Across the States
Social Worker
Investigates Family for Educational Neglect
In mid-October 2008, a social worker from the Benton County Department of Human Services (DHS) went to the home of a member family residing in Lowell and advised the mother that DHS had received a report that the family was neglecting the education of their younger daughter. The mother permitted the social worker to enter her home to discuss the matter and review materials indicating that the family was in full compliance with Arkansas’s homeschooling law. After examining the notice of intent that the parents had filed with the local school district and obtaining information from the mother about her children's curriculum, the social worker interviewed both daughters, even though the report of educational neglect related only to the younger daughter. The social worker then left the premises but indicated that he intended to return at a later time to interview the father.
After her unpleasant experience with the social worker, the frightened mother contacted Home School Legal Defense Association for advice. HSLDA Senior Counsel Dewitt Black intervened on behalf of the family by writing the social worker a letter, reiterating that the family was meeting all legal requirements for homeschooling their children. Black stated that the information already provided to DHS by the mother was more than sufficient for DHS to determine that these parents were not neglecting the education of their children. As a
result, the family received no further
contact from the social worker.
It is always a judgment call in deciding to what extent a family should cooperate with the requests of a social worker
during an investigation. Sometimes a
measure of cooperation will result in
a quick end of the investigation, while
at other times it may lead to more legal problems for the family. For this
reason, HSLDA member families are encouraged to contact us as soon as they are contacted by state officials seeking to investigate their family.*
— by Dewitt T. Black
* See “A plethora of forms”
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