The Problem with DSS

The Problem with DSS | Franklin Investigations & Consulting

Posted by peter on June 21, 2010 · 12 Comments
Imagine an all too familiar scene: Child Protective Services (CPS) is standing on your doorstep and informing you that a “report” has been made on your family, and although they can’t tell you who made the report, they tell you that someone back at the office felt that it warranted an investigation. Your family’s personal information has already been entered into a state “central registry” system, regardless of the outcome or findings.
When you ask why you don’t have the right to face your accusers, the social worker explains that the Department of Social Services (DSS) does not recognize such a right. When you try to tell the social worker that she cannot come in your home, you are informed that a possible outcome to your not complying with DSS involvement in your life is that you will be taken to court, and your children may be taken away and placed in foster care.
You have not recourse and don’t want to lose your children, so you are coerced into allowing a social worker and possibly law enforcement into your home, during which time your children are interviewed without your being present. Or maybe this was already done while your children were in school and you didn’t know about it until afterward.
Thus begins the usual first contact most families have with a government agency that is supposed to “help” people with food stamps, Medicaid and “protect children” from abuse and neglect.
Do parents no longer have the right to maintain the sanctity of their own homes? Are they no longer able to choose who has access to their children?
In North Carolina, DSS is under local management by the county. The state is responsible for developing policy, procedure and training, while the individual county is responsible for the implementation of the policy and the provision of services.
It is apparent to anyone who has ever had dealings with DSS, that in many counties, the law, codes, policies, procedures and mandates that have been put in place by our lawmakers are disregarded. Some DSS Directors believe that the policies and procedures are mere “suggestions,” and many of the social workers believe that they should be allowed to operate in a “grey area.”
Because of these and other misconceptions, many in the court system, including attorneys and Judges, are not certain as to the actual rules concerning DSS. Subsequently, these officers of the court find themselves trusting and/or relying on marginally informed DSS staff to either guide them, or be honorable enough to not violate their own rules.
If these were IRS agents, health inspectors, or law enforcement agents on your doorstep making demands of you that violated your constitutional rights as well as the policies of each agency, there would not only be those who could help you answer any concerns, but the court system would serve to insure that the law and your Constitutionally protected rights were upheld.
When it comes to DSS, any questioning or opposition to their involvement in your life usually results in your being termed as a person who does not believe in the “protection of innocent children.” Thus media scrutiny of this organization is frowned upon, and public exposure to any failures within the “child protector” business is extremely rare.
With Franklin Investigations & Consulting, there is now hope for families involved with DSS. With years of former CPS investigative experience, our company can help to insure your rights, and protect against any possible unjust, unfair or unlawful actions. We know how to use DSS’s own rules to PRESERVE YOUR FAMILY’S RIGHTS.
Franklin Investigations & Consulting can serve as your advocate to make sure that DSS treats you fairly and with respect.
The parents are the authority on their own children, and they have a right to know DSS’s legal authority. DSS has a duty to explain their involvement and to obey the law!
Franklin Investigations & Consulting can work with you from the beginning of DSS involvement, and continue to serve as your advocate throughout the life of a case. If you already have an ongoing CPS case that has been petitioned into court, then you or your attorney should contact us immediately. If you have a court appointed attorney, then he or she can request that court appointed investigative services be utilized.
We must all work together to protect innocent children and preserve families!

About peter
Peter Franklin has over 12 years of experience in law enforcement, fraud investigations, child abuse and neglect investigations, freelance investigative reporting for local media, and experience in contracting along with cost and time coordinating and safety (EMSHA regulations) within construction and mining operations. Franklin is a graduate of Gardner-Webb University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Social Sciences/Criminal Justice.