I never did a followup on our previous run-in with CPS. The conclusion was that toward the middle of December they sent a letter indicating that the case was closed and the claim marked unsupported. Unfortunately that was only the end of round 1.
Tuesday Laura emailed to tell me that a police (school resource) officer showed up on our doorstep because the kids had crossed some threshold for total number of class minutes missed (including both tardies and absences). He had done some investigating at school and discovered worrisome behaviors from our kids (mostly Alyssa we learned after talking to Mrs. Memmott the next day) such as bringing substandard lunches to school, asking for food from other kids, and taking food out of the trash can. When Laura asked which kid was getting into the trash can he couldn’t or wouldn’t tell us and cited privacy laws. (Red Flag #1)
Wednesday I talked to Mrs. Memmott after school about the situation when I went to help Savannah register for Jr. High School. She mentioned that the tardies/absences problem required a “wellness check.” I asked her what a wellness check entailed and she dodged the question multiple times (Red Flag #2) before indicating that the officer visiting our home constituted the wellness check. I reiterated that understanding to her and she didn’t amend it. We talked about how to help the kids build the foundation of personal responsibility that would enable them to succeed in school and ended the discussion feeling fairly positive.
Thursday I got home to discover Becca and Dalia Rochon parked in the driveway. I learned that another CPS worker had visited the house and lectured Laura, repeatedly threatening that “we could take you to court for this” and “what you’re doing is illegal” and “now you know we’re watching you.” (Red Flag #3) Apparently the officer is required to submit a report to CPS when they visit a home of a child and obviously CPS must follow up on a submitted report by opening a case for at least 30 days and inspecting our house (again) and taking stupid notes such as “Laura changed a poopy diaper.” (I don’t know the precise contents of her notes but she was making notes about things as mundane as that which could be used in incriminating ways.) I also learned that the kids had been publicly pulled from their classes and interviewed at the school. (Red Flag #4) This was embarrassing, confusing, and annoying to them. That’s what passes at CPS as looking out for the interests of the children. I can understand the need to be able to talk to the children without parents running interference but I guarantee that they could have done it in a less embarrassing and threatening manner. We asked the kids to tell us what happened at the school and they talked about the questions they got from friends about why they were being called to the office. They also talked about the questions they got in the interviews, being asked if they were ever afraid at home or if they ever got hurt there. Savannah and Alyssa both said they only got hurt if their little brother got upset and bit or hit them. When they were asked if they had any questions or concerns they both reported saying no while wanting to say something to the effect of “my parents are some of the best parents around and you’re wasting your time.” (If they’d said that I would have been proud of them although I doubt it would have helped our case.)
Clearly Mrs. Memmott was either being deceptive about the nature of a wellness check or she is ignorant of the system that she works within. Either way she has demonstrated that she is not a person to be relied upon to advocate for us even though she knows our situation. Also, we have now seen two different CPS workers appear personable and caring but always seem to resort to bullying and cajoling parents into compliance instead of trying to work with and assist them.
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