What do we do? My daughter and I were playing about a month ago and her elbow was accidentally dislocated. This is the second time it's happened. The first time the circumstances were very similar, but it was my wife who was playing with her. Apparently the doctor reported us to CPS.
They came out a couple of days later and interrogated us. My wife and I were open and honest with them, and told them exactly what had happened. They asked us to sign several HIPPA forms to release information from our doctors, counselors, etc. I told them that I really didn't see the need to sign these forms and they threatened to take my daughter away. Reluctantly my wife and I signed the forms. They then ordered me to leave my own home until further notice. They asked us to attend a family planning meeting the following day, which we agreed to. I again asked if I needed to bring my attorney with us, I was told no by the investigators.
My daughter is 4 years old. When the investigators asked her if she ever got scared, she answered that she got scared when Mommy and Daddy fight. My wife and I do have occasional arguements. Sometimes there is screaming, and there has been pushing between the two of us.
At the family planning meeting they forced us to sign several documents under threat of removing our daughter, and then said that I would not be allowed back in my home.
We are now over a month into this. Our caseworker does not return phone calls, the services that they have us call are either too far away or too expensive, and they won't pay for the services.
I am able to cooperate completely, but my wife is struggling with how to do everything they are asking. She is forced to do everything around the house, care for our daughter, and try to make several counseling sessions per week. This is completely impossible for her to do.
CPS has offered services that are free, but we must vaccinate our daughter in order to recieve them, even though we have a waiver from the stat for religious and philisophical reasons. They have even tried to get us to move our daughter to a different school.
This situation is doing nothing but harm to my daughter. She won't sleep in her own bed. She freaks out when my wife or I are more than 5 feet away from her, and has started sucking her thumb for the first time in her life.
These people are liars, crooks, and completely out of control. Do we have any recourse whatsoever without risking them removing our daughter from my wife's care? Please help
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