Arkansas DCFS, Sebastian County Arkansas, Fort Smith
False accusations, caseworker fails to show for multiple appointments, is disorganized and incompetent AR

We live in a trailer park, with a private drive that has 14 trailer slots on one side, and 10 on the other. A group of teenagers living at the end of the street drive by going quite often. We have contacted the city police multiple times, they have verbally warned the offenders, but never yet have written a single warning, ticket, etc. We have complained to the landlord, and again, verbal warnings were made, no written warnings. My 10 year old son, being concerned for the children (approximately 30 children live here) went to his school counselor to ask her advice on the situation. He and his 8 year old sister play in my front yard daily, I can see and hear my children when they are outside, and if my 4 year old child wants to go outside I go out and sit right beside him. He told his counselor these facts, and she suggested he write a letter to the mayor of our city, which he did. Then, as a Mandated Reporter, she reported my family to DCFS because she felt that my children were being neglected for being allowed to play in their own front yard. The report was made to DCFS on September 12. DCFS came to the Lavaca elementary and middle schools, and interviewed my children. I was made aware of this fact by a concerned employee of the school system, who will remain nameless for fear of retaliation. On October 3 I received in the mail a standard letter, stating that an allegation of child maltreatment had been recieved about my children or children that I know. Please contact XXX at phone number XXX XXX XXXX extension XXXX to set up a time for an interview. I called that number on Monday, October 6. The extension that I was given in the letter sent from the caseworker was an incorrect extension, and I was transferred from caseworker to caseworker until someone finally got me to the right mailbox. I left a message at 8:37 am, and my call was returned at 12:52 pm, and I was told by the caseworker that a report had been made concerning my son, when in fact the report had been made concerning my DAUGHTER, not my son. She set up an appointment for a home visit on Tuesday October 7, at 10 am. I agreed to this time, as I was free until 12 pm on this day. At 10:10 am on October 7, I received a phone call from said caseworker stating that she was just leaving the DCFS office, and would be arriving at my house within 30 minutes. She did not arrive at my home until 11:25 am. That is one hour and 25 minutes late for the appointment, 45 minutes later than she stated she would arrive in her phone call. She then began by stating that she was so busy, the DCFS office was just overwhelmed because they are short handed, and that she receives 4 or 5 reports each day. I felt that she had no reason to tell me these things, it felt like she was bragging about the number of reports, and it made me feel very uncomfortable to have her "show me her powers" by naming how many reports she takes daily. She then asked me two questions pertaining to my case. After my answers, she then began to discuss politics, and explain to me that we must be very careful who we vote into office, and especially with the upcoming presidential election we need to really consider who we are putting into office. This was in no way pertaining to my case, obviously these were her personal opinions, and she had no reason to be discussing these matters. I sat and listened to this lecture on this subject for approximately 20 minutes. Then she asked me about my children's ages, and I told her them. She asked about my 4 year old, and I explained that he was enrolled in the school Pre-K program, an ABC government funded program. She then stated that "that's what's wrong with our country, why our children have no common sense. All these mothers who sit at home all day long just put their children in to daycare and preschool as soon as they are born. These children need to be at home learning morals and values from their families, not stuck in schools. When I was little kindergarten wasn't even a requirement, we couldn't afford kindergarten. I went straight into first grade, and I did what I was supposed to do, I learned." I was OFFENDED by this statement, as the state of arkansas highly recommends that children attend at least one year of preschool program. I am following my states suggestion and trying to give my son the proper start of his education. I once again sat and listened to this rambling of this information that once again had absolutely nothing to do with my case. After approximately one hour of this rambling from subject to subject, including how I needed to find another house for my family to live in since my landlord had not done anything to remedy the situation with the speeders, she asked me "now do you have any questions?" My answer was YES!!! I told her that I didn't understand the complaint against me, I wanted to know what was going on and what was going to happen. She took about 10 minutes to explain that my case was a report of inadequate supervision, and that my husband and I would be sent a registered letter and would then be placed on a state wide registry of child offenders. I asked her about the other 27 children in the neighborhood who play outside each day, if they were going to be investigated as well, and she stated that no they would not because they don't have a report on them, only on me. She then told me it was extremely important that she interview my husband. I explained to her that my husband works until 4 pm daily, and she set up an appointment time for the following day, Wednesday October 8, as soon as he got off work, as long as we made it there before their offices closed at 4:30 pm. I agreed to this time, and it was set. On the date, I checked my children out from school, rushed into town to pick up my husband from work (we have only one vehicle) and drove to the DCFS downtown. It was a 37 mile trip to the DCFS office from my home. We arrived at 4:20 pm, and were told that the caseworker we were there to see had not been in the office since "earlier today". She did not call me to cancel the appointment or to reschedule the appointment for another time. Another caseworker who took my husband back to her office to see if he could "find her" told us that "well she must of forgot." I asked him, what do we need to do, because she said it was extremely important that she speak to him today. He said that he would email her tomorrow and let her know we were there. I asked him if we needed to call and set up another appointment time with her, and he said that he would tell her to come back to our home and speak with us. I explained that she told me that she could not come to our home to speak with my husband because he did not get home from work until 4:45 pm and she could not come out that late. He stated " Oh yeah we can! I go's out to peoples houses at 6,7, 8 at night. Of course, that's only when I'm taking someone's kids away" and he chuckled at this like it was some wonderfully funny joke. I was horrified at his flippant comments about how he "takes someone's kids"! This was said in the presence of my three children mind you, which immediately made them afraid that this man was going to come to my home and take them from us. My children were distraught all evening, and my 10 and 8 year old children were in TEARS from this emotional distress! I stated that I would most certainly be calling in the morning, and he said "yeah that's good in case I forget to tell her or something". Never once were we apologized to. We were blatantly disrespected by this caseworker. If we had made an appointment with her and then not shown up, what would have happened to us then? Would we be labeled "failure to cooperate"? I am frustrated, angry, and DISCUSTED with this DCFS office. If this caseworker is not organized and competent enough to handle her job, she needs to be removed from that job. How can I trust this woman to accurately report all evidence and findings pertaining to my case, when she cannot even manage to arrive to an appointment on time, or remember when she has set another appointment, or even have the respect and courtesy to call and let us know that she would be unavailable that day? I feel that this is the OBVIOUS case of inadequate supervision, on the part of the Sebastian County Arkansas DCFS office!!!

Company: Arkansas DCFS, Sebastian County Arkansas, Fort Smith
Country: USA
State: Arkansas
City: Fort Smith
Address: 616 Garrison Ave
Phone: 4797824555

  <     >