“Based on what you have shared with me today, I am going to have to call Child Protective Services.”10/15/2020 By Sybil Cumming, MA, LPC, ACS “Based on what you have shared with me today, I am going to have to call Child Protective Services.” This sentence will put the fear of God into any parent’s heart. “They are going to take my children” may be the first coherent thought after that gut-wrenching feeling. It doesn’t matter if you have had experiences with child protective services (CPS) in the past or if you have never even known anyone who has had any contact with them before. This sounds scary. As mandated reporters, it is our job to call CPS if we suspect that there is a situation when children are being put in harm’s way. It is not our job to investigate the situation and make the determination if, in fact, these children are at risk for abuse, neglect, or even death. It is solely our job to make the phone call. This is something that therapists do not take lightly. We have fears of losing our clients’ trust if we call. Losing them as clients if we call. Breaking up a family. If domestic violence is involved, we may be worried about one parent’s safety and the safety of the children if we call. We may even have fears of retaliation in the form of a grievance or being sued. Thus, unfortunately, many mandated reporters do not make the call.
What is the impact of this decision? To not make the call? I have had several clients where this proved to be one of the most damning points used to discredit an abuse survivor and to take custody from this non-offending parent. Making this call can make all the difference in the world. When families participate in the family court system, many times it is “he said, she said” arguments that make up the cases. When one parent has significant trauma from suffering abuse at the hands of their partner, and then continued abuse after they had the courage to leave, they often times do not present well in court. Court professionals and judges are not immune to the biases that are believed in today’s world. Women are vindictive; they lie; are only after money; and will try to keep kids away from fathers to punish them are just a small sample. These biases are exacerbated when the non-offending parent presents “crazy” at a court hearing while their abusive ex is a calm as a cucumber and knows how to present as charming or a doting father (or mother) in front of an audience. These combine to form a perfect storm and can be a disaster unless outside parties have been involved. This is where the CPS report can come in. If you know a bit about domestic violence you may be thinking, “yeah, but so many times CPS drops the ball and are bamboozled by the charming, abusive ex.” This is true. You can make a report, they do the investigation, and not open a case. Or they may, in fact, open a case. We never know. However, by you making the report (required by mandated reporters) there was one person that felt like there was something wrong enough that these kiddos are at a risk for harm. There is a record that things are not quite right (or are completely wrong). Should you decide not to make the report, these are some possible responses provided to clients when in court. “With no direct evidence of abuse or threat of abuse to the child, my decision will be 50/50 time and decision making for both the petitioner and respondent.” “The children are attending therapy, is that correct?” “Yes.” “Well, then they would have had to make a report if they even suspected abuse, isn’t that right?” “Due to the frequency of litigation in this case and lack of outside evidence of the alleged abuse that these children supposedly witnessed, I will not hear another motion in my court room for at least 6 months when the review is scheduled.” Without a record of abuse from CPS or a criminal conviction, it is just “he said, she said” in that court room. Frequent attempts to get the court to see the danger to a child without this record will negatively impact the survivor’s case and may result in the loss of custody of the children, 50/50 unsupervised time with someone who has proven to be dangerous. They are just great at avoiding the proof. It is our responsibility to report when we hear something that could prove dangerous to a child. It may save a child’s life.
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AuthorSybil Cummin, MA, LPC, ACS Archives
February 2021
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