To the Editor:
It’s time again to reform Child Protection and Permanency (CP&P). What can we do as a county to assist these over-worked case workers? One answer would be for people to stop weaponizing CP&P as reprisals or pay back if you will.
This exact situation has just occurred to my family. I was threatened, and, of course, my response was to call the police and sign complaints. Not even two days later, I have CP&P knocking at my door.
Between false allegations to the division and police, my younger children are now suffering from Adverse Childhood Experiences, a stance that the state Department of Children and Families tries to reduce in the State of New Jersey.
My thought to reduce these false allegations to the Department of Children and Families is that you must supply your name, phone number, and birthday when making a report to the division. This way, they can track the number of times the individual has called and how many false allegations were made.
Also, I feel that charges should be pressed on individuals who continue to make false reports. It shouldn’t be so easy for someone to make a report without any repercussions for false statements.
That would be in a perfect world, but it should be held with a weight in someone’s heart that they are calling the division. It is a very serious and very real thing that can happen to anyone, and it should be given more thought when calling the division.
There are real families and real children who are being abused. That is a fact. We, as a community, need to come together and get a petition signed, so we can change the rules in the division to make sure that the division isn’t being weaponized.