Why did CPS call me? (sorry for long question but please read it all) – Repost?
I’m shaking. We checked our answering machine today and there were two calls from a woman who said she was with County Children and Youth. One was for me and one was for my husband. She said something about having trouble finding our residence! Why would CPS be coming? We live in an old house which is kind of dusty, but it’s clean. All the rooms we use are heated with natural gas except the bathroom which has an electric heater. We have a 6 week old baby who is clean and very healthy. He always goes to his doctor’s appointments and I have taken him a few times when I thought something was wrong (turned out nothing was). We always have formula in the fridge for supplementing and plenty of clean bottles. My son never cries for more than 2 seconds before someone picks him up and attends to his needs. We have friends over sometimes, but my husband, I, or our close friend Kelly who has 3 children of her own is ALWAYS with him in the nursery. We have 4 cats but they are clean, their litter boxes are in a separate part of the kitchen and no oder can ever be detected. They don’t do anything to the baby except stare at him with mild interest. They have all their shots and they are indoor cats anyway. My husband works steadily and we are not on any assistance. I am off work right now because I just had the baby, but I have plans to return and I take online classes in the meantime. We never leave the baby alone except to run to the bathroom which is adjacent to the nursery. If we shower, he comes in with us in his bouncy seat where he naps. One time my cell phone was broken and I had to tell my husband something at 10 o’clock at night, so I put the sleeping baby in his stroller and ran over to my husband’s work (one block away) to give him the message. I was out for maybe 5 minutes. The baby never woke up.
The only thing which I can figure would be wrong with me is that I owe money on some medical bills for myself. Can CPS be called because of that? Can they actually take my son away from me? He is my whole life! I’m so scared. Can anyone give me some definite information? I don’t want "I think" I want "I know!"
I am in the US in Pennsylvania. And yes, my husband and I both returned the woman’s calls at once but she was out of the office for the day and it’s a Friday so we won’t hear back from her till at least Monday. Please help!
No no, some of you misunderstood! I didn’t leave the baby alone in the house, I would never do that. I took him with me in the stroller. But it was 10 o’clock at night and my husband works in a restaurant so I thought maybe someone thought I shouldn’t have him out that late or something.
15 Responses
ladedamom
05 Jun 2010
das_kcs
05 Jun 2010
no they cannot take your son because of outstanding bills. i would lay my money that somebody you know got turned in. a family member or a friend that said they knew you.
*my babygirl wil
05 Jun 2010
I can’t see why they would have any reason to call. You’re doing everything you can as a new mother. Only thing I can really think of is somebody playing a really mean prank on you guys, or even someone you may know that doesn’t like you guys much called out of spite. Hope everything works out for you and your family.
Bunky
05 Jun 2010
First off relax! IF your child is well cared for and has a safe home then their is no reason for him to be taken away. ANyone can call CPS and if they do an investigation has to take place. It could be a neighbor or someone who dislikes you our may think you are doing something wrong. Just try to relax for the weekend and as long as the baby is safe and healthy you are fine.
chickenfarmer
05 Jun 2010
None of us is going to know why they called but if you are a good parent, they’ll realize that and put an end to the inquiry. The only thing that troubles me is that you left the child in the house while you went away from the house…….chances are slim that anything would happen but the fact that something could happen (abduction, he could wake up and be in a dire situation etc….) means that you really shouldn’t take the chance. Don’t stew over the weekend as you can’t do anything ’til monday. Good luck!
Edit: Oh, sorry for the misunderstanding….again, it doesn’t sound like you have anything to worry about.
lil mommy
05 Jun 2010
relax and calm down sounds like u guys are wonderful parents somoeone probally got turned in and used the two of you as a reference
Starfall
05 Jun 2010
I live in PA and I used to work in behavioral health. I cannot imagine that CPS could be called for not paying medical bills; that really has nothing to do with the welfare and safety of your child. Believe me, there were times when I called Children and Youth because of a situation with a family I worked with, and they wouldn’t even hear me out because "no one in the house has been hurt, became ill because of the situation or died." I thought that was a little ridiculous, but that was my experience. So someone almost would have had to put a call in for something, whether really justifiable or not, and CPS legally has to follow up on it. If everything you say in your post is true (and I am NOT doubting you), then I would say just relax and wait till Monday or whenever this person calls you back. If they come to your house, just answer their questions honestly, and cooperate fully with them. They are here to help, not to be a bad guy.
Good luck, and keep us posted.
fyibb08
05 Jun 2010
It doesn’t sound like anything about you and if it was, by what you say there is nothing they can fault you on, and bills have nothing to do with CPS, so dont worry about that. Sounds like someone got introuble for something and they want a character whitness/account for this person so your name was mentioned and so your getting questioned. Dont worry about it. you will be fine. Good luck~
mom of many
05 Jun 2010
relax, someone probably called them to complain about something you did concerning the child or something they thought you did. CPS has nothing to do with bills of any kind. And if they wanted to take the child they would not have called first. They will probably set an appointment with you, and talk to you about the complaint but if all is well they will call it "unfounded" and just leave you alone. Another scenario is perhaps they have a complaint on someone else and they want to know what you know about it. Or ,maybe a close friend or relative is having their child removed from parents by cps and they want to know if you want custody. I know its frustrating, but you will know come Monday.
DAVID B
05 Jun 2010
It costs a fortune to put a child into care, surely the most they would want to do is see you and check things out. I don’t live in USA but it makes sense to help a family rather than brake a family, nobody is perfect and they know this. If there is something wrong surely it cannot be that wrong, from what you have said in this question just ask them so you can stop worrying. If they have a concern, what? How can you correct it if you don’t know what it is. If there was a serious concern they would have visited and waited until they met you, not left a message. They would not leave it until monday if they thought a child was at risk.
sammi
05 Jun 2010
no they wouldn’t come just for unpaid bills but i can’t really tell u y they would call
Sassy
05 Jun 2010
No, debtors prisons went out a very long time ago, so this is not because you owe money. Period. It it were (and I am certain it is not), you would have one big case gaining national attention, as that would need to go to press and the whole world including many advocacy groups would be supporting you. Relax. It is not about medical bill arrears.
Perhaps a person with whom you may or may not be acquainted, called them to express a concern about your surroundings (maybe the cats? or anything else for that matter.)
Has the baby been ill of late? Any unexplained illness or injury?
Who knows? Just be cooperative and level headed.
Simply because a complaint was made, does not mean that the particular complaint is valid. Anyone can make a complaint, however the complaint must be substantiated and have merit for them to be able to take action. It is like being sued, a person can sue anyone at any time, however winning that suit is an entirely different matter.
My mother was the head of child protective services in the Midwestern region of the United States, for over 35 years. Of all the complaints investigated, only a smaller fraction are truly substantiated.
Continue to care for your infant as you describe.
It is frightening but being you have done nothing wrong, do not stress over it. You will simply make yourself ill. Simply see what this lady has to say on Monday and cooperate and polite but again do not be a pushover, yet be level headed.
If it were an issue of wanting to retract your child from your care due to something dangerous, she would not be seeing you on Monday. The worker and the cops would be at your door NOW.
Hang in there. It is OK and it will be OK!
Good Luck!
Ashley
05 Jun 2010
Breathe and calm down, Social Services would not be calling about outstanding bills. They could very well be investigating someone else and they mentioned your name as someone else that knows about the situation. Don’t worry even if someone did have something to say about you having the baby out at 10, you didn’t leave him at home and he was safe with you. You sound like an excellent parent, I am sure you have no reason to worry.
mellowyellow
05 Jun 2010
Keep in mind if they wanted to take the child they most likely wouldnt call, but just come right over. Try to get a hold of someone else at CPS and explain that you are freaked out and need to know what is happening.
Amanda L.
05 Jun 2010
Hi my name is amanda. Its 3 am and I cant seep so i this may be a bit long. I live in western ny, my husband is in the army, and I have a 4 month old baby girl. Monday me and my mother in law went into town for most of the day I had a doctors appointment and I made one for my daughter cause I thought she was getting a cold <turned out to be teething> When I got home at 5 my father in law told me cps had been at the house they left him papers came inside and wanted to see if the baby had food and where she slept… they told my father in law that a report came in that i was not feeding my daughter. I am freaking out now and cant eat sleep or anything… When the came I had over 30 double packs of baby food because my daughter already eats baby food and 6 cans of formula…. My house is always clean maybe a few things misplaced sometimes but nothing serious just a toy here or there. Sorry for the long answer im just really bothered myself on how someone could say such lies about my healthy 4 month old 12lbs 13oz baby girl I just really dont understand at all…
Ok, calm down. First of all CPS can not take your kids away for owing money to anyone- medical or otherwise.
Secondly, you’ve done nothing that would prompt me to think (by your post here) that you’ve done anything that would even merit an investigation of any kind.
It could be numerous things.
1. Maybe they were looking for someone that USED to live at your residence and they are unaware they have moved?
2. Maybe they are investigating a different case and it came out you know the person and they want to question you about some things for their case?
In any case they can’t just barge in and search your home any more than a police officer can without a court issued warrant to do so and a police officer with them. Since no crimes have been comitted I doubt they would anyway.
I’m inclined to think someone you know was turned in and they said they knew you OR that some nosey, "know it all" neighbor got annoyed by something and called just be a b**** and once they do come they will see nothing is wrong and everything is fine and stop bothering you. I would definitely find out WHO made the call though in the first place and when CPS leaves I’d cut off all contact with that person- permanently- for doing so.