View Single Post
HeatherB 07:17 PM 05-21-2010
Well put.. this is how I feel too!

Originally Posted by MarinaVanessa:
Okay maybe it's just me but I'm a mandated reporter and I'm forced to legally and morally to report anything like this. I'd simply tell the parent that I don't feel comfortable releasing the child to a person that is intoxicated and that he needs to find someone else to come by and pick the child up. Technically I didn't say that I wasn't releasing the child, only that I didn't feel comfortable doing it. If he argues, I'd tell him that if he takes the child anyway I will be forced to call the police and give the license plate number, discription of the car, home address and all of the parent's information (which all of us should have in our files) to report a drunk driver and child endangerment AND then that call will be followed by a call to Child Protective Services. If he still gives me a problem I'd hand him my telephone and tell him to call the police on me and ask him to wait until they arrived then ask him if he changed his mind and would like to call someone to pick them both up.

I mean, what's a person that's been drinking going to do? Call the police on me for kidnapping? I never said I wasn't releasing the child, I just said I didn't recommend it. If I call the police myself while the parent is there because the parent has been drinking and wants to take his child and drive I'd have him explain that to the police himself. Have him take a breathalizer. My excuse? I'm required by law to report SUSPECTED child abuse or endangerment to the authorities. Once the police showed up I'd explain to them that I never said I wouldn't release the child. Granted I better be prepared to lose this client but I'd rather lose a child as a client than to lose a child because he got in an accident and dies.

Reply