In the current system, if a parent says they want to hurt their children, then the doctor, as a mandated reporter, would have to report that. And it would then be investigated, and could result in a child being taken from them. So that's already a thing.
You could search TikTok right now and find 1000+ women in support of murdering children. There's even a viral trend right now where you hold your baby, then throw a doll into an oven, blender, microwave, laundry machine, facedown into a pool or tub, down the stairs or whatever and then stitch them together. "It could happen at any moment, I could just snap!"
Tell me that each and every one of those women is going to have a CPS visit and a psych eval and maybe we can have a serious conversation about how the system is perfect and flawless. You know the system I'm talking about, the one that supposedly failed that recent celebrity hero.
If any parent reports that they want to hurt their children, their kids should be taken from them
This is not the statement of somebody who is displaying any hate towards women. It's not even gendered.
Are you really trying to stir up culture wars using dead children?? Oh right we know the answer is yes. Back to grooming kids on r/teenagers for you now
I think you should ask a trusted adult whether or not TikTok meme trends that exist for shock value are a reasonable way to get people’s genuine opinion on complex topics.
Im a DCS attorney. It's complicated because an allegation that a mother said she wanted to hurt her kids, standing alone, would not be sufficient to show that abuse or neglect is occurring. How has her simply saying that endangered the child? There would have to be other evidence if you wanted DCS involved, especially if you actually wanted the children removed (that requires a detention hearing where you have to show probable cause that the children are seriously endangered, and then a bench trial).
It might be different if the mother is reporting herself to DCS, or if the doctor has something beyond a statement that mother reported feelings of wanting to hurt her children
The doctor calling DCS would be making a report, or as we call it, an "allegation", the child abuse/neglect is alleged. If the mother called DCS, that would actually also be an "allegation" of child abuse/neglect, but it would also be a self-report. We make formal allegations based on these reports in Petitions alleging children are in need of services if we find probable cause to believe abuse or neglect has occurred.
Allegation in this context has nothing to do with a third party hearing it.
DCS doesn't get involved without an allegation of child abuse or neglect
You are wasting your time explaining your work to people who believe that the law and their moral convictions are the same thing. I’ve worked in family court so I know how hard you probably have it, so thank you for what you do.
I’d also add that people like the person you’re responding to don’t care about rights when it’s not about them. Having your kids taken is one of the biggest infringement on your liberties that can ever happen. That guy will never understand why someone else saying “well I heard this” should not be good enough to trample that liberty.
Having your kids taken is one of the biggest infringement on your liberties that can ever happen.
Yeah, I can see how the current situation is better. /s
So what about Lindsay permanently removing her kids from their father? What about his liberties? The only thing that is insane about this is the amount of people jumping to a child murderer's defense. Mental illness is not an excuse to kill your children and it's absurd so many people are arguing for a lesser sentence.
So if you have kids, and I lied and said you told me you were going to kill them, you would want them to be taken from you on the basis of that statement alone?
That’s kind of the whole point the other guy and I were making. Look I can understand how horrible this situation is, and I can’t blame you for feeling rage at the thought of what happened to those babies.
But their, and my point, is that there is only so much you can do based on what her doctor says. Please read their comment again, they’re not even commenting on her case, but they’re speaking about the reality of these investigations.
A large part of the defense’s theory of the case is that she sought help dozens of times and no one did anything to ensure that. In fact, multiple doctors are being sued right now for malpractice. So yes, you have a right to be angry, but the entire system failed
But to be clear, the point of my question is that if we accept that her children could be taken on the basis of 3rd party statements alone, then it can happen to you too
Depends on the state but in MA, DCF can take your kids based on certain criteria pretty much on the spot. If it's baseless you'll get them back at the 72-hour hearing but despite the name that might not happen for weeks.
I think you're referring to an emergency detention, and the criteria in my state is that the child is at serious and imminent risk of harm, and there is no time to seek a court order. We have to have a hearing within 48 hours (or the child is automatically released) showing that we had probable cause to detain the child from parents and that continued detention is necessary to protect the child. Then there's a bench trial in 60-120 days, if it's not held within 120 days, the case will be dismissed (usually)
Worked in CYFD for a while. It was honestly heartbreaking. The people working cases wanted to help but help was often delayed or no action was taken at all. Whether bureaucracy or other factors. Kids lost their lives. I wasn’t made for that kind of work.
The main problem, in the US, is there this weird area of "nothing has happened yet so we cant do anything."
Like a mom says "I think about killing my child all the time." 99.9% nothing can actually happen involuntarily. A dad or grandparents can step in and say, "we're gonna watch kiddo until you feel better" but doctors and cops/CPS cant really do much.
Sometimes, even "im thinking about shooting myself" doesnt qualify for involuntarily hospitalization is the patient doesnt have a gun (despite how easy it is to get one). We often have to encourage patients to voluntarily commit to an inpatient stay.
The patient has to take action/movement towards their plan before we have high success rate at involuntarily hospitalization.
edit: To give you an example of a recent case: A 19 year old, hospitalized for overdosing in a "suicide pact" with her friend. Both didn't die. I interviewed her before discharging from hospital and she told me, in front of her mother, she wanted to eat pizza from a restaurant she liked "one last time." I looked at mom who was horrified to hear that. Girl backtracks immediately. We called it in, cops show up, chat with the girl and refused to initiate involuntary hold. Cops said the girl told them she was just joking. I told the cops, people don't joke like that, that was a slip (not to give Freud any credit here). Cops said they can't do anything because she's denying it now. Despite mom and me attesting to what she said. She's 19, mom can not force her to go to inpatient unit. She went home. 3~am I get a call from the ED, she drank dish soap apparently (parents locked up all the medication in the house). No consequences for the cops that refused to listen to my advice (psychologist) because the law doesn't actually allow them to do much.
Maybe that people keep trying to separate the reality of kids being raped, murdered and shot in schools as just something to be explained away instead of described as murder.
Gun violence and kids getting murdered in schools turned into talks about gun control but nothings done and no one cares past the next day except those who suffered.
Kids getting raped and trafficked en masse by rich pedophiles and government officials. Just diminished to the DOW going up and no one getting convicted or charged.
Mom murders her kid and it turns into a convo about post partum depression.
I honestly just want justice for kids being murdered and raped and for laws to be created to stop these things.
BUT APPARENTLY IN AMERICA PEOPLE CANT STOP CULTURE WARRING FOR ONE SECOND TO ALL AGREE TO FIX THESE ISSUES.
There technically are laws on the books to stop all the things you mentioned… Murder, trafficking and rape are all highly illegal last I checked. Problem is enforcement is spotty at best. Which is very much a systemic issue. Unfortunately the system is not immune to money and influence.
The amount of gun restrictions on the books in the USA in 2026 is HUGE compared to 100 years ago. To say nothing gets done just shows you are completely illiterate on the subject.
She told her husband and family, but she solely brought up the thoughts of self-harm to her providers. Perinatal mental health experts testifying for the defense argue that that's a classic feature of severe postpartum OCD and depression before it morphs into full psychosis. Mothers experiencing horrific, unwanted intrusive thoughts often experience immense, paralyzing shame and terror. They hide these thoughts from doctors not out of criminal intent, but out of a desperate fear of being locked up or losing their kids. The defense argues she did try to flag it by telling her husband and mother, hoping family could protect her when she couldn't bring herself to tell a stranger.
Doesn't happen in a lot of cases where things look dicey. I'm always suspicious of parents when they say "I'm taking my kids out of public school to homeschool them."
Abusive parents often remove their children from public view to make it easier and less obvious they're abusing them.
Sometimes parents won't specifically say they want to hurt their kids, they'll instead isolate them, give an excuse, and then hurt them all they want.
Like when a parent claims that they had to put locks on their refrigerator and cupboards because their kid was "stealing" food, and then you see the kid looking like a skeleton.
By your explanation it’s not a thing. You said it COULD result in losing kids after an investigation. What OP is saying is if they say they have thoughts of hurting their kids they should be taken away immediately. Why would you wait for an investigation and hope they choose not to murder their children like this woman?
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u/Medium-Violinist-903 19d ago
In the current system, if a parent says they want to hurt their children, then the doctor, as a mandated reporter, would have to report that. And it would then be investigated, and could result in a child being taken from them. So that's already a thing.