Hi All,

In light of a few threads that have been posted in the last few weeks, I wanted to share my experience going through an investigation with Child Protective Services (CPS). I'm going to preface this by saying that our case has been closed and we were cleared. But I feel like there are a lot of people here who don't know what happens or how it affects families.

We were reported to CPS in February after my youngest daughter's 4-month well-check. Our only crime in the doctor's eyes was that she had a scratch on her ear and we didn't know when or how it happened. A was not mobile at the time. All I know is that it was not there in the afternoon the day before (we have a picture to prove it).

At her doctor's appointment, the pediatrician asked us about it. None of the nurses had asked prior to that, and I hadn't seen it. A has a habit of playing with her ears and I thought it might have happened like that, or maybe one of the older babies in her class had thrown something. We were not concerned, but the pediatrician became increasingly concerned because we didn't know what happened. She asked for the name of our daycare and said that as a mandated reporter, she was going to report them because it was their job to protect A when we weren't there. She said it looked like she had been pinched. She then left immediately and we took a picture of A's ear to document it, which turned out to be a good thing.

I received a call from our daycare provider the next day that CPS had been called and that the pediatrician had reported not only them, but us (the parents) and told them that the bruising on A's ear looked like it could have been blunt force trauma, a huge departure from what she told us at the appointment. A was not in school that day when CPS stopped by because she had a fever of 101 after her shots and couldn't attend per the fever policy.

When CPS opens an investigation, they are allowed to interview your other children without adults present, so they spoke to my older daughter and returned the next day when A's fever had broken. The caseworker looked at her ear and couldn't believe that she had been called because of a scratch. There was no bruising and certainly nothing indicative of blunt force trauma. They investigated the classroom to make sure that there was nothing dangerous that A could get in to and again talked to my older daughter.

CPS contacted me a few days later and set up a home interview for the following Monday when my husband could also be present. So through the weekend, we had this hanging over our heads and agonized over how to prepare. The interview itself was straightforward, we were given a safety plan, she looked at the ear and took more pictures and looked at the picture we had snapped right after speaking to the doctor. Our case worker agreed that it wasn't what they were told and then explained what would happen going forward. She would share her recommendations with her supervisor and contact us regarding our case.

It took nearly six weeks for us to hear from the caseworker that our case was being closed. But for those six weeks, we were under a lot of stress and worried constantly about what was going to happen. Even now, nearly four months later, I find myself taking inventory of both girls to make sure I know about any scratches or bruises they may have, especially as A gets more mobile. I worry every time she bumps her head and if it will happen again if something happens and I'm not there. Our daycare provider is also going above and beyond to report anything that happens during the day to us. For two months, A's medical record had "suspected physical child abuse" on it until her regular doctor was able to remove it. I haven't left the practice or spoken with the head of the practice because I am afraid of being flagged as one to watch. I only choose to not see that particular doctor and if she is my only option, I take my children to Pediatric Urgent Care. We also did not leave our daycare center. Our providers have gone above and beyond, as I said before, and I trust them completely.

A will never remember it and H talks about the time when Miss R came to visit as if she was a friend. I will say that the caseworker was extremely good with her and we worked hard to make sure that H never knew anything was wrong. But we will always remember.