Legal / Legislative Updates

“Let me in or I will take your children!”

In September 2006, a social worker appeared at the door of a Home School Legal Defense Association member family’s house in Pontiac.* She demanded to come into the family’s home and interview the children, based on an anonymous tip that the family’s house was “in deplorable condition and reeked of odors.” Shocked, the mother called HSLDA immediately.

HSLDA Senior Counsel Christopher Klicka took the call. Instructing the mother not to let the social worker inside, he asked to speak with the social worker. Klicka told the social worker that she had no authority to come into the home against the family’s wishes. After insisting that she knew the law and had to interview the children, the social worker abruptly left to get the police.

During the social worker’s absence, Klicka advised the family to find a credible person to verify that the house was clean. The family’s next-door neighbor, a registered nurse, fit that description and willingly came over to inspect the house. Walking through it, she found it to be clean and safe.

Nevertheless, when the social worker returned with a police officer 15 minutes later and heard the neighbor’s report, she again threatened to “take the kids and put them into foster care” if she was not allowed into the house.

Klicka, still on the phone with the family, asked to speak to the police officer, and told the officer that, with the family’s permission, he could take a quick look in the house. The police officer refused to do so unless the social worker came in with him.

Very frightened, the mother finally gave in to the social worker’s threats and allowed her inside. After discovering that the house was indeed clean and safe, the social worker told the mother, “I am glad you let me in. I really did not want to take your kids into foster care.”

Then she declared on her way out the door, “I am coming back to your home and interviewing your children. Oh, and also at that time, I want to review your curriculum.”

Klicka sent a letter to the social worker stating that the case should be closed, since there was absolutely no evidence against the family and plenty of evidence as to the home’s satisfactory condition. Klicka explained that Michigan law requires social workers to uphold a family’s wishes regarding entering and inspecting the home, unless a search warrant is obtained. The letter also emphasized that the social worker had absolutely no right to review the family’s curriculum, since homeschooling was not among the allegations and the family was following Michigan homeschool law.

Additionally, Klicka advised the family to have people who knew them well send letters to the social worker vouching for their innocence.

The family has not seen or heard from the social worker since.

— by Christopher J. Klicka