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Doctor reports family to social services

Mrs. Miller of Weld County watched her homeschooled son play at a community playground as she spoke with a social worker regarding an adoption the family was considering. While playing, the son collided with another child and fell on a corner of the play structure, bruising himself, but otherwise unharmed.

A day or two later, Mrs. Miller took her son to a doctor for a reason other than the playground injury. Noticing the bruise, the doctor questioned the mother and her son about it. They explained about the accident at the playground. The doctor, however, was not satisfied and insisted on calling the department of human services, reporting an "unexplained bruise" on the son!

Soon a social worker from the Weld County Department of Human Services (DHS) was demanding to interview the child and enter the home. The family immediately contacted Home School Legal Defense Association Senior Counsel Christopher Klicka, who called the social worker to slow down the investigation.* Then he instructed the family to obtain a statement from the adoption social worker who had been present at the incident, confirming the mother and son's account of the incident. HSLDA also offered DHS a statement from another doctor verifying that no abuse had taken place, along with three reference letters from friends vouching for the Millers' good character and parenting skills.

As a result, DHS was kept out of the family's home, had no contact with the son, and subsequently dropped the investigation. We are grateful that Mrs. Miller contacted us quickly and that we were able to resolve this situation without unnecessary trauma for the family.

— by Christopher J. Klicka