A Visit from CPS

We've been making a lot of headway on the house and community. We've emptied out all of the previous owner's belongings, started in on the deep cleaning, and begun turning it into a home. The children's art is on the walls, along with our family pictures. We've started removing the awful metal closet doors and replacing them with the thick floor length curtains my mother and the kids had made for our old house. The windows here aren't large enough for them, and they are too personalized and special to alter or not use. Another month or so and this will be a nice little place. It will still need a lot of work, but it will feel like home while we update and upgrade everything.

Just as I finally started to relax and feel at home, we had company. I heard the kids talking to a man in the yard. When I came to the door, he introduced himself as *mumblemumble* with CPS and handed me 2 cards. The other one was for the worker in charge of the case. The two men at the door were handling things while she was out of town. They ignored me when I asked who the second man was.

"Do you mind if I come in?" *mumblemuble* asked as he attempted to step through my front door.

"No," I said crisply as I blocked the doorway, "You're not supposed to do that. You're supposed to make sure I'm aware of my civil rights before you try anything, like the right not to let you in or talk to you, or to allow you to see or speak with the kids."

He took a step back and put his hands up, "Oh no! I know I can't come in if you don't want me to. I'm not trying to force my way in! See?" he replied. "Am I to understand you won't let us in the house?" he said challengingly.

"Of course not. The first rule of dealing with CPS is never let them in your house. You still haven't told me what the accusations are. You were supposed to do that before you tried to get in too."

"Oh just some stuff about the kids and the house." They started to step back to head to their truck. It was an SUV with all the extra seating in, and several carseats.

"Like what?"

"Oh," he flipped through the folder he was holding a little, "that the kids aren't in school, and you don't have any running water or electricity," he said nonchalantly, as though they were fact. He wasn't asking anything and was clearly not interested in a response. All he wanted was in my house so he could find any shred of evidence to justify taking the kids. His talk with them in the yard obviously didn't yield anything.

"Well, the kids are homeschooled and that's legal." I replied. It didn't even occur to me that it was the middle of summer and no kids were in school. We had the neighbor kids over playing in the yard even as we spoke. "As for the water, I can show you that easily." I walked out into the yard and closed the door behind me.

He looked annoyed. The hose wasn't hooked up, but I turned on the water at the faucet for them. "See? Water. And we don't have city electric but that's not illegal. We just have small generators or batteries for everything we need. Was there anything else?"

"Well, that the kids aren't in school - but homeschooling isn't illegal," he admitted grudgingly. "There was a complaint that the kids are sick, and the house is infested with bugs, and you have no heat." I told them we have a wood stove but we're not using it right now because it's the middle of summer, and offered to give them a copy of the inspection report on the house that states there are no signs of infestations.

They started asking a series of ridiculous questions. Have my kids ever been to a doctor? When was the last time? Haven't they seen a local doctor yet? Do they even HAVE a local doctor? Do they have some kind of disease or illness or disability? The kids were playing twenty feet away and they'd already questioned them privately without my knowledge at this time. *mummblemummble* even commented that they both looked healthy, and The Unidentified Man agreed. They are.

They accused them of being illiterate. The kids are 7 and 9. I grabbed a jug of antifreeze from next to my car and called the kids over. My daughter read the first line, my son the first few. They both read with ease. The workers made a show of being surprised. I informed them that my son reads at a high school level and my daughter is around third grade level, both are quite advanced in every subject.

The Unidentified Man said almost nothing during the incident. He was very concerned about our dog's allergies. He has very short hair. You can see that he has hives. He was scratching at them an unusual amount while they were there. Figures. I had to tell him no less than three times that the dog is given regular flea treatments and just had one a week ago before he let it go and stopped trying to get me to admit the dog is flea ridden. He then suggested that his allergies were due to mold in the house. I informed him that my son and I would be suffering from serious breathing problems if that were the case and obviously we're not, as even small amounts of mold will flare up our asthma. I again offered the applicable section of our inspection reports. They again ignored my offer.

At this time, it has expired. I won't be offering them anything my lawyer doesn't say is absolutely necessary. Of course the first thing I did is contact the HSLDA when they were gone. Well, the first thing was to hyperventilate in private for a while. Once I could hold a conversation I called for help. The HSLDA legal assistant I'm working with took the info and let me know that I wouldn't likely hear from them again. They came out and saw the kids are fine. I was able to disprove the allegations they would let me disprove. The fact that all they wanted to do is leave, and turned down the offers of evidence indicates a lack of interest. I shouldn't have much to worry about.

Well, I knew CPS would come knocking eventually out here, but I was surprised it happened so soon. MI CPS has a notable reputation for harassing homeschoolers and for all varieties of civil rights violations. I guess it's time to see how well they really live up to that reputation. I will, of course, keep you updated.