why doesnt child services help this kid

United States
July 2, 2007 2:17pm CST
why doesnt child service do anything to help this child? ok i have a set of neighbors that have a 1 year old. they have left this baby home alone. they leave it in its room all the time. they fight over who has to chenge the diaper leaving the kid in a nasty diaper for like 30 mins or longer. the house has so many roaches that you would think that they had to sit on each other to have room. they have trash everywhere. they have food growing new food. you open the frig and raoches are climbing out of pots and pans in there it is really bad. well last time they left the baby home alone child services was called. well the sherriffs office was called and they called them once they got there. they told them they had to clean house and not to leave the child home alone. also they had to go to classes. they have been to 1 class in 3 weeks. there house is still a mess. child services has been out 11 times and still they do nothing. yet i had have seen them wanting to take kids cause they are home schooled and they didnt think it was right that 2 girls were home schooled by there dad. that they should be in school with the other kids. those parents had to fight to keep there kids. i jsut dont understand will someone explain?
6 people like this
16 responses
• United States
3 Jul 07
It always seems to end up like that dosen't it. It's really very sad. The people who are really trying to take care of their kids get hassled and the ones that don't even care always slip through the system. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that every case worker has their own set of standards. I know there must be a general set that they are supposed to follow but many people don't follow the rules. What might be ok by one caseworker might not be ok with a different case worker. If a case worker just happens to be in a bad mood or just wants to get home they might let things slide It's realy cad for the children but I think that it happens alot.
1 person likes this
@sid556 (30960)
• United States
3 Jul 07
I really don't understand how some kids are left to stay in the most horrendous conditions while others lose their children for the slightest infraction it seems. I do know that most of these agencies are overloaded with cases and understaffed. Foster homes are often full. This sounds like an extremely bad situation. Perhaps a group of you taking a stand together might make a difference? The system does need to be improved upon no doubt about it. The problem is in funding and staffing and lack of foster homes.
1 person likes this
@cher913 (25782)
• Canada
3 Jul 07
thee is probably not much that these organizations can do...they are overworked and cannot watch someone 24/7... what i would suggest is for you to doccument everything you see and then report it yourself.
1 person likes this
@mummymo (23706)
3 Jul 07
It is the same here in the uk - children who really need their protection are left in abusive and negligent situations whilst children who are safe , well and loved seem to be picked on by them! I have given up trying to understand how this system works but I do pray that this poor baby is helped and soon! Sorry I can't explain it - I just wish the system worked a lot better! xxx
1 person likes this
@vicki2876 (5636)
• Canada
3 Jul 07
How terrible! I had a neighbor who kept beating her son. He was black and blue. She didn't care who saw her do it either. I called social services and they told her to send him to his room when she gets mad and not to hit him. I had to take him to the hospital that night for stitches because the beating she gave him when they left. The school finally called as well and he is now gone from the home. Happy ending....no she has another child there still.
1 person likes this
@austren (44)
• China
3 Jul 07
China used to have a good idea to solve this problem,almost every community has a kindergarten,little children didnt study or learn something in the kindergarten,they just play together,and the teacher is kind to these children too,it seems that they are very happy there,but now as these kindergarten cannt earn enough money,the number is reducing,I hope the gov can support them to help these child to avoid them stay home alone.
1 person likes this
@lucy02 (5016)
• United States
2 Jul 07
I don't understand either. The only thing I can figure is the case worker is not doing their job. it seems when child service has been out 11 times they would go ahead and take the child.
1 person likes this
@seabeauty (1480)
• United States
2 Jul 07
11 times they were at the house and they still didnt remove the child from the home? Thats crazy! That poor kid. I wonder if social services is backlogged with so many cases its just taking forever to get the paperwork done to place the kid in foster care. I know they try to keep the kid with parents but this is rediculous! They need to get this kid out of that place. Have you offered to watch the child for them? Maybe you could step in and do something to help.
1 person likes this
• United States
2 Jul 07
I'm sure the parents are just giving CPS a big old song and dance about how they are trying but just" can't cope" and "need more time." They probably aren't afraid of the threats to take the kid away, because they know that foster homes are hard to come by and most systems are overloaded with kids. They may just be doing the bare minimum to get by, cleaning when they know CPS is coming, claiming that the baby was "only alone for a minute, my sister was supposed to be watching it, etc" whatever. What I would do is to start writing down everything you have said here. GIve dates and times of when they leave the kid alone, when you see the place is crawling with bugs, etc. Have your neighbors do it, too. At best, if the parents realize everyone is watching them, they may shape up their act; at worst, you have documentation you can give the social worker about what goes on when they are not there, which may give them the leverage to take the child away.
1 person likes this
@ravinskye (8237)
• United States
2 Jul 07
I don't understand how child services works either. I've seen parents that deserve to have their kids taken away yet still have them. And then i've seen parents who are good parents harrassed by child services. Its so sad that that child has to live like that. Hopefully child services will do something to get him out soon. Are there grandparents or other relatives that can be made aware of how this kid is being raised? maybe if the grandparents get involved it will help.
• United States
3 Jul 07
It doesn't make sense to me either... but the best thing to do is call social services for every incidence with that family and suggest that other neighbors do the same. Every time someone calls, it goes on the family's record with social services, and enough calls and complaints will hopefully get that child out of that house! You might also try to find out if the family has any relatives in the area and try to contact them about the child. You may feel its none of your business, but if, say, an aunt knows that her nephew is being grossly neglected, she may be motivated to just go take the child and petition the court for custody, or something.
• United States
4 Jul 07
they have family that lives like 2 2 houses down. they all know and yell at them for it but it doesnt help. it is just sad what the baby goes through. we have talked to the mom of the mom and she gets on to them but then ends up mad at us and me and her are good friends. it is really hard. i just try to watch and make sure the baby is ok as much as i can. i stopped trying with the family cause it just makes things worse. i just worry about the baby.
@dlkuku (1935)
• United States
3 Jul 07
When it came to my granddaughter, after calling and calling Children and Youth Services repeatedly without them doing anything to remove our granddaughter from a terrible environment, we ended up calling Child Line, the national abuse hotline. They got onto Children and Youth and finally something was done. I have the number if you want it, it's toll free, I am not sure if I can post it here, so if you want it, add me as a friend and I will give it to you.
1 person likes this
@miamilady (4910)
• United States
3 Jul 07
Unfortunately, child services, just like every other agency is imperfect. They are probably overburdened and they have a variety of employees. Some of them are better than others. Some have good judgement and some have bad judgement. Maybe where the place the children is overcrowded now so they only take the extreme cases away from their parents. I'm not saying this isn't an extreme case, by any means. I'm just speculating here. It's unfortunate that sometimes the kids who should be taken away from their parents are not and then sometimetimes good parents are dragged through the mud because of misunderstandings or false accusations. Sometimes, there is no good answer to the question "why". I hope this kid turns out okay. I would suggest if this situation continues, just make your calls to them when you see fit. Take care
@trk918 (254)
• United States
2 Jul 07
Call the health department. Those roaches will soon be living with you & all of your neighbors if nothing is done. They don't just stay in one house. Once the health department is involved the social services may get their act together.
1 person likes this
@abroji (3247)
• India
3 Jul 07
I was under the impression that delay in rendering services by such government agencies are only charecteristic to India. But this discription by you shows things are almost the same everywhere. But if it was here the officials may even ask for bribe from the parents for not taking action against them. I hope no such thing is happening there. So far so good. After all why don't this parents provide the basic needs for their child? It is really painfull.
@munhozmib (3837)
• Sao Paulo, Brazil
3 Jul 07
That's a really serious case! You should call the police, or ask the Sheriff if he authorizes you to steal the kid and take care of it by yourself. If he authorizes, just get the child while their parents are not there and you raise the child by yourself! Anyway, this must not keep happening!