Can Hoarding Result in the Removal of a Child From a Household

My question involves child abuse or neglect in the State of: California. The father of my son and my son both recently moved back to California from Georgia. My son is 6 years old and autistic. Him and his father both live in a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom home with 6 other adults who all hoard. There are boxes stacked to the ceiling and dirty dishes everywhere and moldy food in the fridge. The back yard is full of trash and they also have two dogs, one indoor and one outdoor. I called the child protective hotline last night because the house is a fire hazard. They said they would immediately send a cps worker there to investigate and that they would call me once they did. I still haven't received a call back. My question is: is hoarding to an extreme extent means for a child to be removed from the home in la county?



Some extra info: my child co sleeps with his father as there is no room for him to have his own room. Father is also very hostile and threatens to take my son away from me when I say I want to visit with him. He's paranoid that I'm going to try and take our son away from him, because he left to another state with our son without telling me one time. I was afraid to call cps on him since he could very well be a flight risk, but the home is not safe for my son.

CPS is really your only option for the immediate concern of the child. If you are interested in custody your only real option is an attorney to look into things.

Dogs, clutter, hoarding, child not having his own room, etc... are not in themselves abuse that could be acted on. Abuse, neglect, unsanitary or otherwise unsafe, conditions, lack of food, might be. I would suggest you stop confronting your husband. It's not helping your situation.

I would suggest neutral parties (CPS, attorney). Let them know everything you know including past flight and any threats made.

Thank you. I'm preparing a report of everything his father has done to me and to his son in the last 7 years and I'm going to print it and turn it into CPS. I've tried "playing nice" and letting his father get his way for over 7 years and he still threatens to keep my son away from me when he has absolutely no reason to. I'm just done playing games and tired of him holding our son over my head. I tried filing for custody yesterday, but couldn't because my son hasn't lived in California for more than 6 months (making him a non-citizen). The trouble with this is that his father moves with him so many times to so many different states, and never stays in one place for more than 6 months, so it's almost impossible to establish custody.

Is there a reason why you do not have primary custody? Should protective services become involved, would that history affect their evaluation of whether to place the child with you?

I created this report that might give you some insight to the situation as a whole:

Ezra is 6 years old and autistic. He can have severe allergies, where, especially when he is sleeping, he will choke on his own phlegm and vomit throughout the night. The house he is currently living in is a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom single-family home. Ezra lives with his father, uncle, 2 cousins, grandfather, great-aunt, and great-uncle. The house Ezra is currently living in had many hoarded items, including boxes stacked to the ceiling in the home, stacks of cans and trash in the back yard, molded food in the refrigerator, dirty dishes stacked in the sink, ant colonies inside the home, and dog feces inside and outside of the home. The house he is currently living in with his father can be very harmful to Ezra’s sensitive allergies and is a major fire hazard. The boxes stacked high could fall on him or others in the house at any moment, especially if there is an earthquake.
Ezra’s father was physically abusive to Ezra’s mother for 2.5 years and caused extreme stress to Ezra’s mother during her pregnancy. Ezra’s father was and is extremely hostile and controlling. Ezra would react by hitting, kicking, and biting others, crying, and trying to make his parents “kiss and make up” after or during a fight. Ezra’s mother left Ezra’s father because of the abuse. Ezra’s father is a flight risk. Ezra’s father has been known to “take off” in the middle of the night from North Carolina to California with Ezra without telling Ezra’s mother. Ezra’s father has moved dozens of times to various states within the last 7 years, creating an unstable environment for Ezra. Ezra’s father gets very hostile and threatens to take Ezra away when Ezra’s mother mentions Ezra living with her for a while (to share custody of Ezra). There is no legal custody agreement in place at this time. Ezra’s mother is very worried that, at any given moment in time, Ezra’s father could take Ezra and move to another state without the knowledge or consent of Ezra’s mother. Ezra’s father currently has family living in Georgia, California, and North Carolina and could kidnap his own son and travel to any of these dates without notice. Ezra’s father currently does not have a job or anything holding him back from moving.
When Ezra was about 2 years of age, Ezra’s mother suspected Ezra may be autistic. Ezra’s father shot down that suspicion saying that there was nothing wrong with Ezra and was in complete denial that Ezra may be autistic. This prevented Ezra from getting the Early Intervention Services that he so desperately needed. Ezra’s mother didn’t have a job, family, or friends at the time (in California), and wasn’t “allowed” to use the family car to take Ezra to get evaluated for autism. Ezra’s father initially did not want Ezra to go to any school (preschool or K-12 school) because he thought that Ezra could “get through life just fine” without schooling. Ezra’s father stopped going to school after 8th grade, so this is the reason why Ezra’s mother thinks Ezra’s father said that. Ezra’s father has a life-long friend in California whose daughter is severely autistic. Her mother told Ezra’s father that she and his friend don’t have to work because they get so much financial assistance (eg. Social Security Income) for their autistic daughter. It wasn’t until Ezra’s father heard this that he decided to get Ezra evaluated for autism and get Ezra the help he needed. Ezra’s father, in return, has applied for Social Security Income for Ezra and many other assistance services for Ezra and in the same breath, has turned down 2 high-paying job offers with established aerospace companies.
Ezra’s mother and father had agreed that Ezra would live with his mother after he finished kindergarten and would be returned to his father once he was supposed to start first grade. When Ezra’s mother reminded Ezra’s father that Ezra was supposed to live with her over the summer, Ezra’s father immediately got hostile and said that Ezra’s mother couldn’t have Ezra over the summer because Ezra would be going to summer school. When Ezra’s mother said that she would enroll Ezra in summer school, Ezra’s father remained hostile and continued saying that Ezra’s mother could not have Ezra over the summer. Ezra’s mother suspects that Ezra’s father got hostile because he doesn’t want any reason to lose the Social Security Income and assistance that he has applied for.
Ezra’s father remains extremely controlling and possessive of Ezra and insinuates that Ezra’s mother is a bad mother and that she cannot love, help or care for Ezra the way he does. Ezra’s mother has tried to be nice and civil to Ezra’s father about sharing custody, but to no avail. Ezra’s father moves so many times to various states, that it’s almost impossible to establish custody because Ezra and his father hardly ever remain in one state for more than six months to establish citizenship. This is why Ezra’s father is a flight risk and in turn, it creates a very unstable environment for Ezra. It’s even more concerning because Ezra is autistic and needs a stable and routine environment in order for his treatment for autism to be successful and to allow Ezra to flourish. Ezra’s mother is hoping that his father and Ezra will stay in the state of California for at least 6 months so that she can file for full legal and physical custody and allow Ezra’s father to visit with Ezra whenever he wants. But, Ezra’s mother would like full custody in order to provide a safe, stable environment to Ezra without the risk of him moving once again to another state and having to get adjusted to a new environment or school all over again.

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I really do not know what to do at this point. CPS has not done anything and I cannot file for custody or emergency custody because my child is still a legal resident of Georgia.

How did the father get custody in the first place? In other words, why did the court choose dad over you?

If dad is the legal guardian, then he's not fleeing anything - he is free to go with his child where he pleases when he pleases, unless there is a court order saying otherwise.

I would recommend speaking to an attorney. Depending on how long he has been or will be in CA custody may well have to be established here. An attorney can advise you how best to proceed ... provided you are eligible to obtain custody.

The child doesn't appear to be in immedicate danger based on what you've said, so it may be several days or longer before CPS has a chance to go out to the home. CPS doesn't care about the custody issues or how may jobs you say the child's father may have turned down in order to get govenment assistance.