Child Protective Services
Victories for Parents' Rights May Help in Dealing with CPS
Two recent court cases affirmed the 4th amendment right of the family to protection
from unreasonable searches and seizures by Child Protective Services.
In both cases, the U. S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that Child Protective
Services' entry into a home and forced strip searches of children when there is no
emergency or without a warrant are violations of the parents' 4th amendment rights.
The first case, Calabretta v. Floyd, involved a Yolo County CPS worker who,
accompanied by a police officer, forced entry into the Calabretta home without a
warrant and demanded a strip search of their 3 year old daughter.
The Calabretta
v. Floyd decision has been published. It might be wise to print this decision,
read and familiarize yourself with it, and keep a copy handy in your homepossibly
near the front door along with your tape recorder that is always supplied with fresh
tape and batteries.
Calabretta v. Floyd
HSLDA Press Release
August 26, 1999
Yolo County, CASocial workers are bound to obey the U.S. Constitution
when investigating child abuse cases, said a unanimous three-judge panel of the
Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an opinion handed down Thursday, August 26,
1999.
"This opinion will have a nationwide impact. With respect to the Fourth Amendment,
the Ninth Circuit settled the social worker question once and for all. No longer can
social workers enter a home without either a warrant or probable cause of an emergency,"
said Michael Farris, lead attorney for the plaintiffs.
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In the second case, according to the LA Times account, Escondido CPS with the
help of local police seized two children from a home in the middle of the night
and without a warrant. The seizure was based on a tip from a family member. Three
days later, CPS had the children examined at a hospital without their parents
present, and despite finding no evidence of abuse, kept the children for a total
of 2 1/2 months. Upon the children's return, the family was billed for foster care.
With this decision, the Ninth Circuit opened the way for the family to sue for
"damages on the allegations of civil rights violations, abduction of the children
and infliction of emotional distress."
"In particular, the court said a jury should decide whether the city of Escondido
had a policy of picking up children without verifying the existence of a court order
and without reasonable cause."
LA Times Article on Escondido Case
September 15, 1999, page A3
Parents' Rights Upheld in Child Abuse Inquiries;
Justices rule that authorities searching for evidence must get family consent
or a judge's order before an invasive examination of a minor.
A federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled Tuesday that government officials
investigating possible child abuse cannot conduct an invasive bodily search of a child
without parental permission unless a judge has ruled in advance that such a search is
warranted.
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The following article was printed in the December 1997-January 1998 issue of CHNews.
When Child Protective Services Calls
by Brad Dacus, President Pacific
Justice Institute
Reprinted by permission.
Janet, a devoted homeschooler, never thought she had very much to worry about.
After all, she always thought of herself to be an above-average mother. She spent
lots of time with her children and filed her private school affidavit as required
by state law. Unfortunately, Janet was completely unaware of the growing threat to
her family autonomy. It struck suddenly.
She received a call from Child Protective Services, who asked for an appointment
to visit her and her children. It was to be a visit solely to follow up on a phone
call they had received from a concerned neighbor. It would only take a few minutes.
Janet agreed to let CPS come to her home a couple days later to ask some questions
of her. There was little hesitancy because, after all, she was a good mother and had
nothing to worry about. Later that week CPS showed up with two law enforcement officers.
They had a warrant to enter the premises and take her three children for some questioning.
Janet was not told where they were taken nor when she would see her children again. Sound
absurd?
Unfortunately, Janet is by no means alone. CPS in California has greatly increased the
number of cases they are handling. And as Janet soon discovered, homeschoolers are by no
means exempt. In fact, as homeschooling becomes more and more widespread, cases like Janet's
will likely only increase.
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So what should a homeschooling parent do when placed in a situation like Janet's? First,
we at Pacific Justice Institute recommend that the parent contact either our organization or
a private attorney to provide them immediate legal counsel. Second, Pacific Justice Institute
has discovered the following method for homeschoolers which, however cumbersome, almost always
effectively circumvents the above tragedy from occurring.
Assuming CPS calls beforehand to set up an appointment, the parent should not lose their
friendly demeanor or sound defensive. Parents need to ask why CPS feels the need to visit with
them or their children, and then the parent should make sure that they have plenty of time to
take their children for a private medical exam beforehand. Parents must not simply hang-up or
refuse to cooperate. CPS only needs a "reasonable suspicion" of child abuse (physical or emotional)
to temporarily seize children. Consequently, the goal is to negate that reasonable suspicion before
CPS has an opportunity to either visit with or take the children. But how?
The parent should immediately have their child physically examined by a private, non-CPS
affiliated, physician. The physician should be very thorough in his or her exam so that he or
she can immediately write a letter stating that no bruises, marks, or health concerns were found
on the child that in any way would create any suspicion of child abuse or neglect. (If it is at
all possible in the parent's mind that emotional abuse may be alleged, then the parent should
have the child questioned by a child psychiatrist and have a similar report prepared immediately.)
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After the parent receives these written reports, the parent should send copies via
certified mail to the CPS worker handling the case, as well as to the CPS worker's
supervisor. To make sure that the CPS worker and supervisor receive these reports
on time, the parent might want to personally (and in a friendly, helpful manner)
deliver these reports to them instead.
The parent should then follow-up with a phone call to make sure that the reports
satisfied the CPS worker's concerns and that the earlier scheduled meeting with the
parent and children was, in fact, no longer necessary. Nine times out of 10, that
will be the case.
However, in those rare occurrences when it is not the case, the parent should
immediately call competent legal counsel to intervene further on their behalf.
The parent also should not hesitate to further question the CPS worker to find
out specifically what concerns he or she still had outstanding that were not already
covered by the report. You may find that the CPS worker simply wants a second opinion
or may have mistakenly lost or forgotten about the reports that were sent. Please note
that CPS workers in Sacramento County handle an average of 400 case files.
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If the CPS worker continues to insist on examining the children, or even takes the
children, the parent can be assured they probably have developed the proper evidence
needed to get their children back in a timely fashion. The parent also has laid the
groundwork for a possible civil suit against CPS if it can be shown that the CPS
worker maliciously withheld the medical or psychological reports from the judge who
signed the order allowing CPS to take the children.
Often, after the CPS worker has taken the children, they may offer to give back
the children contingent upon parents signing an admission of neglect, waiver of a
right to trial, and/or pledge to undergo CPS supervised "parental training". All
parents should seek competent legal counsel before signing such a document.
Fortunately, over the last five years of coordinating the representation of
parents confronted by CPS, there was not a single time when the CPS worker was
successful in removing children from their parents when the parents followed the
above preventative measures.
Without a doubt, no homeschooling parent can be completely sure that they will
never be confronted by CPS. However, there is no reason why non-abusive, non-neglecting
parents should ever have to unnecessarily have their family endure the severe trauma
resulting from such confrontations.
If you would like more information about how Pacific Justice Institute intervenes
and represents homeschooling parents, without charge, please feel free to contact us
at (916) 857-6900 or via our web page at
www.pacificjustice.org.
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Links for additional information on CPS:
NOTE: The links on this page are provided for information only.
CHN does not endorse these organizations and their views do not necessarily represent
the views of CHN, its Board of Trustees or its membership and should not be considered
legal advice.
American Family
Rights Association
AFRA is a national directory of existing groups and individuals who are working on
issues concerning the rights of families, parents, and children.
Child Protection
Reform
Excellent site with important advice, links to research and parents' advocacy
organizations.
Fight CPS and WIN
"This website exists to address the needs of families who are having legal problems
with the child welfare services industry due to unjust or false accusations,
misrepresentations, mistakes of fact, or exaggerations of circumstance."
Lifting the Veil
A Critical Look at the Child Welfare System
Family
Advocacy Center
Help for Families in Crisis
Ontario
Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Web page entitled "Parents Victimized by Children's Protective Services"
Beware
the Child Protectors
by William Norman Grigg
The New American, August 30, 1999
Child Protective Services Abuse & Assistance - Reliable Answers.com
"This site provides legal resources, advice, timely CPS news articles, valuable research and
advice on how homeschoolers can avoid contact with child protection workers."
If you have a link that should be here, please submit it to the
Webmaster.
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