DCFS Can Do Better
	Working for a Kinder, Gentler, Arkansas Division of Children and Family Services If you have reason to suspect that a child you know is being abused, please call the Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-482-5964.  Don't stop until you get an answer.

Did You Have A Positive or Traumatic Encounter with DCFS?

Has your own child or a child that you love and care about had an encounter with a DCFS case worker?  Did the case worker treat your child with respect, understanding and compassion, as we would wish any and all of our children would be treated?  WELL, WE WANT TO KNOW!  E-mail your story to us at kudos@KinderDCFS.org, and we will send it on anonymously to DCFS to let them know what they are doing right.  (This is for stories that will not be posted on our web site, but are just for DCFS.)  Note that we may have to edit your message to exclude personally identifying information about your case, or make other changes in it to keep it from being tied back to you, before we relay it to DCFS.  If you want them to know specifically who sent it, then call them or write them yourself.  They would love to hear from you.

Or, did the DCFS case worker treat your child like just another case number, or worse, was your child traumatized by the investigation, while mild-mannered and guiltless you were terrorized and looked on as obviously the worst piece of scum in the state?  What do you think the DCFS case worker could have done better in your case?  Or, how could the case worker have done it better?  Or, what did they overlook or ignore that would have brought the case to a quicker conclusion?  WE WANT TO KNOW THAT, TOO!  E-mail your complaints and suggestions to us at concerns@KinderDCFS.org, and we will look into their policies and procedures to see if the case workers need to be reminded about the guidelines already in place, or let DCFS know how they could do it better, or work with DCFS and the legislature to get those policies and procedures changed to better serve the children of Arkansas.  Or, you can just vent to us if you want.  We can take it.  And, we'd rather that you take it out on us than to steam and fret and hold it in until you bust open and take it out on your child.  We aren't counselors, but we can listen.  (This is also for stories that will not be posted on our web site, but are just for us to look into.)

Please be aware that we are just getting started at this and trying to build working relationships with DCFS and are just learning their policies and procedures ourselves.  So, don't expect quick fixes or miracles (although we can sure hope for that).  And, we can't be an advocate between you and DCFS in any active case (at least not yet).  And, if you ARE guilty and are currently abusing your child, for goodness sake, please get away from your child and stay away from your child until you can get some professional help.  Your children are a precious gift that you should be forever thankful for and grateful that you have, and you should treat them like the blessing that they really are.

Unfortunately, innocent parents and guardians who get caught up in "the system" are terrified as well by DCFS when they are doing an investigation of their own child.  They are afraid to say anything that may rock the boat and get their precious child taken away from them for whatever length of time, or that may cause the case to drag on any longer than it has to and subject their child to more questions and interrogations.  After all, DCFS case workers have seemingly endless authority and power when it comes to possibly taking away your child.  Later, parents and guardians usually don't want to ask questions or challenge the actions of the case workers after the case has been closed, for fear of reopening the emotional wounds and trauma that their child has gone through, or for fear of being targeted for further investigations.  Once you've gone through "the system", you usually want to stay as far away from it as possible.

However, if the DCFS case worker HAS done something wrong during their investigation, either because they have always done it that way and nobody has challenged them, or because they are overworked (probably a given) and are taking shortcuts to get this one done and move on to the next one, or for any other reason, they will continue to do the same thing to the next child and to the next child and to the next child, possibly leaving a string of traumatized children in their wake, until one day they come to some other child that you love, or to your own child again, and it starts all over.  Please don't let that continue to happen.

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CAKiD - Working for a kinder, gentler, DCFS.