Results 1 to 4 of 4
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Posts
    2

    Default Can CPS Remove My Children

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

    My daughter who is now 13 has bipolar, attachment disorder and depression. We have had her enrolled in multiple help programs voluntarily for the past year and a half. Including a CPS one, which we signed up for. The reason for all these programs is because she gets completely out of control. She attacks my husband, my other children, and myself. We have called the police to come help before, they said because she was only 12,(she is 13 now), they couldn't do anything, and they have told us that we can restrain her so she doesn't hurt anyone while she is like that. Well, the last two time we had to restrain her, (after she had bruised me and my husband up), she got some bruises on her wrists from fighting while he was restraining her and she went and reported us to her school saying that we abused her. The CPS investigator told me this last time, that if they get called one more time, they will not only have to take her out of my home, but ALL three of my other children! I have a 16 year old, a 10 year old and an 8 year old also. He told me that they can't just remove one child from a home. I have been working with CPS in all ways through all of this, I have tried to help my daughter in ALL ways available that I could find, she is on medication, in counseling, she sees a psychiatrist, goes to group therapy and other programs as well. All the CPS reports have been from my daughter's school. I am trying to keep my family together through all of this, including my 13 year old, but my question is CAN CPS rip my other children out of my home when there is no reports on them? Is there something I can do to protect my children from this happening?

    Please post if you know any specific laws or cases that can help me!

    Thank you for ANY help you can give.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    424

    Default Re: Can CPS Remove My Children

    Yes, they can. They shouldn't but they can.

    Some things you can try:

    1. Next time she loses control, DO NOT RESTRAIN her, call 911.
    2. Create a crisis plan for your other childre -- family members that can take the children if CPS insists they need to leave the home.
    3. File a CHINS petition asking the court order the problem child into foster care, http://www.courts.wa.gov/forms/index...bute&formID=19 (first form listed)

    When was her last psychiatric hospitalization?

    Was she adopted through the foster care system?

  3. #3

    Default Re: Can CPS Remove My Children

    Just out of curiousity, did your daughter have an extensive work up by a neurologist before being put on meds? Physical and chemical issues within the brain are often overlooked as causative factors because of the expense of evaluation and testing, and BP/AD/Dep isn't usually a combo that explains violent outbursts to the level you are describing,

    CPS in most states has policies that say "all or none" removal, because what impacts one child in a household generally impacts others, even if they themselves are not directly involved in the incidents that involved injury, they've certainly had to witness it. Policy is NOT "law", and while followed a majority of the time, isn't a guarantee or a MANATE that they MUST remove that way. So CAN they remove all of the children if there are additional incidents? Yes, they likely can. If another incident occurs where you are forced to restrain her, and bruising or injury occurs, especially if the other children are around, you can probably count on them being removed, at least for a short time. CPS's job is to play better safe than sorry, and unfortunately, if your daughter's behavior and the response to that behavior both remain the same or continue to escalate, it may be only a matter of time before the 13 year old pushes things to that point. Your best defense, as PQ pointed out is to notify police of the outburst and let THEM restrain her. Their presence and witnessing of the behavior is your best defense to HOW bruising or injury occurred.

    Realistically, unless some new element enters the situation that either decreases her outbursts, or enhances your ability to react to them without causing injury while restraining her, then you face a choice of whether to separate the kids via a means within your control, or risk that separation coming from an outside source where you'll have no control and will have to jump through hoops to get the other kids back if removal occurs. Although police told you that you could restrain her, what have you been counseled to do by a professional who deals with children with such issues (which police are NOT)? I see lots of resources being directed at the child...looks like you've really covered the bases there...but who are you using as a resource for the PARENTS (support group, counseling, etc.)? Situations like these are incredibly difficult to navigate, and it usually takes altering BOTH the behavior of the target child AND the behavior of the parents for positive outcomes such as a unified family to occur.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Posts
    2

    Default Re: Can CPS Remove My Children

    She has never been hospitalized at all. And she was not adopted through the foster care system.
    Unfortunately, when we called the police on her before she was 13, they told us that they would not do anything about her violence in our home, even though I had bruises on me and she had broken windows, dishes, and hit her sister.....And that was just ONE of the calls. This last time, we did call the police again, and because she is now 13, they are pressing charges on her. I will be calling the police every time she even starts to act up from now on. I have to, She feels like I am betraying her, but I told her she left me no other choice.
    I have been talking with my mother, and she said she would take the children into her home. The problem being that their father would get them automatically. This is a very scary option for my family. His home is not safe, he molested my oldest daughter, but their wasn't enough evidence to prosecute, his wife has an extensive CPS history, and is very mentally unstable, but somehow has her children in her home after literally years of them going between foster homes. I went through a custody battle with him and won, but he still gets the children on weekends, holidays....ext. So I can't allow them to take my children at all, because they would place them in his home first.
    Thank you for your advice, I appreciate anything I can get!

    She did not have any testing at all, even though I asked for it. They said she had a "mood disorder" at first, then put her on a very low dose of medication. It worked with her "fits", then we took her to a different psychiatrist, and he diagnosed her with Bi-polar and with her attachment disorder. I am very much against medicating my children unless it is absolutely necessary, and I have avoided it in the past, but I had no other option at the time, I had to do something to keep my family safe. How do you get that type of testing done? I wanted all testing done before any of this happened, but I was refused, and I would really like to force something like that to take place.

    1. Sponsored Links
       

Similar Threads

  1. Protective Services: Can CPS Remove My Children
    By mybeautifulbutterflies5 in forum Abuse and Neglect
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 02-08-2011, 02:33 PM
  2. Children's Father is Deceased, How Can I Designate Custody of My Children if I Die
    By rjhart in forum Child Custody, Support and Visitation
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 01-04-2011, 10:51 AM
  3. Can I Legally Remove My Children from Florida
    By stonefreelee63 in forum Child Custody, Support and Visitation
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 05-26-2009, 02:05 PM
  4. Protective Services: When Can CPS Remove Children From Their Home
    By selmo in forum Abuse and Neglect
    Replies: 26
    Last Post: 10-28-2008, 12:05 PM
  5. Need children to remove items from home
    By palzie in forum Estate Planning, Administration and Probate
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 06-07-2006, 08:08 PM
 
 
Sponsored Links

Legal Help, Information and Resources