Request for Congressional Inquiry of HHS Child Protective Services in All States http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/253404476
HELP MOTHERS FALSELY ACCUSED OF CHILD ABUSE AND/OR NEGLECT HELP THEM PROTECT THEIR CHILDREN http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/512966888
�EACH CHILD in YOUR FAMILY has a 1 in 25 chance of being the subject of a child abuse/neglect investigation this year. On the other hand, the chance of getting a flat tire on the family car is 1 in 70 (including Firestones).�
A social worker knocks at your door. Have a phone, audio recorders and better yet, video recorders handy near the door. Turn on your audio recorders/video recorders immediately and record the entire interaction. In WV, we have the right to audio record. Let the social workers/police know you are recording. Audio recording/Video recording will supply accurate documentation of the events and will very likely protect you from false allegations.
If you have already established a client/attorney relationship with a good attorney, telephone the attorney immediately. Let the social worker talk to the attorney by handing the phone out the door to the social worker or turn the speaker phone on. You may state that you are recording the telephone conversation and then record it.
Identify social workers and police.
Request the social worker�s business card. Get their names, titles, other pertinent data. Request police names and badge numbers. Write them down to supply this information to your attorney later.
You have the right to know what the allegations are.
Ask what the complaint is about but do not respond to them or �explain� anything.
Do not let social workers or police inside your home without a search warrant.
In general, an anonymous telephone complaint does not constitute probable cause and is not a valid reason for government agents to get a court order or search warrant to enter your home.
You and your children have the right to remain silent. Use it.
You have the right against self-incrimination. Everything you say can and most likely will be twisted and used against you. No matter how outlandish or trivial the allegations, refer CPS workers and police to your attorney, do not respond or explain anything.
Do not allow social workers or police question your children outside of your presence.
You and your children have the right to have your attorneys present when being questioned by government agents. Insist on this right and teach your children to insist on this right as well. Children are at serious risk of being interrogated and seized by CPS agents in school. Print out REVERSE MIRANDAS and supply to your children, teach them their rights and teach them to hand the reverse Miranda card to government agents if they are interrogated in school.
If social workers or police insist on seeing the children, let them view the children through a window or door.
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Give the social worker a NO TRESPASS NOTICE. Instruct her to leave your property. If she refuses to leave, telephone police and request that they enforce your no trespass notice.
It is only reasonable to get the social worker to identify themselves. There have been reports of two women (in Halifax) posing as social workers to gain entry into private a home. The women knew the name of the homeowner�s child. They went through the child�s closet and dresser drawers and then left. The women were not social workers. The reason for gaining entry under false pretenses was unknown at the time of the report.
Generally, an anonymous telephone allegation called into CPS is not sufficient probable cause to obtain a search warrant or court order. When CPS arrives at your door consider them to be on a �fishing trip�, looking for things to use against you. If CPS or police do not have a valid court order or a search warrrant, you do not have to let them in your home.
Children are at serious risk of being questioned and seized from schools by CPS. Teach your children their rights. Your children have the right to have either an attorney representing their interests present or their parents present when questioned by government agents. Teach your children to assert that right. Print out several Reverse Mirandas or Notice to Government Agents and supply to your child.
From CPSWATCH:
�NOTICE TO GOVERNMENT AGENTS:
You are hereby informed that I have a right to have my parents present prior to answering any questions. I am now exercising that right and request that you contact my parents immediately.�
If children are in religious schools and it is considered private property, it may not be necessary to allow government agents onto school property to interview the children. Discuss the school�s policy regarding this with school administrators in advance and supply written instructions for the school not to allow government agents to interview your children at the school in your absence.
If children are in public schools, you can send the school a letter insisting that your children shall not be questioned by CPS or police without you, their parents, or without an attorney being present, but reports from across the nation indicate schools typically ignore such instructions.
Have your children memorize your home phone number and other numbers to call in an emergency as well. Have your children memorize your home address. Instruct your children to telephone you as soon as possible if questioned or seized, even if CPS and/or police tell them they are not allowed to call you. If you have established a relationship with a family advocate and a lawyer, have your children memorize those phone numbers as well.
Note: None of my comments are to be considered �legal advice�. Only licensed attorneys can dispense legal advice. This information is for educational purposes only.
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http://www.geocities.com/family_rights_wv
Home Schoolers (and FORMER home schoolers are at high risk of false allegations and being targeted by CPS. Home schoolers should strongly consider joining HSLDA. For a low annual fee, HSLDA will represent parents in the event that their right to home school is questioned either by school boards or CPS.
http://www.hslda.org
http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000000/00000070.asp
The Social Worker At Your Door: 10 Helpful Hints
By Christopher J. Klicka, Senior Counsel for the Home School Legal Defense Association
More and more frequently, home schoolers are turned in on child abuse hotlines to social service agencies. Families who do not like home schoolers can make an anonymous phone call to the child abuse hotline and fabricate abuse stories about home schoolers. The social worker then has an obligation to investigate. Each state has a different policy for social workers, but generally they want to come into the family's home and speak with the children separately. To allow either of these to occur involves great risk to the family.
The home school parent, however, should be very cautious when an individual identifies himself as a social worker. In fact, there are several tips that a family should follow:
Always get the business card of the social worker. This way, when you call your attorney or Home School Legal Defense Association, if you are a member, the attorney will be able to contact the social worker on your behalf. If the situation is hostile, HSLDA members should immediately call our office and hand the phone out the door so an HSLDA lawyer can talk to the social worker. We have a 24 hour emergency number.
Find out the allegations. Do not fall for the frequently used tactic of the social worker who would tell the unsuspecting victims that they can only give you the allegations after they have come into your home and spoken to your child separately. You generally have the right to know the allegations without allowing them in your home.
Never let the social worker in your house without a warrant or court order. All the cases that you have heard about where children are snatched from the home usually involve families waiving their Fourth Amendment right to be free from such searches and seizures by agreeing to allow the social worker to come inside the home. A warrant requires "probable cause" which does not include an anonymous tip or a mere suspicion. This is guaranteed under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as interpreted by the courts. (In extremely rare situations, police may enter a home without a warrant if there are exigent circumstances, i.e., police are aware of immediate danger or harm to the child.)
However, in some instances, social workers or police threaten to use force to come into a home. If you encounter a situation which escalates to this level, record the conversation if at all possible, but be sure to inform the police officer or social worker that you are doing this. If entry is going to be made under duress you should say and do the following: "I am closing my front door, but it is unlocked. I will not physically prevent you from entering, and I will not physically resist you in any way. But you do not have my permission to enter. If you open my door and enter, you do so without my consent, and I will seek legal action for an illegal entry."
Never let the social worker talk to your children alone without a court order. On nearly every other incident concerning our members, HSLDA has been able to keep the social worker away from the children. On a few occasions, social workers have been allowed to talk with children, particularly where severe allegations are involved. In these instances, an attorney, chosen by the parent, has been present. At other times, HSLDA had children stand by the door and greet the social worker, but not be subject to any questioning.
Tell the official that you will call back after you speak with your attorney. Call your attorney or HSLDA, if you are a member.
Ignore intimidations. Normally, social workers are trained to bluff. They will routinely threaten to acquire a court order, knowing full well that there is no evidence on which to secure an order. In 98 percent of the contacts that HSLDA handles, the threats turn out to be bluffs. However, it is always important to secure an attorney in these matters, since there are occasions where social workers are able to obtain a court order with flimsy evidence. HSLDA members should call our office in such situations.
Offer to give the officials the following supporting evidence:
a statement from your doctor, after he has examined your children, if the allegations involve some type of physical abuse;
references from individuals who can vouch for your being good parents;
evidence of the legality of your home school program. If your home school is an issue, HSLDA attorneys routinely assist member families by convincing social workers of this aspect of an investigation.
Bring a tape recorder and/or witnesses to any subsequent meeting. Often times HSLDA will arrange a meeting between the social worker and our member family after preparing the parents on what to discuss and what not to discuss. The discussion at the meeting should be limited to the specific allegations and you should avoid telling them about past events beyond what they know. Usually, anonymous tips are all they have to go on, which is not sufficient to take someone to court. What you give them can and will be used against you.
Inform your church, and put the investigation on your prayer chain. Over and over again, HSLDA has seen God deliver home schoolers from this scary scenario.
Avoid potential situations that could lead to a child welfare investigation.
Conduct public relations with your immediate neighbors and acquaintances regarding the legality and success of home schooling.
Do not spank children in public.
Do not spank someone else's child unless they are close Christian friends.
Avoid leaving young children at home alone.
In order for a social worker to get a warrant to come and enter a home and interview children separately, he is normally required, by both statute and the U.S. Constitution, to prove that there is some "cause." This is a term that is synonymous with the term "probable cause". "Probable cause" or cause shown is reliable evidence that must be corroborated by other evidence if the tip is anonymous. In other words, an anonymous tip alone and mere suspicion is not enough for a social worker to obtain a warrant.
There have been some home-schooled families who have been faced with a warrant even though there was not probable cause. HSLDA has been able to overturn these in court so that the order to enter the home was never carried out. Home School Legal Defense Association is committed to defending every member family who is being investigated by social workers, provided the allegations involve home schooling. In instances when the allegations have nothing to do with home schooling, HSLDA will routinely counsel most member families on how to meet with the social worker and will talk to the social worker to try to resolve the situation. If it cannot be resolved, which it normally can be in most instances by HSLDA's involvement, the family is responsible for hiring their own attorney.
HSLDA is beginning to work with states to reform the child welfare laws to guarantee more freedom for parents and better protection for their parental rights. HSLDA will be sending out Alerts to its members in various states where such legislation is drafted and submitted as a bill.
For further information on how to deal with social workers, HSLDA recommends Home Schooling: The Right Choice, which was written with the intention of informing home school parents of their rights in order to prevent them from becoming a statistic. Federal statistics have shown that up to 60 percent of children removed from homes, upon later review, should never have been removed. The child welfare system is out of control, and we need to be prepared. To obtain The Right Choice or join the Home School Legal Defense Association, call 540-338-5600, or write HSLDA, P.O. Box 3000, Purcellville, VA 20134.
Request for Congressional Inquiry of HHS Child Protective Services in All States http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/253404476 HELP MOTHERS FALSELY ACCUSED OF CHILD ABUSE AND/OR NEGLECT HELP THEM PROTECT THEIR CHILDREN http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/512966888 Family_Rights_WV website: http://www.geocities.com/family_rights_wv Email: [email protected]