In many cases, a social worker will come to your home to ask you questions. The social worker may have received a report that your child was physically abused or molested by your spouse or significant other or by anyone living in your home with you. What you say to the social worker in response to hearing that information could lead to your custody of your child being taken away.
When you first hear such an allegation you may believe that the allegation must be false. You have never seen your child be abused by the “suspect”. You have known the “suspect” for years and the person has no history of doing such a thing.
Your first thought might be to tell the social worker that “this can’t be true” or “I don’t believe it” or “my child is making up a story”. In most cases saying any of these things to a social worker would be a major mistake on your part.
Social workers are trained to believe “children” when they make any allegation of abuse. The social worker’s job is to “protect the child”. Even if you are not being directly accused of the abuse if you tell the social worker you do not believe the abuse in most cases that will lead to the social worker believing you cannot protect your child from further abuse. If the social worker believes that your child is “at-risk” of future abuse in your home because you cannot protect your child, he/she has the power to remove the child from your home.
The Social Worker Has Taken Your Child From Your Home, Now What?
If the social worker removes the child from your home they will confer with the lawyer representing the county where they work and it is very likely that a “petition” will be filed in the child dependency court. The “petition” will allege that someone abused your child and you “knew or should have known” the child was being abused. Further, it will likely allege that you do not believe the allegation and therefore, your child must be removed from your home and placed where the child can be safe.
These are very serious and difficult cases. Your case will be heard in the child dependency court in the county where your children live. You will need to confer with a lawyer immediately when such a situation arises. You should confer with an experienced child dependency lawyer before speaking to a social worker. Often a social worker will want to visit you as soon as possible. However, you do have the right to tell the social worker you want your lawyer to be present at the time of the meeting. When a social worker knows that a lawyer will be present at the meeting their tone and demeanor will often change as they will realize that they must comply with all laws and proper procedure when talking to you.
Wallin and Klarich has been defending parents facing the possible loss of custody of their child in California dependency courts for almost forty years. If you are facing such a case you should call us to discuss your case over the phone for free.
Contact Child Dependency Defense Attorneys at Wallin & Klarich Today
We offer a free phone consultation for your child dependency case. You need vital knowledge so can understand how much is at stake in your case. If you then wish to retain our office to represent you we will do all we can to help you obtain a successful outcome in your case. With offices in Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino, Victorville, West Covina, Torrance, Los Angeles, and San Diego, you can find an experienced Wallin & Klarich child dependency attorney available near you no matter where you are located. Contact our offices today at (877) 4-NO-JAIL or (714) 587-4279 for a free, no-obligation phone consultation. We will be there when you call.
