Caller Unsure if It's Abuse
Ring…..Ring……
“Hello, Interface Consultation Services, how can I help you?”
“I don’t want to give my name or anything, but I have a question about the little boy next door”.
“Okay, we can chat for a bit about your question”.
“Well, you understand I am not a nosey neighbor but I heard some loud screaming from the house next door last night. The family there is a lady, her live-in boyfriend and her 7 year-old son. The boyfriend doesn’t work, I see him in the yard from time-to-time mowing the grass but she is the one that works outside the home. The little boy is kind of quiet, doesn’t play outside very much and sometimes I don’t see him get on the school bus”.
She pauses, “I worry I am telling you too much”, “I don’t want to cause any problems for anyone”.
“It’s fine ma’am, you have a sense about something out of the ordinary next door, it’s good to talk about it with a professional”.
“Yeah, well there was this loud screaming last night, a lot of swearing by the boyfriend, the lady and him were arguing over her son. He was saying the kid was worthless like his old man, lazy and needed a good ole whoopin’. The mother was saying to her boyfriend that he was the lazy one, not working, sitting around drinking beer all day, watching TV, never cleaning the house or spending time with her son”. “This led to more arguing and I saw the little boy run out the backdoor crying”. “He was pretty upset and was gone along time, for a 7 year-old out alone at night for that long concerned me and the mother never went to look for him”
“Do you think the little boy was physically harmed in anyway?”
“I’m not really sure.”
“Thank you for calling, we would like to have Children’s Protective Service follow up and check into this situation further, we want the boy to be safe”.
This brief vignette portrays a strained family situation where much anger and stress seem evident. There is suspicion, based on this caller’s report, to warrant a report to Children’s Protective Services. Suspicion in and of itself is sufficient to prompt a report for further investigating to begin. Protective Services will interview the parties involved to determine if there are more pressing abuse concerns to warrant professional or legal interventions.
“Hello, Interface Consultation Services, how can I help you?”
“I don’t want to give my name or anything, but I have a question about the little boy next door”.
“Okay, we can chat for a bit about your question”.
“Well, you understand I am not a nosey neighbor but I heard some loud screaming from the house next door last night. The family there is a lady, her live-in boyfriend and her 7 year-old son. The boyfriend doesn’t work, I see him in the yard from time-to-time mowing the grass but she is the one that works outside the home. The little boy is kind of quiet, doesn’t play outside very much and sometimes I don’t see him get on the school bus”.
She pauses, “I worry I am telling you too much”, “I don’t want to cause any problems for anyone”.
“It’s fine ma’am, you have a sense about something out of the ordinary next door, it’s good to talk about it with a professional”.
“Yeah, well there was this loud screaming last night, a lot of swearing by the boyfriend, the lady and him were arguing over her son. He was saying the kid was worthless like his old man, lazy and needed a good ole whoopin’. The mother was saying to her boyfriend that he was the lazy one, not working, sitting around drinking beer all day, watching TV, never cleaning the house or spending time with her son”. “This led to more arguing and I saw the little boy run out the backdoor crying”. “He was pretty upset and was gone along time, for a 7 year-old out alone at night for that long concerned me and the mother never went to look for him”
“Do you think the little boy was physically harmed in anyway?”
“I’m not really sure.”
“Thank you for calling, we would like to have Children’s Protective Service follow up and check into this situation further, we want the boy to be safe”.
This brief vignette portrays a strained family situation where much anger and stress seem evident. There is suspicion, based on this caller’s report, to warrant a report to Children’s Protective Services. Suspicion in and of itself is sufficient to prompt a report for further investigating to begin. Protective Services will interview the parties involved to determine if there are more pressing abuse concerns to warrant professional or legal interventions.
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