What now? Child Services is Investigating.

Your child’s teacher calls you unexpectedly and tells you that child services is currently there to interview your child. In that moment, time seems to stop completely. Everything around you goes silent as your heart races and thoughts spiral. You find yourself grappling with confusion and concern, overwhelmed by the weight of the situation. You were “lucky” that the teacher called, because the child services worker said she did not have to speak to the parent first.

First of all don’t panic. This is a very common experience for families with children who have severe attachment needs. So, why is this soooo common?

As I told my child, be honest, tell the truth. We have nothing to hide. The worker showed up at her school for a surprise visit. Unfortunately there is no protocol in place for special needs children to be handled differently. So my teenage girl with a history of abuse, not to mention anxiety and a tendency to elope in stressful situations, was placed in a room with a stranger from Child Services. The panic attack that ensued was severe. I calmed her down on the phone as best as I could. Those minutes waiting until we could pick her up were excruciating.

As a trauma informed professional, it appals me at the way families are treated. They are the experts at what is happening with their kids. Their are multiple false claims every year, especially with families who experience trauma and attachment injuries. This no only further injures the child in question and prevents the family from getting the help they diesperately need. Then families will learn, if I ask for help, Child Services gets called and all services are cancelled on the family during the investigation.

In Alberta, Canada in 2008, 47% of investigations were unfounded, with only 53% being cases of mostly neglect, over the other types of abuse, (https://cwrp.ca/sites/default/files/publications/AB_AIS-2008_MacLaurin_etal_2013.pdf).