from KMJ in North Carolina
This is an actual interview done by DSS when 4 year old Chase told us he was left home alone. (DSS had TOLD US to bring Chase in and we did, my son and I). These are the typed notes derived from the handwritten notes by the case worker. After this interview, DSS made one or two more home visits, during which they write that the mother claimed "all is well" so DSS DID NOT SUBSTANTIATE the report. An innocent, 4 year old child was not given the benefit of the doubt....here's the interview:
SW (social worker) interviewed child by himself before they left. Child reported the following to worker when she questioned him. Worker again asked child if he had ever been left alone. He told the following things to SW about this: Chase told that he stays home alone when Mom goes to the ice cream store and the grocery store. The ice cream store is not far. He can see that from his house. Mom takes baby brother w/her and step-dad, Paul is not there. Mom is only gone for a few minutes and she brings him a root beer or a push up. He likes pushups.
When mom goes to the grocery store, she is gone for a long time and sometimes Chase has time to fall asleep and take a nap. He stays home alone and step-dad, Paul is not there, and he is not there asleep, he is at work. You cannot see the grocery from the house, it is a long way (far away) from house. When mom gets home w/baby brother there are a lot of grocery bags w/groceries in mom�s car. Chase helps mom carry the grocery bags in. He says mom tells him there are too many people & it is too crowded for him to go and somebody might steal him so he has to stay home. He is scared staying home by himself. The phone is up high but he thinks he can stand on a chair and reach it. He knows how to call 911 to the police or fire or the hospital and he knows how to call his Grandma KJ's # to get her if he needed anything. He says this has happened �a bunch�, that he has been left by himself by his mom �a lot�, maybe �15 times�. SW asked why he didn�t tell SW thie first time or second time SW talked to him by himself at his mom�s house. He said he didn�t tell because it hadn�t happened yet, then he says it had and he just didn�t tell because he was scared. He also said he was scared now for mom to find out he told. He said step-dad, Paul is good to him and they get along good. He said his mom spanks his bottom and legs, arms & hand and on his face. He said she slapped him in the face sometimes. He said sometimes she slaps him in the face and it doesn�t hurt too bad but sometimes it hurts real bad and he cries. He said he loves his mom, step-dad and baby brother. He answered some of SW�s questions and made sense but sometimes it didn�t make sense, like worker asked him how long these things had been going on for and he said �15 years�.

From Anonymous
I have had a problem with DSS in the past and thought I would share it with you since you said it could help. Well, I am 16 right now and I grew up with two abusive parents, both mentally and physically. About two years ago I couldn't take it anymore. I was sick of it so one night when I was getting hurt I called 911 and hung up. The cops came and I thought I made a terrible mistake. I wanted them to know but I was afraid of what was going to happen. The cops came in and talked to me, and because I didnt want to really talk to them (I was scared) they took my dad's word (he said I had been hitting him even though that's impossible. I am 5'1 and he's about 6 ft and 300 lbs.) they arrested me. I ended up being sent back home and it happened again and I ended up getting arrested again. Then I ran away one night after it had happened and went over a friend's house. Well, the cops ended up coming there and by this point every time that it happened I told them what he did to me but they never believed me. That night I overheard one of the police officers say "if she was my daughter I would have done worse". I ended up back home and maybe a week later it happened again but this time worse than ever before. I ended up with a few broken ribs. Two years later they still aren't completely healed. My father was guarding the stairs so I couldn't run away and my brother helped me jumped out of the 2nd story window and this time I ran away for about a week. I finally went to a hospital and that's where I found out I had broken ribs. The cops came and I was arrested for running away. The cops were told that I had broken my ribs from jumping out the window which isn't true. I know it didnt happen then. They tried to make me go back with my father but I told them I'd rather stay in jail than go back there. So they decided to let me live with my grandfather. It took me along time to finally tell someone what really happened and then when I did no one believed me. Every DSS worker or social worker or cop I told thought I was lying and believed the person that did it to me. Before I ran away one social worker told my father he could do whatever he wanted to me as long as he didn't leave any marks. It's been two years now since all of this happened but what hurts the most still is that no one believed me and everyone believed him. It shouldnt be this way.

from Wanda in Pennsylvania
"Your petition hit home for me, stemming from my childhood. My entire childhood life was lived with a family across the street that physically abused all six of their children. The kids would always come to my Mom for help when they were beaten. The worst was the time that the drunken father had beaten the oldest boy with a baseball bat to the head, with more than one blow. He showed up at our door with blood streaming down his face, and soaked through his clothes. My Mom called Children Services, which she had done many many times before. Once again, they came out and said the same old thing. That until someone was actually killed, there wasn't much that could be done. I felt so sorry for those kids!! I remember crying with them every time there was an incident. I just couldn't understand how this could happen to children. I have carried those memories in my mind and will never forget them."

from Anonymous
"I have to distance my emotions from it, so I will quote just a small part of the pediatrician's testimony in court about the day that I 'kidnapped' her and brought her to him. "Multiple abrasions, contusions & lacerations, one of which resulted in cellulitis of the left hand. This child will either die, be permanently , developmentally, physically and/or mentally handicapped for the rest of her life if allowed to remain with her mother, and my in my opinion, the former would be tragically the case. This is the worst case of child neglect and abuse that I have ever seen in my career as a pediatrician". His words are indelibly imprinted on my memory...can quote without a brain on his testimony. At 15 1/2 months the baby was the size & weight of an extremely emaciated 6 month old, and was only able to do the normal tasks of a 9 month old. No help from child protection whatsoever."