Medical Neglect After Injury to a Child

My question involves child abuse or neglect in the State of: Texas

We have a standard custody arrangement with my ex-wife for my son (6) and my daughter (4). However the legal agreement has never been followed by either party. My son has been living with us for just shy of a year now. We see my daughter at the very least every other weekend, but it is generally much more than that.

Also living with us is my Wife's son (3) who sees his father on a regular basis and my Wife and I have a son together (2 months).

I'll be honest with you, my Wife and I have never been crazy about his children spending time at their mother's house. However, my daughter is very close to her mom and preferred to live there. The mother and her boyfriend are both tattoo artists and have a baby together (1). There was a time when the kids spent a lot of time in the tattoo parlor, but I’m told that that's not happening any longer. The mother has a prescription drug issue that we're aware of and the boyfriend has an extensive criminal history. There may also be an alcohol problem, but we have no way of knowing that for sure.

On June 21st of this year (last Thursday), we received a phone call from my ex-wife’s boyfriend. He informed me that he and son, who we will call (DH) had been in an accident on their 4 wheeler on Wednesday the 20th at approximately 9 PM. He claimed that DH was scrapped up and would probably have a black eye, but other than that he was just fine. They spent the day at the beach Thursday and then brought both children to us at 7:30 PM Thursday evening.

Immediately when we saw DH, we were aware that he was not "fine." His face was covered in cuts and road rash. There was so much swelling that one of his eyes was barely open. He complained that his shoulder hut. He seemed disoriented and was acting out of character. We asked my ex-wife and her boyfriend if they had brought him to a doctor or hospital. They said that no, they had not. He did not need to see a doctor. It looked worse than it was etc.

At 8:30 PM, an hour after DH was returned to our care, I took him to the ER.

The doctor there found that DH had a broken clavicle (compound fracture). She ruled that the abrasions on his face were superficial, but they were also embedded with dirt and gravel and were also infected. She asked us to follow up with a plastic surgeon to prevent permanent scarring, which we have done.

The doctor also informed me that in a case like this, she was obligated to make a report to CPS.

CPS came to our home yesterday to interview my Wife and my self. She also interviewed DH, his sister and our three year old. She has told us that she will be interviewing the mother and her boyfriend in the next few days and will be requesting a drug test from both of them.

I have spoken to DH's mother about this incident in length and expressed my concern for the safety of my children. I have asked her to grant me full custody of the children and she has agreed. Unfortunately, we have no idea how to proceed with getting these papers changed. Furthermore, we're not sure if it will be necessary once CPS completes their investigation.

Honestly, we're simply... confused all around. We're not sure what the best course of action is and we have received a lot of conflicting information. We do NOT feel that the children are safe in their mother and her boyfriend's care based on this incident coupled with the things we already knew. However, it seems as though even in the case that a change of custody is uncontested, it is a long and confusing process.

Also, I failed to mention: I did originally press charges and open a criminal investigation based on the accident itself (No headlights on the 4 wheeler, improper helmet, driving within Galveston city limits, lack of eye protection and other safety gear, possible intoxication of the boyfriend etc.) and also due to the fact that they did not seek medical attention following the accident.

The state has picked up the charges and is intending to pursue them and CPS has set out a safety plan that I know nothing about…

Does anyone have any guidance on what I can expect and/or do make this process easier on my family?

Thanks,

Up_Set_Daddy…

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Does anyone have any guidance on what I can expect and/or do make this process easier on my family?

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Get an attorney, pronto, and file for a change of custody. Don't sit on your hands and wait for CPS to investigate, get the process rolling NOW. If your ex has already agreed to the change, the process will be pretty straightforward - you both show up for court, and everything will be done in minutes.

Thank you for your advice. I am in the process of talking to an attorney, but were looking at a min of $1500 to get things started. We are currently going threw our resources to pull things together.

Does anyone have an idea of what may happen with them vs the state?

Thanks,

Up_Set_Daddy

We don't have access to all of the facts, so we can't make any predictions. That's something you're just going to have to wait out, and let the State do its job.