Most people know that a visit from CPS is a bad thing. It means someone has reported you to the agency for one thing or another. And now they’re arriving at your home, ready to poke around in your home and judge your parenting skills. But unlike a nosy neighbor or a catty “frenemy”, their judgement doesn’t just mean a little gossip. It means your relationship with your children is on the line. So what do you do when a CPS worker shows up on your doorstep? Good question. Here’s you answer…

When CPS calls you first:

In some cases, CPS will call you first. This doesn’t always happen nowadays, as most people have cell phones, and the numbers aren’t as readily available as when landlines were the standard. But if CPS calls you to notify you that someone has made an allegation against you, here’s what you do:

• Thank them politely for calling first, and ask to know the full name of the person you’re speaking to.
• Ask them politely to give you a moment to find a pen and paper to make notes.
• Set the phone down and take a few calming breaths while getting yourself a working pen and a blank sheet of paper.
• Enter a room where no one else is, and shut the door quietly. If you have a chance, ask your family to give you some time to have an uninterrupted phone conversation.
• Pick up the phone and thank them for waiting, and tell them you’re ready to listen.
• Listen carefully to everything they say and make precise notes. If you miss a detail, or struggle to understand something, politely ask them to repeat it so that you can write it down.
• Be certain to ask that they give you the actual state statute number or local ordinance code that you’ve allegedly violated.
• Don’t admit to anything, agree to anything, or provide any answers to questions. Politely say that you would like to discuss the allegation with your attorney, and you would be happy to call them back as soon as you are able.

When CPS shows up at Your Door:

In most cases, a CPS worker won’t call you. They will simply show up at your door, usually with a police officer in tow, and ask to come in and talk to you. If you’re surprised by a CPS worker knocking on your door, here’s what you do:

• Greet them politely, and ask them to show you identifying information – a business card and/or ID badge from the CPS worker, and a police badge from the officer. Be sure to ask them politely to wait while you get a pen and paper, and write down their names and ID numbers.
• If you have a cell phone equipped with a voice recording app, you can turn it on while you are gathering pen and paper, and record the entirety of the exchange. This will be extremely helpful for your lawyer, as it will help them know exactly what was said by whom.

An important note about using recording devices to record conversations:

Contrary to popular belief, it isn’t illegal to hide a video camera inside your own home to record what’s going on there. Many people use in-home recording devices to protect their children while they’re in the care of babysitters or nannies. CPS workers and police may tell you that it’s illegal to record their conversation with you because you don’t have their consent, but that’s not true.

Under Michigan law, the recording may not be used in court without the consent of all parties, but making a recording of a conversation you participated in, inside the privacy of your own home, for the purposes of refreshing your memory later, is perfectly legal.

Join us next time as we continue this discussion about what to do when a CPS worker shows up on your doorstep. Until then, if you or a loved one have been contacted by CPS, or suspect you may be the subject of an abuse or neglect investigation, call The Kronzek Firm immediately at 866 766 5245. The sooner you have an aggressive CPS defense attorney on your side, fighting to protect your family, the better!