Have psych eval......now what?

[SM_in_FL]

Hi, Soc!
It's almost Friday, yay!!! Sorry to be such a bug, but we just got the psych eval results for sd. I'm going to post the last page of it for you, so you can hopefully tell us what to do next:

"Sd's responses that made reference to a paternal figure were consistently positive, while responses that made reference to a maternal figure were somewhat more ambivalent."

Conclusion and Recommendations: "Sd was referred for a psych eval following concerns regarding visitation and custody. During the eval, SD was cooperative although she did express some concern with respect to how her mother might interpret various statements, and she seemed internally motivated to guard her responses so as to not express any preference for one parent over the other. She also apprears to be well aware of the ongoing legal proceedings, and expressed some fear with respect to how her statements might be interpreted."

"In addition to her underlying anxiety, testing results further suggested that sd is experiencing at least a mild level of depression. Of significant concern, however, was sd's endorsement of both critical items on the one self report measure of depression in which she reported that she thought about killing herslef, and that she is not sure if anyone loves her. It is extremely rare for a child to endorse both of the critical items, and suggests that either circumstances in sd's life need to be further examined and possibly changed, and/or that she would benefit from individual counseling- with frequent and regular parental involvement with all parental figures involvement."

"Although many, if not all of the prior abuse reports appear to have been closed without any findings of abuse and neglect, this clinician remains concerned by the repeated allegations of neglect. It is strongly suggested that if sd is to remain i nthe care of her mother, that the mother undergo a psychological eval to assess her ability to safely and effectively parent the children, and to determine treatment needs."

Also of interest: "sd did admit that her mother has hit her on occasion with a belt, but she denied that it was ever abusive in nature. She did attempt to end this portion of the interview, however, noting that she does not want to talk about it, and spontaneously adding, "I don't want to go live with my dad."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Ok so here are my questions:
1) What's your opinion on these snippets of the evaluation? In other words, if you were personally handling this as one of your cases, would this be a good thing for dh or a bad thing?

2) How do we capitalize on the good things and tone down the bad, (there weren't really any for hubby but would rather know both sides)?

2) What does it all mean?

3) What do we do next?

4) Bm didn't pay her portion of the eval and alot of these statements are going to get her quite angry, which means she'll take it out on sd. Can we not show it to her and use the fact that she didn't pay her share to not give her a copy?

Thanks a whole bunch, Soc!
SM

[socrateaser]

>1) What's your opinion on these snippets of the evaluation? In
>other words, if you were personally handling this as one of
>your cases, would this be a good thing for dh or a bad thing?

Only ONE thing stands out -- "hit her with a belt." That is your ace in the hole.

>
>2) How do we capitalize on the good things and tone down the
>bad, (there weren't really any for hubby but would rather know
>both sides)?

"hit her with a belt on more than one occasion." GAME OVER.

Child has stated that mother has battered her. This is a crime -- you need to make this a big deal.

>
>2) What does it all mean?

Nothing. In the end, the universe will collapse in on itself and all matter and engery will be anhilated.

>
>3) What do we do next?

Um...go see the DA. Call CPS. You have an acknowledge report of criminal child abuse. Prosecute it.

>
>4) Bm didn't pay her portion of the eval and alot of these
>statements are going to get her quite angry, which means
>she'll take it out on sd. Can we not show it to her and use
>the fact that she didn't pay her share to not give her a
>copy?

I'd be looking for an ex-parte temporary protective order and a change of custody, until this "belt" deal can be completely dealt with.

[SM_in_FL]

1) Alright, so how do we get the ex-parte order thing? Who do we file it with and how do you write one of those?

2) Do we call CPS first and wait for them to conduct their investigations or do we go to the DA or what do we do?

3) So the hit with the belt thing is sufficient to request a temp change of custody pending the final custody decision?

4) Need some orientation so anything else you could suggest would be incredibly appreciated!

Thank you a whole lot, Soc!
SM

[socrateaser]

>1) Alright, so how do we get the ex-parte order thing? Who do
>we file it with and how do you write one of those?

FL courts use "form" pleadings, if I'm not mistaken, and you can find many of them online at the court websites. I don't have time to look for you, however maybe one of the other posters does. If you find the relevant form or boilerplate, I will help you fill in the blanks.

>
>2) Do we call CPS first and wait for them to conduct their
>investigations or do we go to the DA or what do we do?

I'm somewhat unclear as to why the evaluator didn't report this behavior to the authorities. Social workers, therapists, doctors, etc., have a legal duty to report suspected domestic violence to law enforcement authorities.

You should be able to take your report directly to the district attorney, or to the county sheriff. They may forward it to CPS, depending on the local protocols.

In my opinion, hitting a minor child with a belt on numerous occasions, is, under current law, criminal.

>
>3) So the hit with the belt thing is sufficient to request a
>temp change of custody pending the final custody decision?

Try to imagine a judge faced with a court evaluator who testifies that the child told him she was being routinely hit with a belt as a means of corporal punishment. How would you respond in such an instance?

[SM_in_FL]

1) Ok, so to make sure I'm clear on this: We're going to take this report to the police department and I guess file a report and take that to the state attorney's office for prosecution and file an emergency temp custody motion with family court? Is that right?

2) Should we call the evaluator and ask her why she didn't report this?

3) Hubby has a meeting with SD's GAL, should she be asked to take action?

4) I can't find the exparte order, I don't even know where to look to be honest, so would the above actions suffice to get someone to help us get the exparte order? Is that filed in domestic violence court? That's the only thing I can think of....

5) is this a basis to request that bm get supervised visitation, if we get temp custody?

I'm sorry, Soc, please forgive my incessant questions, I just want to be positive that we don't screw up somewhere and sd ends up paying for it when bm takes it out on her.  

Thank you alot, Soc.
SM

[socrateaser]

You do seem confused. If I were you, I would speak with a local attorney and get some suggestions as to the best way to handle the situation. I realize that this may seem like the most costly solution, but you have a number of possible scenarios to consider, and there's no reason not to have it all examined by an expert in advance of taking action.

If you can't afford an attorney, you can certainly just call CPS and ask them to investigate. However, I am concerned that you may alienate the GAL by taking an action that could cause the GAL to be subjected to criminal/civil liability for failing to report domestic abuse/violence.

On the OTHER hand, you have a report that states unequivocally, that the child claims to have been hit with a belt on numerous occasions. If this were my child, I would be all over every public authority to do something and in court with a civil action already.

But, talk to a local attorney, OK?

[SM_in_FL]

Hubby addressed this issue first with the GAL. He was in there for almost 2 hours. From what I understand, the GAL wants to investigate it further and speak to the evaluator before taking any action. She asked my husband to sit tight until she concludes her investigation. From what I understand, she's going to be issuing a whole bunch of subpeonas to BM's job and prior landlords as well as to SD's teacher and the cps investigators who've been called out to bm's house on prior abuse reports (7 of them now). She also wants to speak to me alone and with sd present. Soooo....

1) I guess we sit tight and wait? (Thinking we should speak to another attorney just for a second opinion on the issue, but I guess ultimately wait for the GAL??)

2) What are the usual reasons why a GAL would want to speak to a third party, namely me, sm? Up until this point, I've kinda been outside looking in, so this is totally out of left field for me.

Thank you for all your advice, Soc. This whole thing is making our heads spin.
SM

[socrateaser]

>1) I guess we sit tight and wait? (Thinking we should speak to
>another attorney just for a second opinion on the issue, but I
>guess ultimately wait for the GAL??)

It's your call to make. My call would be to the DA, and if it turned out later that I was wrong, then so be it.

>
>2) What are the usual reasons why a GAL would want to speak to
>a third party, namely me, sm? Up until this point, I've kinda
>been outside looking in, so this is totally out of left field
>for me.

Honestly, the only question I would want to know from the GAL is why did he/she not report this to law enforcement authorities? Does the GAL think that the child may be lying. GAL has huge liability, and doesn't want to get it wrong. But, meanwhile, is the child being exposed to risk of abuse?

[SM_in_FL]

:D