Hi,
I just joined the forums so I could post on this. I have been lurking on this site since a few days after Lisa went missing. I do not watch the news, but get all of my news from the internet, so I came upon this site when googling what Starbucks JI was working on.
I live in KC. I am a stay at home mom to a 3 1/2 year old and 7 month old. I have a masters in counseling psychology and was a high school counselor for 4 years, and a parent educator to low income families for 2 years.
CPS is called DFS(Dept of Family Services) or DSS (dept of Social Services) in MO. I have hotlined mutiple familes. DFS RARELY takes children away in our area. When I was a counselor, I had several students that had marks on their bodies from parents - one child was beaten with a broom. He was not taken away. I would hotline, sit in while the social worker interviewed them, and then the social worker would just come up with a plan on how they could stay safe if needed.
As a parent educator, I was in AWFUL homes. I actually quit because I did not feel safe. Cigarette butts on the floor with crawling babies, awful diaper rashes, parents with no teeth because they are on meth, etc. One family I hotlined because they were on meth. They had 4 young daughters. There was poop on the walls. Neighbors said baby would cry all day, and she left the baby and a toddler in a play yard all day while she got high in the garage. One time I thought that toddler had just had a bath, because her hair looked wet. Turns out it was so greasy and dirty, it looked wet. DFS did not take the kids away. Several months later the police arrested them for drugs, THEN the kids were taken away. IMO, parents have to be arrested or a child has to sexually abused for a child to get taken away here.
Kids are not taken away because the parents drink, even if they are alcoholics. With my experience, I almost want to laugh when I see the reasons for why they think the kids should be taken away. Very minor in the real world. DB did get drunk, but it's not like she passed out while the kids were awake. My dh and I have sat on our deck and both drank enough to get pretty tipsy while the kids were asleep. They sleep through the night, I don't think that is a big deal.
A couple more points - I am a heavy sleeper. I do not hear my husband come in sometimes if I am asleep, my 3 year old does not wake up, and I do not hear our alarm beeping. Also, my baby goes to bed between 6:30 and 7 pm every night and sleeps until 7 am. Many sleep books suggest an early bedtime. I have a baby monitor, and I do not check on her otherwise. If she had a cold or a cough, honestly I don't know if I would check on her as long as I could hear her on the monitor, especially if it were something she had had a few days. I wouldn't want to wake her up. But, my baby has not been sick yet, and my 3 year old is rarely sick, so I am not an expert on that.
I am on the fence, but just thought you might be interested in my thoughts!