In shock at school's response

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Liahona

Guest
You might remember X hit difficult child 1. difficult child 1 told the school. School reported it to cps.

Now, difficult child 1 is saying it wasn't as big a deal as he said it was before. Cps says there isn't enough to do anything with. I called my lawyer. He said the if we could get the school therapist to write a statement saying what difficult child 1 told her we could get a protective order. That would stop visitation until a GAL could be brought in and investigate.

School therapist asked her bosses if she could. They said no.

If lawyer has already filed the paperwork with the court we (I and difficult child 1) are in big hot water. I'm hoping he hasn't yet. I want that statement in hand before filing.

No, this is not done.

I am going to ask lawyer if the statement to cps will be enough. The problem is that the school therapist tells the social worker from the school and the social worker tells cps. Cps gets it 3rd hand. I'm not sure that will be good in court.

In the shock of the moment I didn't ask school therapist which of her bosses said no. Now I get to track her down and ask. And then go after that person and ask them some questions.

What would they do if this was their child? How is a school therapist supposed to report on "just academics"? I was a teacher and I reported to the court. I know the court will accept her statement. Don't they care enough about the child to repeat what he said to the court? He has no voice in court.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
in my opinion this boss's response could be viewed as obstruction of justice or even witness tampering. If she has a license to practice then seh doesn't have a real choice. I think that your atty could even subpoena her. This isn't that uncommon, but is just wrong. I would ask your boss if this could be obstruction and if so, have him tell the boss. This is irresponsible and if difficult child is hurt by X, which will likely happen soon as abuse always escalates and it usually happens rapidly, then the psychologist and her boss should be held responsible. The threat of that might have them cooperating. Be sure to let the lawyer know what is happening so he can help you get them to be honest.

I hate things like this when they won't be honest and step up like any decent human being would do for a child. I bet if the boss had an X they didn't like that letter would be written even if the abuse didn't happen - seen it more than once.
 

buddy

New Member
the social worker from the school and the social worker tells cps. Cps gets it 3rd hand. I'm not sure that will be good in court.

UMMMM my mandated reporter training said that the person who hears of the abuse or witnesses the abuse must report it, not another party. And I had a boss tell me not to call once and so I asked about it anonymously and they said I could go to jail if it ever came out that I listened to them...I'd rather lose my job thank you very much. (In my case the parents were grateful and found a neighbor was the source of the abuse so what if I had listened to boss????)
 
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Liahona

Guest
Thank You!!! I'll ask the lawyer about the subpoena.

The school therapist doesn't think it'll be enough but the lawyer thinks it'll be just enough to get someone to look at X's history and then that will be enough to get supervised visitation.

Oh you guys are great. I don't know why I didn't think of that myself. Heads all in a muddle I guess.
 
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TeDo

Guest
I believe ALL school personnel are considered "mandated reporters" and CAN be prosecuted for "failure to report". I would ask that therapist if he/she is willing to take that chance, that is if he/she is approachable.

Go Warrior Mom!!!
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Oh you guys are great. I don't know why I didn't think of that myself. Heads all in a muddle I guess

THAT is the biggest reason you're here on the board...

If two heads are better than one... how much is a whole board's worth of heads worth?
 

Steely

Active Member
Go WARRIOR MOM!!! You are gonna get this kid out of this situation!!! Sending you all the positive vibes I have to conquer this!!!

That school therapist HAS to report it - she doesn't get to chose!!!!! How much you wanna bet that she is lying, and she is scared of putting herself on the line. SO many people are like that with abuse, and I just don't get it. They would rather "feel safe" and "not stir things up" for their own sake - rather than be brave enough to protect other people.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
Heck, in MY state EVERY adult is a mandated reporter and any teen over a certain age (the age to get red cross training, I think. I do know they cover it.) who babysits, even watching a sibling counts, is also a mandated reporter. They don't mess around either. If they know that you didn't report it the judges get really really angry. I didn't really think they would but there was a hearing the day my bro got divorced (I had to be there, yuck) and a daycare worker got chewed out by the judge and fined and if there is any hint of abuse of a child in the palce she works it will be a 2nd offense and the judge said it would be up to 30 days in jail. She hadn't reported it because her boss said it was "policy" to tell the boss and let the boss report if needed. Did NOT fly with the judge AT ALL. Why not go by the dept of human services and get a flyer with the actual law on mandated reporting. Here the flyer, available in every school office, says that a teacher MUST not contact a supervisor but is responsible BY LAW and can be fined or spend time in jail for not reporting in a timely manner, regardless of what the supervisor or principal or district says. I am sure they still tell the principal first, but none of them are unaware of the law here. Maybe it is just the judges here, but boy do they get MAD over child abuse.
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
When the high school called CPS last January for "medical neglect", the teacher that Onyxx showed her "burns" was the one that called. We got a young lady, with a trainee (ugh) - however they were willing to listen. They got the message loud and clear that Onyxx was only going for attention... Without our having to make any excuses at all.

In our area, certain people are mandated reporters, but not, say, babysitters unless it is a multiple child environment - such as day care. I've heard people say they "can't" call CPS. REALLY? Anyone can call. And this whole "boss said no" bit steams me. That is absolute BS - if boss DID say no, boss needs head examined (after removal from rectum); if it's therapist running scared, she needs removed from her position and retrained. ONE chance.

Sigh...
 
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Liahona

Guest
Well, lawyer said we could subpoena her BUT our case would be on very shaky ground. He said that in our state difficult child 1 telling school that X hit him SHOULD HAVE opened up a case with DCFS But sometimes it depends on the case worker. And we apparently got a bad one.

If we go through with this and lose.... well, difficult child 1 won't be in a position to talk any more. Either because X will shower him with gifts and he won't want to talk or because X will scare him into silence. or a combination of both.
 

keista

New Member
*()&^&*$%%^#%^^&*(*&%$%^$%&*)(&)&*()E%^&*

I'm not in a very good place personally right now, so that's as supportive as I can get. WTF is wrong with our society when we can't protect and obviously distressed kid?
 
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Liahona

Guest
That kind of support also is great Keista. That is about where I am too.
 

Steely

Active Member
Yea, I am with Keista - I am just baffled here on what to tell you.

Let's see -
-Do you have the Residential Treatment Center (RTC) records yet?
-You have 1 other person at the school that reported difficult child telling of the abuse right? Like an aide or someone that he told?
-And you would have the counselor who would be forced to testify as the second?
-And you have your mom's testimony? And yours and husbands.

If you had all of the above I would absolutely got to court on this one....regardless of a DCFS report. I would take the chance and not wait until something else happens. A "next time" could be too late.
 
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