arboldt
Chief Petty Officer
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2007
- Messages
- 417
Re: how can I get around privacy law?
Hang in there, Bandit.
Your situation sounds quite similar to that of our son and his daughter several years ago. Our granddaughter was with he birth mother one weekend, and the mother and her BF left for 30-45 minutes, leaving a 7 year old girl (our granddaughter) in charge of 4 younger half-siblings. This constituted child endangerment. I had been tipped off that this might happen, so I sat across a parking lot and took photos of mom & BF leaving, noting times, etc. Child Protective Services and the police were notified, but nothing happened. I wrote a letter to CPS detailing the events, but nothing happened.
A week later, our granddaughter had her regular session with her counsellor, and told him that she was scared because she didn't know what to do if there was a problem. That counsellor was legally required to report it to CPS, and in less than a week our son had legal ex parte (emergency) custody, and mom was under investigation to have all parental rights revoked for all her kids, etc.
*You* will be ignored. However, coach *your son* to call 911 if he feels threatened or in danger. Have *him* ask for help from a school guidance counsellor. If there's nothing to eat, *he* must call Child Protective Services, not you. This may be a lot to ask of a child, but at 10 years old its a responsibility he can take *if* he truly feels endangered or abused. It's also probably the only way to spark action from the bureaucracy.
Hang in there, Bandit.
Your situation sounds quite similar to that of our son and his daughter several years ago. Our granddaughter was with he birth mother one weekend, and the mother and her BF left for 30-45 minutes, leaving a 7 year old girl (our granddaughter) in charge of 4 younger half-siblings. This constituted child endangerment. I had been tipped off that this might happen, so I sat across a parking lot and took photos of mom & BF leaving, noting times, etc. Child Protective Services and the police were notified, but nothing happened. I wrote a letter to CPS detailing the events, but nothing happened.
A week later, our granddaughter had her regular session with her counsellor, and told him that she was scared because she didn't know what to do if there was a problem. That counsellor was legally required to report it to CPS, and in less than a week our son had legal ex parte (emergency) custody, and mom was under investigation to have all parental rights revoked for all her kids, etc.
*You* will be ignored. However, coach *your son* to call 911 if he feels threatened or in danger. Have *him* ask for help from a school guidance counsellor. If there's nothing to eat, *he* must call Child Protective Services, not you. This may be a lot to ask of a child, but at 10 years old its a responsibility he can take *if* he truly feels endangered or abused. It's also probably the only way to spark action from the bureaucracy.