You will learn through this series that "Lady Justice"
wears a price tag on her sleeve.

To you, that probably sounds very cynical, I understand. Well, I can tell you where that cynical attitude comes from. You see, as an advocate on behalf of foster parents who are dealing with an allegation, I see good people going down for the third count. Drowning in this maze that is represented by both the Foster Care System, and Administrative Law, it is a system that seems is all one sided. By the time, they finally find the answers through articles like this, or www.nfpcar.org, someone who will finally answer their questions they may have already trusted the wrong people.
 
What does an Investigation entail? They will talk to everyone, and anyone, who has any contact with your foster children. They will come to the public school to interrogate your foster children. They will speak to the principal of the school, teachers, and the school nurse, anyone they please. They will interrogate you, your neighbors, your best friend, anyone who comes to the house frequently. According your individual states statutes, like our own State of Arizona, they have a designated amount of time complete the investigation. 

 Watch for future articles in the series; Did you know called What is "in loco parentis"? This subject pertains to public schools. Subscribe to this Examiners site you will be notified when another article is posted.  See parts 1& 3-7 State Child Abuse Registry; http://www.examiner.com/x-46864-Phoenix-Foster-Families-Examiner

You need to be aware of this fact; if the allegations are of a more serious nature, involving either physical or sexual abuse charges;  Child Protective Services  has the power to remove your own biological children too.
I'd be willing to bet they didn't tell you that in your training? I did not think so.  

Marilyn Harrison your Foster Families Examiner

Many of our foster parents have never even had a  traffic ticket, so they have never experienced the intimidating moment when they find themselves standing in front of a judge.  Someone in a black robe staring down at you, asking questions.

                                              The moment you arrive when you will face Ad Law, trust me!

Let's take a little closer look at the What. Administrative Law, for all practical purposes is "Contract Law", however it is also, what I call, "Kangaroo court".  A place where it is justice you seek, but discover CPS attorneys instead, they can afford the best.

In a real court of law, we see Matlock on television, right.  This law is not the same law. You see, in Administrative Law any information gathered during the investigation process will pass for evidence in this anything goes court of law. The one goal is to prove you guilty of "Child Abuse".  In this law, they use the terminology of founded, substantiated, or indicated. Here in Arizona we use substantiated.  They cannot call you guilty because that would indicate "due process", but we will discuss that later. More help www.nfpcar.org

Subscribe; you will be notified when new articles are published. Have a question that you would like an article on go to the Comment section.

In this court room/board you will see "he said, she said" presented as evidence.  You will discover that children do lie; these lies are presented to the judge/board as truth, against you, and they are believed.  In this court you are literally;

                                     "guilty until proven innocent", and you have to prove yourself innocent.

Instead of the unbiased justice system in America where a person is "innocent until proven guilty", this kangaroo court is the opposite.  The worst part is you have to do the proving yourself, more interesting you have to locate and pay for your own attorney.

• Take a look at how this CPS hotline works; You have someone who called in your allegation, it could be anyone. Could be your neighbor, your doctor, or it could be the biological parent, or even the child.
• You see if a foster child does not like your method of discipline, perhaps you took away her cell phone, or made her leave the party because things were going on that you did not approve of.  This teen can simply pick up the telephone and call in an allegation.

Whenever a call comes into this hotline, the person who is reporting remains anonymous.  That means their privacy is protected, therefore, you may never know who called in.  The theory was to make it easy to report suspected child abuse, but it also creates a lack of accountability on the part of the person doing the calling. If it was the child, she may have said that you or your husband hit or slapped her.  You will not know what the allegation is, what you are being accused of possibly for months.

• Does anyone know what the Constitution of the United States says?  Read Articles lV and XlV, then read the;
• Declaration of Independence.  This says and I quote a portion, "but when a long train of abuses and usurptions" does this not sound like CPS?

http://www.examiner.com/x-46864-Phoenix-Foster-Families-Examiner~y2010m5d25-Foster-Parents-Did-you-know-Administrative-Law-Part-3-of-5

•  Also we have teachers, fire fighters, police officers and many more.

Now continuing our review of what we learned about Administrative Law, we discovered that it is contract law.  You became obligated via the contract you signed with your agency, you agreed to their rules and regulations.

Now lets continue; As a foster parent when your investigation is completed your are; if founded, substantiated, (AZ) or indicated you will be notified of the date set for your Administrative Inquiry/Hearing.  This is where the evidence gathered against you during the investigation is presented.  Next step on to the Hearing.

The investigation can take weeks/months to complete.  During this time, you will not be informed of anything regarding how the investigation is going and/or the charges against you. Sometimes you are not aware of the investigation until you notice the signs, like your social worker not returning your calls, she cannot, you have been accused of "child abuse". Other signs are neighbors, and/or friends informing you that CPS stopped by their homes, your school informing you that CPS was at the school today.

There is little you can do while waiting for the Administrative Inquiry.  Nothing that you can do will speed up this process; they will take as long as they need to complete this investigation. 

• However, what you can do is start preparing to defend yourself. For example, are you familiar with your State Statutes applicable to foster parents? What are your rights?  When you receive your copy of the investigative report via U.S. Mail it will state what you are accused of and whether you have been substantiated, indicated, founded. What we are saying here is this paperwork will site the statute you are charged with, or the rules and regulation.  Not everyone is familiar with the statutes of their states? 

                                                                    Often said; "its Greek to me".

•  Your state Statutes, (downloaded to your PC) then print off only the ones pertaining to foster parents, your Agency rules and regulations, Agency Manual. 

You can also start writing down anything that you may have missed in your journal. Incidents that you remember. Keep this separate from your personal journal. If you are one of the fortunate foster parents who have been instructed how to document properly your efforts may save the day. Start gathering receipts, then organize them into weeks, paper clipping them together and in separate envelopes. 

Why; you may need to re-establish your whereabouts on a specific day depending on the outcome of the investigation. You can assist your attorney in preparation before the investigation report comes in.  do not wait until the last minute.  If your Administrative Inquiry is scheduled just ten days from the date you receive your notification you will not have time to complete this project.

Here is a question for you; How long do you have to appeal the decision after the investigation is completed, and after your Administrative Hearing?  Do you have an attorney lined up to handle your case in the event that the report comes back and has found you substantiated, founded or indicated? 

As you see it is advantageous for you to have found a qualified attorney, not afraid of CPS.

Administrative Law is an anything goes court unlike anything you have encountered. Evidence often thrown out of a real court of law as hearsay allowed in this courtroom.  We are used to DNA, fingerprints, real evidence not allowable hearsay. Take this charge seriously, it is serious and can follow you the rest of your life.

Those under Ad Law; Police officers, fire fighters, nurses, school employees, inclusive of;  teachers, nurses, bus drivers, janitors, maintenance personnel, ground keepers, day care workers, aides, anyone who works in/around children.  A substantiated, founded indicated desicion could end your career.  Your name can be placed on the State Child Abuse Registry. 

http://www.examiner.com/x-46864-Foster-Families-Examiner~y2010m5d26-Foster-Parents-Did-you-know-Administrative-Law--part-5-of-5