Child protection accused of rushing to judgment

[49er]

http://www.kare11.com/news/investigatio ... /493440974

Yes, this is an on-topic post. It is about a kid born with severe breathing problems which were not solved by what is referred to as a special cpap machine and oxygen. Doctors wanted to do what sounds like some version of MMA advancement surgery but the family decided a tracheotomy was preferable because they felt it was less complicated. Apparently, it transformed his life.

Unfortunately, as this exert shows, things were about to take a turn for the worse.

"They never imagined that a report to child protection was about to turn their lives upside down.

It claimed Dontell was a victim of “medical child abuse,” accusing his mother of repeatedly “misrepresenting his medical conditions", and subjecting him to “multiple medical procedures” which were not “warranted” -- including the Tracheostomy."

49er

[ractar28]

I don't know how to reply to this. On one hand, CPS is there to investigate claims and serves a very valuable purpose. On the other hand, where is the line drawn? I mean, they had a doctor state that there was abuse, so they had to act quickly in the best interest of the child. Should it have taken 7 months to get him back, of course not. But sometimes, I think it makes sense to remove the child PENDING the investigation and when doing so, the investigation becomes the top priority and must be either substantiated within a few days or the child returned while the investigation continues. I don't know how to fix the system, but agree that it can be broken.

[Julie]

Total horror show! At the very least there should be something like a 3 person panel overseeing this kind of thing, looking into more than one (never even seen) doctor's 6 hr quickie write-up after which no one did (apparently) any checking into her advice or what it was really based on. If doctors are mandated reporters, there has to be someone else mandated to cover them, not just rubber stamp whatever decision is made. It wasn't a case where many people had seen evidence of a child being beaten or starved or whatever else is considered a real crisis situation. Terrible.