup in years, apparently, and every time one of them feels sick or has a physical issue, she refuses to take them, even when they request it.

2. Our son has lost some weight since last summer. And our youngest daughter has not grown at all and possibly also lost some weight. She still fits into her clothes from last summer, but they seem a little big now. Leading us to believe what he's telling us about not eating consistently.

3. The worst of all is the change in our youngest daughter... She is quiet, withdrawn, doesn't want to be around people at all. And she now has self harm scars. MANY self harm scars. According to our son, after last summer, the youngest expressed a desire to spend more time with her father and, just like that, she went from being the mother's favorite, to being "scum like her brother" (a quote our son overheard the mother tell her own mother over the phone). Our middle daughter has replace her as the favorite because she says things like "I don't like dad" to her mother, most likely because she fears how her mother will react if she says differently. We strongly suspect she chose to stay in michigan this summer out of fear of retaliation from her mother for having a good time with her father. Our youngest daughter also began being relentlessly bullied at school and the mother has taken no action or even attempted to make the school aware of it. She started cutting when all of this happened and her mother screamed at her, told her she better knock it off or she'd have her committed to a "terrible place where they'll keep her locked in a room forever because that's crazy shit". She has not sought out any help from a psychiatrist or doctor of any sort. She just threatens and belittles her every time it happens.

We are afraid for our children, but don't know how to proceed. Do we open a case with cps in our state? In their state? We're afraid to even start this for fear of cps doing nothing and the mother retaliating against the oldest, youngest, and my husband. He parents have a lot of money and they could potentially fund a fight for my husband to lose what little visitation he has. We are terrified to do this the wrong way and what may happen to our daughter if she goes back (suicidal tendencies run strong in my husband's family). We also have no idea what current physical/mental state our middle daughter is in and we're afraid what may happen to her during an investigation because she's not here with us where she would be safe. We are also somewhat afraid that she will lie to the investigators for fear of retaliation from the mother. We only have a few weeks to decide if the right choice is to start this fight while they're safe with us.

Hello,

I replied to someone about awful trauma I endured and it brought up a memory I'd love to have clarification about.

In short, parents were neglectful and abusive. They had so many CPS calls and visits. Due to the disgusting conditions, they were told we had to live with our grandmother (who was worse, but has a good front) and clean. They chose to move and that was apparently good enough.

Shortly later, after pulling us from school because they were tired of the calls, CPS came again because they did not do it legally and my sister (20 years older than us) was concerned about the abuse. The worker who came out promptly threw up upon leaving the house because of the conditions and the same situation occured. They had to clean or else we would not be allowed to live with them. At the same time, my dad was required to see a psychologist by his work and was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

So... they chose to flee the state with a few days of the order ending. We would never see the inside of a textbook or do school work again. My sister did not learn to read until she was 10. They did not register us with the state (Florida), they did not change licenses addresses until they expired multiple years later, and no one allowed to attend doctor appointments until we all became legal adults.

A handful of years later, in my teens, a home health nurse came by due to my grandmother beating our dog and getting bit. The house was worse because now we had dogs that peed everywhere and it resulted in CPS being called again. They came twice and each time, the worker wasn't allowed in the house.

I have been really curious about the legalities of this. I know state communication is awful, especially almost 20 years ago. Would there have been arrests made in this case if they had been caught?

So I’ve posted about my neighbors from hell and she keeps escalating things once a week now. She’s called the cops to make false reports and got nowhere with her lies. So now she has made a report to CPS that I’m verbally abusing one of my kids and the kids emotionally distraught Something of that nature

So now they are wanting to speak to us and our kid next week. Idk what to do about this. I know it’s a felony in tn to make false allegations to cps to retaliate against someone.

What are they possibly going to ask us and what should I do?
I want the harassment to stop. If anything is upsetting my kid it’s this neighbor and her boy harassing all of us.
I really don’t want them anywhere near my kid or my home. It’s such an invasion and being used to harass us.

If anyone works for cps or retired can help guide us on this it would be great. We are losing sleep every week over this woman.

I always hear that because they're a teenager, it won't go anywhere. Because they don't have any obvious place to go, it won't go anywhere. I have my own biases against the system, but doing nothing feels stupid too. So please give me your opinions.

My mother sexually abused and groomed me as a child. I had naively assumed she stopped that behavior all together because once I reached highschool she wasn't nearly as interested. My younger sibling is staying with me for the summer, and they've said a few things that remind me of how she treated me then. As well a few blatantly concerning things (ex: they have a tremor and recalled our mom comparing it to a vibrator). But particularly what really concerns me is our mother is hanging out with our (convicted) pedophile cousin more often, and her a new(to me) obsession with how small/childlike my younger sibling is.

I think this combined with my own history being raised by her is obviously bad. But my younger sibling is 16, and set to graduate early, even if they've told me they might avoid that for job reasons. Half of our family is friends with the pedophile cousin, and the other half are largely illegal immigrants if they're still even in the US. They don't have any friends at school who's parents could take them on. I could maybe qualify, but I make below the poverty margin in a year, live somewhere that just recently got a local hospital, and I don't drive for medical reasons. My mother's father was in CPS and she has bragged on multiple occassions she knows all their tricks (things have changed obviously, but I'm pretty sure we've been investigated before and the case was dropped).

I honestly just don't want CPS to start investigating, disrupt things and make their home life worse, only to close the case leaving my sibling in that environment. I worry part of my reluctance to report is because of my own history. I want to help, but I honestly don't know what the next step would even be.

About 8 years ago (I was 11 or 12 and my brother was 8 or 9) my dad got into an argument with my brother and it was pretty bad. It was so bad that my dad slammed the door so hard that it left some kind of hole/dent in the wall. Then the argument was in the midst of being resolved everybody had calmed down a bit and my mom, dad, brother, and me were all sitting on my parents bed together talking. My brother was still apologizing and my dad still seemed kind of pissed off but I think was trying to cool down too? Then my dad put his hand down my brother’s pants and touched my brother’s butt. I don’t know if he was being particularly secretive about it as we were all sitting together and my mom was there. My mom kind of just awkwardly laughed it off but my brother seemed very uncomfortable and I was uncomfortable too.

My dad hasn’t done that since then but he is just weird around my brother and it gives me anxiety. My brother is 17 now and I’m 19 home from college for summer break.

Two weird things my dad does that make me concerned for my brother:

1. he frequently touches/rubs my brother’s thighs. If we’re all sitting together in the living room talking to each other and my brother is next to my dad he will often place his hand on his thigh rub it. My brother will often straight up remove his hand away (but in a more subtle way like he’ll grab his hand and start holding it or playfully wrestling with it). But my dad still frequently does it. Also when we’re at restaurants and my dad and brother are sitting together.

2. Sometimes when my brother is in the bathroom my dad will open the door a little to ask him if he’s done yet. But this is weird because he looks inside the bathroom when he asks instead of like turning the other way like most normal people do?

It doesn’t help that I have OCD so it’s hard for me to distinguish if my anxiety is just being extra heightened and latching onto to the memory of a past event, making a bigger meaning out of it, and then making me feel like a bad person for not doing compulsive behaviors to fix it.

Today I got anxious again over this. My mom and I were talking in my room together and my dad came in and seemed annoyed that we were talking for so long with each other. When I came out of the room I saw that he was calling my brother on the phone to come upstairs. Like why was he trying to spend alone time with my brother after being annoyed that my mom and I were chilling? Later it seemed like he wanted to be alone with my brother again because I hadn’t gone on my daily walk yet and my dad called me on the phone and asked when I was going to go on my walk. He said it was because he wanted to go to the store soon (and my parents don’t like it when I go on a walk when they aren’t home). But it just felt extremely off. I can explain more in the comments if somebody asks because this post is already getting long.

Anyways, I want to make it clear that I know that my dad’s behavior is inappropriate. That’s not what I’m asking about. I’m asking if this is a situation that CPS would actually help with or if it’s not extreme enough for an actual investigation? The only thing I have is one memory from 8 years ago, and a few weird current behaviors. I don’t want to make the call if most likely nothing is going to come out of it. Especially because my brother is 17 and doesn’t show any other signs of something more serious happening. He’s even adamant about not wanting to move out after he turns 18 and going to a local university (unlike me). I don’t want to make my brother feel weird or resurface a bad memory for him either if he’s not at serious risk.

I'm trying to better understand how others, especially those familiar with child welfare, counseling, healthcare, education, or mandated reporting, would view this hypothetical.

Two children, ages 10 and 11, tell a trusted adult about something they experienced.

They report that a litter of pet outdoor kittens became seriously ill and died one by one over several days. They describe diarrhea, weight loss, sores, the kittens sitting in their own feces, and ants crawling on one of the sick kittens. One child says she wanted to give the kittens a bath but wasn't sure what to do. She says she tried to get them to eat and drink, was with one kitten while it was dying, later found another dead under a bush, and felt relieved she found it after it had already died because she didn't have to watch it die. She also says she asked an adult if the kittens could be taken to a veterinarian or to someone who could help. According to the children, the kittens were not taken to a veterinarian or to anyone else who could care for them, and they later died. The children describe handling the kittens themselves, and one child later says, "Now I know what a dying kitten sounds like."

1. As a parent or community member, would this raise concerns for you about the children's safety, supervision, physical health, emotional well-being, or overall welfare? What specifically stands out to you?

2. If you are a mandated reporter or work in child welfare, counseling, healthcare, education, or a similar field, how would you evaluate whether this reaches the threshold for considering a report? I'm interested in the reasoning process more than a simple yes or no.

My husband has a step son from his previous relationship. He was the only dad that SS16 knew for most of his life as he was with his now ex for 8 years (SS was 1-9 YO during this time). She has a diagnosed mental health issue and is high functioning but is volatile and unpredictable when triggered. She always wanted another baby with my SO, but he couldn't handle the emotional and financial support of her and SS and then another child. She became pregnant with someone else, and they broke up. She is still with the father of her second child (BF), who is 6 now.

BM has tried many times since their breakup to terminate the relationship between SO and SS16. Her family has always stepped in and facilitated visitation etc. as it would be very harmful for SS to lose the only father he has ever known while also navigating a new family dynamic so suddenly.

A couple of years ago, we advocated for SS to get assessed for ADHD or other learning challenges. BM would not agree until we engaged her family and plead his case for over a year. He was failing grade 9 and desperately needed help. Finally, she agreed and he has more support at school, but has started getting into trouble at school and acting out. There was also a death in the family (a close family member) by suicide 4 years ago, and I feel that BM and SS have spiralled since then. They are both grieving and it is driving them apart. There is a lot of yelling, harsh punishments and BM/BD and their young child do things together and leave SS at home, sometimes without food, so he will call and ask if we can take him somewhere to eat.

We have no legal rights here, and we only see him when it's convenient for him as BM does not support visits and often makes plans on the weekends so that he cancels on us last minute.

I am adding this context because something awful happened this week, and we are at a loss about what to do. SO received a text around 9:30 pm saying only "call 911 and come get me". We have always said that he can ask to be picked up anytime, but he has never done this before. We tried to call him back but no answer (by this point, they had taken his phone away, he used the computer to message us when they weren't looking). So called 911 and drove over, about 20 minutes away. By this time, we informed BM's sister (the aunt who facilitates visits etc for us) to ask if she knew what was going on. She reached out to BM and was told the SS "grabbed her and BF crossed a line". When SS left the house to come out to speak to SO, he was holding a hammer. This is seriously out of character.

SS told SO that his mother had raised her hand to hit him over an arguement about laundry and summer school. He blocked her hand and the BF came in, punched him in the jaw and started choking him, until BM said "ok, that's enough". Then they took his phone away.

SO took SS to the police station, and SS was examined by the paramedics. They asked if he could give a statement but he asked to come back the next day as he was really tired and wanted to go home (ours). I was asleep when they got home, but was up at 4 am, SO told me what happened and SS came into our room to talk to both of us. He told me the same story, and said that his r/s with his mom has been bad since X's death 4 years ago. I said that I think the whole family needs help. He claims no one has hit him or each other before this time. He Is verbally abused daily however (swearing, insults etc from the time he wakes up).

SS had to go to check in at summer school as it was the first day, and the plan was to check him in and then go back to the police station. However, the school wouldn't release him to SO as he does not have custody. SO called BM's sister to try to arrange pick up of personal items (he left with the clothes on his back - and a hammer). When Sister found out that the police were involved now (because of the 911 call) she said that they need to convince SS not to tell the police what happened, that he needs to think about the family and the consequences. SO said that isn't their choice, and he needs to tell the truth. Also, there is another child in that home. And SS isn't safe to go back there. He was choked by an adult man. There is no choice.

Sister decided to get in her car, drive over an hour and intervene. She lied to us and said she was taking him out for lunch, but she took him from the school back home to talk to his mom. She told us she would drop him off with us after, but then changed her mind and has taken him back to her place. We know she is using this time to brainwash him. He is already saying he "wants to talk to the police, but has to think about the consequences".

We obviously have to accept whatever outcome there is, but my greatest fear is that he goes back and the next time this happens, someone in that house uses the hammer, or worse. He has already been talking about suicide himself. He stopped seeing his therapist, and we do our best but our 2-3 day per month visits can't undo all of the harm that is happening at home.

My question is.... if he does not give a statement to the police, can CPS still get involved? What can be done here? The police have basically said he needs to come back and talk to them before they can do anything more.

**UPDATE**

Since my husband made his own statement to the police, CPS has become involved. No one told us, but SS said he had to talk to them today after school. Being suspicious, SO reached out to CPS himself. They had no idea that we even exist or that SO picked him up and took him for police and medical care. We also found out that while he was in his aunt's care, every call from CPS was ignored. He had to go back to BM's this morning before school and CPS was only able to interview them together. BM said it was just an argument about schoolwork and SS said that nothing happened, just an argument. I'm so sad about what is happening. SO has explained to CPS that the family is actively protecting each other, and not SS. It is still ongoing, but at least we now are able to have a voice with CPS.

**UPDATE #2**

We were supposed to pick up SS tonight for the weekend. They told him he has to go to his mom's for a CPS appt. There is no appointment, we confirmed this with CPS. It's tomorrow AM with BM as she won't give permission for them to speak to her without them. They have been calling us all day but won't say what they want. We suspect the family is rallying to prep him for tomorrow. They all have a LOT of experience being in the system. This blows my mind. How can they allow this when she is the one they are investigating??

I live in a state where all adults are mandatory reporters, but my profession requires it too. I observed an incident at our community pool and was asked to help with the incident report the lifeguards made and I independently made one to CPS. The company that runs our community gave the incident report to at least 1 of the parents without redacting my name. I‘m now concerned for the safety of myself and family. Obviously it wasn’t CPS who did it, but are there laws in general for protecting people’s identities?

Since 6th grade (I'm 19 now), my older sister has had four kids, and her fourth child was born in January and is coming to our house this Friday. The other three kids are 7, 5, and 4.

I just need to find a way to stop this. We told her to tie her tubes but she didn't and I'm just so scared she won't stop making kids with random men. She's a drug addict with BPD and she's very manipulative. I'm autistic and the situation made me suicidal from 6th grade until 9th grade when my mom got me help.

I just don't know what to do, please help.

i recently ranted about my job here on this sub, and now afew weeks later i got fired.

their main issue was over the documentation, but as i explained before was that it was next to impossible to meet the demands they were asking of me. and i was still closing out my cases but it really felt like nothing was working.

eventually i get pulled into the office as i’m working on a case and they tell me i’m fired. they gave me a chance to give a rebuttal, i did and they still went through with firing. i’m not necessarily upset that i don’t have to deal with that stress, but the new stress now is finding work after this.

are there any good roles to transition into after doing something like CPS?

thanks for reading. my original rant is linked lol

Hi I’ve never been involved with CPS before. But last week my baby had a small bruise and we were concerned because nothing had happened and we wanted to make sure it wasn’t something health related. Obviously hospital protocol made them make a report(we’re in Colorado). The next day we found out he was sucking his arm in the same spot- we took a video just to show that. Today the CPS caseworker came and talk to us my step daughter(8) and my biological daughter(8). My husband and have full custody of both of our daughters and their other parents live out of the state. They both are not very involved with their lives(my step daughter hasn’t seen her mother in 3 years for context and maybe talks to her once a month)My question is will they contact the other biological parents? I’m not concerned with my daughter’s father being called but my step daughter’s mother will make a big deal out of it. Should my husband and I be mentally prepared to deal with her being contacted? Thank you in advance I’m sorry if this is a dumb question. It’s not that we have something to hide from her she’s just an headache and blows things out of proportion and we want to know if we should expect some not so kind messages from her is all!

Hi!! This is more of a rant/advice post.

I current work for CPS, and whew it is messy! I feel like I work with a bunch of high schoolers. It’s to the point I am considering a new job or even career. Did anyone else experience anything like this? What’s your advice?

Would you ever consider dating someone who worked for CPS? If you have, do you have advice for someone considering getting into a relationship with one? Anything to consider or think about?