Interview with myself #1 - Setting priorities in the fight against Child Protective Services

Sometimes to see things better, we need to look at them from another angle.

Photo credit R. Weaver. Copyright Dan Weaver

Note: This is the first in a series of interviews with myself about Child Protective Services and Family Court. Today's interview discusses what I believe should be a major priority for those of us who want to reform Child Protective Services. Future interviews will describe my own experiences with CPS in more detail than I have ever done before, the need for the CPS reform movement to reform itself (conspiracy theorists get ready to be blasted),  the assault by CPS on the poor, the unconstitutionality of the "the best interests of the child" standard and much more.

Albany CPS Examiner Welcome to www.examiner.com. Why in the world would you interview yourself? Isn't that kind of weird?

Dan First of all, no one knows me like I know me. Not only can I give the answers that an interviewer and his audience want to hear, I know how to phrase the questions to elicit those answers. And secondly, and maybe more importantly, no one is knocking down my door to interview me.

Examiner You've been fighting to reform Child Protective Services since 2004. Others have been battling even longer. Are you making any progress?

Dan We are. Most importantly we have raised the public's awareness of the rampant abuses of CPS agencies throughout the country. In the past few years, more and more people have joined our cause. We are getting to the point where critical mass will be reached and then, of course,  a chain reaction starts and change takes place.

Examiner Raising awareness is great, but do you have any concrete examples of changes that have actually taken place?

Dan Certainly. A major change took place in North Carolina earlier this month when the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that its procedure for listing people on its child abuse register is unconstitutional.

Examiner What practical effect will that ruling have on parents and caretakers in North Carolina?

Dan First, a hearing will have to be held BEFORE (remember that word) a person's name can be placed on the list. Second, because the evidentiary standard for a hearing is a fair preponderance of rather than some credible evidence, fewer people will be placed on the list. Up until the court's decision, people were placed on the list on the word of a CPS investigator stating that there was some credible evidence to substantiate the charges of neglect or abuse. That is a very low threshold of evidence. Furthermore, CPS investigators have been known to indicate a report (i.e. state that there is some credible evidence of abuse) just to punish someone who did not cooperate with them.

Examiner But does this do anything for the rest of the country?

Dan It gives the rest of us hope that we can challenge and change the laws in our states. Almost every state has a similar procedure, namely that CPS lists a person on the abuse register BEFORE giving him or her due process. North Carolina is the second state to find its procedure unconstitutional, following the lead of Missouri and using Missouri's decision for guidance.

Examiner What practical advice do you have for residents of the other 48 states who have been falsely accused of child abuse and neglect and placed on the abuse registry?

Dan Most states have a procedure for requesting a hearing to get your name removed from the list. Make sure you ask for a hearing and ask for it in the allotted time, which is often very short. Send your request by certified mail with a return receipt so that you have proof that you requested a hearing.

At the hearing, the first and most important thing a person or his or her lawyer should do is object to the hearing on the basis of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and the appropriate sections of their state constitution. Lawyers and people proceeding pro se can find guidance by studying  the North Carolina and Missouri decisions.

If your lawyer refuses to do this, then get another lawyer.

Examiner But this isn't the only problem with CPS that needs to be dealt with?

Dan That's true, but this is one we can win and win easily. In developing strategy for fighting and reforming CPS, we need to determine what the weak spots are and attack there.

Furthermore, there will be immediate positive results from challenging and winning, as people in Missouri and North Carolina did. Fewer people will find their names on the register because CPS will have to come up with real evidence and the onus will be on them to prove that the person was actually guilty of neglect or abuse.

It doesn't cost CPS much to put a person on the list, especially when they know many people won't ask for a hearing or will ask too late so they won't get one. But if everyone has to have a hearing BEFORE their name is placed on the list and if CPS has to prove by a fair preponderance of the evidence that the person did what was alleged, then CPS will think twice before indicating reports that have little evidence, as they do now.*

If everyone challenges their hearings as unconstitutional and one of those cases makes it to the highest court in each state, and that state rules the procedure unconstitutional, just think how many people will be spared in the future from what I and thousands of others have gone through.

I know from experience how good it is to win a hearing AFTER having my name placed on the register. However, if CPS had been required to hold a hearing BEFORE putting my name on the New York State Register on Child Abuse and Maltreatment, and if they had to prove wrongdoing by a "fair preponderance of" rather than some credible evidence BEFORE listing me on the register, I doubt they would have indicated the report.

It's my opinion that CPS indicated me twice because I refused to cooperate with them.

Examiner So then to recap. You are saying that the weakest link in the heavy chain that CPS puts around parents' and caretakers' necks is the procedure by which they are placed on the child abuse register in their state?

Dan Absolutely. And while we shouldn't abandon other areas of the battle, we need to concentrate our strength here. It's the old adage--the most bang for the buck.

Examiner We've run out of time for today. Do you think you can come back for some more interviews? I think our readers might be interested in knowing how you got involved in this battle, what other issues we need to deal with, and what changes need to be made in order to strengthen the CPS reform movement.

Dan Of course I'll come back. You know where to find me.

*In New York State, more than 50% of indicated reports are amended to unfounded at hearings, according to Attorney Thomas Hoffman who recently reached a settlement with the New York State Office of Children and Family Services for improperly terminating thousands of requests for hearings.