Deb makes several interesting points in a recent comment. I would like to address each of them individually so that I can make sure that I have accurately addressed all of her concerns:
1. “Why would anyone want to let DCYF into their home? So DCYF could talk to their children? We teach our children not to talk to strangers so why would we want to invite them in to our personal space? Sounds to me like a good enough reason to not let DCYF into your home. ”
- It is true that children are taught to not talk to strangers. However, there are several exceptions to this rule. Aren’t children allowed to talk to police officers and firemen? What about teachers on the first day of school? DCYF workers are not strangers in that way. We present ourselves to children in an official capacity. We meet with children usually in public places, or in their homes, when their parents are there. As I mentioned previously, an excellent reason to allow DCYF into your home is so that you can find out exactly what DCYF is concerned enough about to send someone to meet with you.
2. “Whether you like it or not, DCYF will get to your children anyhow by going through the school system without you knowing it because our law permits them to do so. That is all the time DCYF needs to create an imminent danger for your child.”
- The law does permit DCYF to interview children without parental permission. That being said, I can tell you that the practice in our office is that in general, we speak with parents first, and ask them if it is ok to interview their children at school. If they decline, then we try to respect their wishes and come up with alternatives. If a worker feels that it would be best to interview a child first, and then speak with that child’s parents, then that worker has to discuss this with their supervisor. The worker is required to list the reasoning for interview children before talking to parents, as this is not the general practice. If a child is interviewed without a parent’s permission, then DCYF is required to let the child’s parents know within 24 hours of the interview.
3. “Let me ask you this: Would you want to be a small child being interrogated by a total stranger? I would probably be petrified that if I said the wrong thing to DCYF, I would never see my parents again. ”
- First, I would like a definition of “small”, as DCYF does not always interview children under the age of 5. Second, I would never call the interview process an “interrogation”. The word interrogation conjurs up images of a spotlight in a child’s face and some big voice firing questions at a child. Interviews with children are carefully orchestrated to make sure that they are as comfortable as possible. If possible, the setting is relaxed, with soft couches and chairs. I personally let shy children investigate the room with their parents, and let them know that as soon as they want to see their parent again, they need only to let me know. These interviews are carefully structures, with a fair amount of time spent building rapport with children - asking them questions about their families, friends, pets, school, etc. Once they are a little more comfortable talking with the interviewer, they are gently guided towards the topic pertaining to the assessment. The interviewer stays away from leading questions, and does their best to get children to narrate, instead of asking “yes or no” questions. I have had parents tell their children that if they talk to DCYF, they will be taken away. I always wonder what a parent’s motive is in telling their children these things. I can understand the motive if a parent has something to hide, but I generally find that the parents don’t have anything to hide, and for some unexplanable reason, they instilled their child with needless fear.
4. “What other option is there? Meet in the DCYF office where they know where their [guns and knives] are?”
- I can only assume that Debi is referring to metaphorical “gun and knives”, as logically I would assume that most people are aware that DCYF does not have weapons. A DCYF office could be considered DCYF’s “home turf”. However, I personally like to provide families with the option if I can. I am happy to go to their home and meet with them on their “home turf”, or they are welcome to come to my office and meet with me. I am not really certain why a DCYF office is so scary. Do people think that once they walk in they aren’t going to walk out? Are they worried that we might show them paperwork or talk to them about an assessment? I can’t really think of anything physically threatening about an office. In my office, the room that we use to meet with families is the same room we use to hold small meetings, so it isn’t like an interrogation room, or a jail cell. I guess I am not clear about what the concern is for meeting DCYF at an office.
5. “Did I mention the room with the camera?”
- This is the first mention of a camera, though I think that I have mentioned before that DCYF is required to record any interviews with minors in a public place. This means that if a child is interviewed at school, or at the DCYF office, or even at a public library, DCYF is required to tape the interview. We generally use video tape, but if video tape is not possible for some reason, then we will audio tape. I personally always let families know that if they bring a child to my office to be interviewed, the interview will be recorded. Sometimes families want to know if they can see the interview, or have a copy of the tape. In these instances, I let families know that they are entitled to anything produced by DCYF, meaning any information that I write in a contact log, the initial referral information, the closing summary, and if they would like, I can set up a time for them to view the tape, though we generally do not make copies, as we do not want extra copies of confidential interviews floating about. I then explain to families how they can go about requesting this information. I also make a point of always talking to parents after I interview children to let them know what exactly we talked about, and what will happen next.
6.”Who do you get to have present if you cannot afford an attorney? Maybe you can invite a well established Senator or the press? NOT!!! That has already been attempted. ”
- I can’t speak to what has or has not been attempted, as I have never personally worked with a family who has requested that a well established Senator or member of the press attend the interview. I can tell you that I have allowed parents to bring a friend with them to an interview. Sometimes it is because this friend has knowledge about the assessment that the parent would like the friend to share. Sometimes the friend is simply the parent’s ride and personal support. I have not denied reasonable requests such as a family member or friend attenting an interview of a parent. I am also more than happy to meet with a parent with their attorney. I have also referred families to free legal advise that is offered the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month at the Belknap County Superior Court House. I want to make it clear to parents that this is not an interrogation, simply an interview, and I am happy to accomodate parents in any way that I can.
7. “DCYF is an adversarial system because just about every home they enter will eventually turn into a private combat zone. ”
- I agree that DCYF can be an adversarial system - but not because every home DCYF enters is a private combat zone. First of all, I can personally tell you that more than half of the assessments I receive end up as unfounded - meaning either the information provided in the referral was not true when I investigated or the family was able to correct whatever concern there might have been. So, first, not every home can become adversarial. Secondly, I do not view any assessment or case as a “private combat zone.” We do our best to work with families, not against them. People do not enter this line of work because they want to hurt families, and they certainly do not enter it for the pay - people who do this job do it because they want to help children and families.
8. “More people should listen to the Werme’s. They are the ones trying to expose all the secrets really being kept by DCYF. The proof is in the Werme’s. ”
- I believe that the Werme’s method of dealing with DCYF creates the adversarial system. The Werme’s encourage families to make things adversarial when they do not need to be. Their information over generalizes DCYF and causes parents to be on the defensive from the start, instead of stepping back to take a look at the big picture, the ultimate goal - their children’s safety. I am also interested to know what “secrets” are being kept. Due to the nature of the job, specific cases cannot be discussed, but I think that I have demonstrated that when talking about general policy, DCYF does not need to hide anything. I encourage anyone who reads this post and might have a question to go straight to the source - call the DCYF Central Intake like and ask your question - see what you get for a response. Their phone number is 1-800-934-5533. DCYF is not a secret society. It is a State run department that you can treat as you would if you had questions of any other department within the State of New Hampshire.
9. “DCYF’s idea of keeping children safe is the Nashua Children’s Home or Rumford Home in Concord, and of course their best friend CASA.”
- This statement is very similar to the over generalizations that the Werme’s are so fond of. the Nashua Children’s Home or the Rumford Home in Concord certainly cannot accomodate every child in the State who needs a safe place to stay. DCYF’s idea of keeping a child safe varies from child to child - what might be appropriate for one child in one family might be an entirely inappropriate solution for another child in another family. I personally have not met any children who live or lived in either of these group homes. For my part, if children cannot stay with their parents, and do not have any appropriate relatives interested in caring for them, then the children I work with have found sanctuary in foster homes in the area. Many of the children that I initially removed are able to be reunited with their families after some assistance from DCYF.
Debi also refers to DCYF’s “best friend CASA.” For those of you who are unfamiliar with this organization, CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocate. CASA is a volunteer organization whose job is to be an advocate for children. When a family becomes involved in the court system, CASA is often assigned to make sure that the child’s interests are preserved throughout the process. They are not attorney’s, but rather a way for underage children to make sure that their best interests are heard in court process. CASA has their own protocols to follow, and a parent who disagrees with a CASA volunteer’s opinion might view them as “DCYF’s best friend”, but as someone who has sat through many court hearings, I can assure you that DCYF and CASA do not always see eye to eye - which is the way that it is supposed to be. For more information about CASA, please check out their website: www.nationalcasa.org.
10. “Where does a parent fit in all of that?”
- Where does a parent fit? Right in the middle of everything. We only ever get one set of biological parents. That connection can never be broken, and must be protected whenever possible. DCYF never enters a legal relationship with a family expecting to remove a child permanently. In fact, our policy requires us to work towards reunification for one year. Why do we stop after a year? Because children need some sort of resoultion at some point. We cannot continue hoping for 6 years that a parent will finally sober up and be able to take their child back - mostly because it means that for 6 years a child is left wondering what will happen. Our hope is that with set parameters and goals, most parents will be able to do what is required of them, and regain their children in a more positive setting than when the children left. Parents have rights, they have attorneys, and they have their very own case manager from DCYF known as a family service worker whose job is to do everything in their power to reunify families.
dcyf,social work
