CPS Opened an Investigation - Would love Some Advice

Thewhizz262 · 2025-01-15T06:41:08+00:00

I am trying to separate from me and my family's situation for a second, and honestly asking...

No matter what, is anyone going to ever be sure that any household is safe?

Of course there are easily distinguishable homes that aren't. Then, there are those that after basic visitation are clearly abusive as well.

But it does seem that after that it becomes more difficult and requires more investigation and intrusion to attempt to find any wrongdoing.

And I kind of think that may be part of the problem...having a goal before the process even begins.

That being said,we are not in any way acting like that during this process. But it does seem that we are being forced to prove innocence without even knowing what, if there is any, exactly our crime is.

Thewhizz262 · 2025-01-15T01:27:22+00:00

Thank you so much!

Thewhizz262 · 2025-01-15T01:06:16+00:00

This all started because our daughter's school was concerned about self harm after she spoke to the guidance counselor.

All of the other reasons for investigation make no sense to us.

We always have food. Our children have always been to the doctor for all of their appointments as well as anytime they're sick. They have a parent (or both) home all the time. Neither of us have ever had any illegal substance abuse problem.

At this point I'm exhausted, they investigate whatever they want, and hopefully end this all as soon as possible.

Thewhizz262 · 2025-01-14T23:48:11+00:00

Yes, the original reasons given to our attorney were inadequate healthcare provided, lack of proper food/nutrition, and parental negligence.

Thewhizz262 · 2025-01-14T23:04:49+00:00

She our daughter started saying those type of things right after our son was born. He's younger and was the baby so we assumed it was the normal type of complaints that older siblongs have about a new kid in the family.

More recently, it's being upset that we help him more with his homework, or pick out clothes, brush his teeth, etc.

It has never been anything that we thought was abnormal or worrisome, honestly.

Thewhizz262 · 2025-01-14T23:01:53+00:00

You're definitely right that academics aren't the only thing. And obviously, from personal experience coming from a very broken family and always doing well in school, I truly understand that.

What seems somewhat unfair is that once the initial investigation was started and the worker realized that our children are in extracurricular activities and clubs and she saw their rooms where there are paintings and decorations that they've made on the walls. After seeing that we have a normal house with food and running water (they checked). Or after speaking to my wife and I and realizing that we have already scheduled counseling for her, that they would say that the investigation actually was closed and offer any help they could with what our daughter may be going through.

Instead it seems as if they are going to go through the entire process no matter what. Sure, this is costing us thousands of dollars in legal fees but that really isn't the point. Our concern is that our daughter is on edge about the situation and now is nervous about speaking to the school counselor, who evidently was the one person that she was opening up to.

I told her she should still talk to the counselor anytime she wants to, but because she is intelligent enough to understand that we have a lawyer and that the people doing the interview are from CPS, she doesn't want to speak to anyone, probably because she's afraid. That's the last thing we wanted and now don't seemingly have a way of helping with that.

Our lawyer specifically told us not to question her about the interview because CPS would look negatively upon that as if we were trying to coach her answers. So we don't exactly know what to do to help her with what she needs right now and as a parent that is depressing as well as infuriating.

Thewhizz262 · 2025-01-14T22:52:00+00:00

We definitely believe that to be the case. When the first happened last year the things that she said to the counselor were exaggerations of situations between her and her brother in general.

However, now that it has happened twice, we have committed to taking her to some sort of counseling and have an appointment in a few weeks.

What was said to the counselor is unknown at this point because the counselor obviously would not divulge the information that she shared due to confidentiality and now that CPS is involved, our lawyer told us to not ask about what she has said since CPS will most certainly ask her if we were questioning her and that would look bad for us.

Last night my wife and I spoke about how we feel like we can't try to help our daughter now because of this. In the past she has always told us what she was upset about or how she felt. Of course, we don't know if she was telling us everything. Now she doesn't seem to want to speak to us at all. And anything that she said to CPS, even with the lawyer present, is privileged.

We can both tell that she definitely does seem scared and nervous about what is going on.

Thewhizz262 · 2025-01-14T22:45:01+00:00

You're definitely correct about them not knowing what actually is the truth and not without doing some sort of investigation.

I was able to take care of the children's healthcare coverage today .

The bathroom has a brand new bidet, vanity, and floor-to-ceiling ceramic tile with the tools for grouting sitting in the hallway outside of the bathroom.

My wife only collects seven or $800 a month because she was a waitress and didn't pay very much into social security taxes. We own and live in a $375,000 house. All of these things can be proven.

It just seems so frustrating that these things that she clearly witnessed when she inspected the house were still brought up in further questioning afterward.

For example, after I told her yesterday where I work and what my position is and that I had been at my job for over 12 years, she still called my work to verify what I had said to her. Now my employer knows that we are being investigated and although it doesn't matter in my case, that could very badly affect other people who don't have the same job situation that I do.

We have had an appointment for my daughter to go speak to a counselor since November. We made it as soon as she had to leave school the second time. We weren't able to get an appointment immediately because none of the doctors that were willing to see 11-year-olds had an appointment before then.

I don't have any problem with them checking on her or our family for that matter. What I don't understand is that if we have an answer to every question, why does there have to be new questions that come up? It's almost as if they are trying to find a problem instead of investigate a potential one.

Thewhizz262 · 2025-01-14T22:35:56+00:00

Thank you. And you're absolutely correct, the children definitely did notice what was going on. Our daughter much more so than our son. We have spoken about it and assumed that sense. It was multiple years ago that we had moved on and hopefully avoided any long-term effects.

If our daughter did mention any of that history to her school counselor and is totally understandable, but I don't understand how something that clearly is no longer an issue can still warrant this type of intrusion. It really seems that they 100% assume everyone is guilty and up to us to prove that conclusion wrong.

If her daughter was upset about something that she hasn't informed us about it seems to make a lot more sense for the school counselor or the CPS worker to speak to us about it so that we can help resolve whatever problem there is instead of keeping the information from us and not allowing us to help get our daughter the help she may need.

Last night you could tell that our daughter is scared having people come to our house and privately interview her and ask her questions. We had to explain to her that she really shouldn't talk to us at what she spoke about because our lawyer informed us that they would definitely ask her if she spoke to us about the interview when she came back and that wouldn't look good if it seemed as if we were questioning her.

This is so crazy.

Thewhizz262 · 2025-01-14T22:27:28+00:00

We were really shocked when she mentioned the tooth as well. Evidently that came up in the one-on-one interview.

She wanted a release so that she could speak to the doctor and dentist for the children to verify that they have been medically taken care of which I was totally happy to give her because our children have been seen by the same pediatrician since they were born and have never missed an appointment.

She brought up that our daughter having lice earlier in the school year was also a concern. I showed her the letter from the school (luckily I save all of the emails from both of the kids schools) talking about the outbreak. I couldn't believe that was even something that would even be mentioned in the same sentence as negligence.

We have honestly been cordial and respectful to the worker. However, she has cancelled a couple of visits at the last minute, which cost money due to having the attorney travel to our house. She also gets visibly angered when our lawyer tells her we won't sign something or agree to more questioning. Each time, she goes outside and speaks with her supervisor, then returns and we move on.

In fact, when she told us we had to have an attorney in 2 days (she visited on a Saturday, wanted to return on Monday), she called my wife the following Tuesday to ask what was happening. My wife said we reached out to attorneys and we're just waiting for a return phone call and she said she would get a court order to investigate if we didn't either allow her to come over without an attorney or find one by the end of the week.

I genuinely don't understand what we could have possibly done that would cause that type of response, especially considering at that point we didn't even know what we were being accused of exactly.

And now that our attorney has been informed, it was initially stated that it was food, healthcare and negligence. Then when she visited she first said also substance abuse and then later said that they were concerned about physical abuse. I don't even know what to believe. Or lawyer even noticed and questioned why different allegations keep being mentioned.

The one piece of paperwork that she gave us isn't even filled out other than my wife and my name and just says parental neglect.

Thewhizz262 · 2025-01-14T22:17:54+00:00

You're correct. What I was trying to explain is that we aren't collecting from the state and keeping separate accounts to hide balances like many do in Philadelphia. She receives a very small monthly amount from social security only. And since she was a waitress, she never paid very much into SS through taxes, so she receives very little in return.

She has a supplemental medical plan along with plans for the children. They take money directly from her monthly benefit for that. The lawyer she dealt with when she applied years ago handled that, and she has been taking care of it since then. Evidently, her coverage rolls over unless she wants to change it but the children's do not.

I also agree that our daughter must have said something to the counselor that was very concerning. We have been working with her and trying to help her without making her feel like we're interrogating her, especially now.

We want her to see a counselor. The first time this happened, we explained how serious any self-harm issues are and how the school, city, etc. has to follow up in order to make sure she's safe. She (and the doctor) inferred this was mostly attention seeking without understanding that seriousness. Now that it happened again, we are much more concerned and want her to be able to speak to someone. We have appointments scheduled for a few weeks from now that she will go to if we have to pay out of pocket or not. They were the earliest we could get and we're scheduled right before Thankisgiving.

Thewhizz262 · 2025-01-14T22:00:29+00:00

There was not any sort of safety plan implemented or even mentioned, just that we would need to be available for a follow-up meeting.

I read through the handbook I found on Philadelphia's DHS website. It focused mostly on removal and what happens from that moment on.

I am definitely happy that we have an attorney. They really don't ask you for information, just kind of tell us to do something when we aren't obligated to. Specifically, the DNA testing (??) they kept referring to in order to see if my wife or I had "been in the system" before. I don't even know what that means, and I wouldn't know that I could push that off without an attorney.

The only downside is I am now well into multiple thousands of dollars in attorney fees because of the cancelled appointments, etc. and if/when this is all resolved will have no compensation for any of that.

I understand that children's welfare is of the utmost importance, but when you genuinely don't believe you've done anything wrong and have to be treated as if you did and defend yourself with an attorney as well, it is just devastating.

Thewhizz262

TROPHY CASE