People who make FALSE reports to CPS DO NOT deserve protection!!

Making sure that children are safe, happy, healthy, and cared for properly is EXTREMELY important. No matter how smart a child is, they are still not able to think for or speak for themselves 100% when it comes to things like their safety and wellbeing, that's why they have parents or other adults to do it for them until they are of the proper age and development to do so themselves.

The Hotline:

The CPS (child protective services) hotline (may also be known as the child abuse hotline, etc.) is intended for the purpose of reporting child abuse, child neglect, or other GENUINE concerns regarding the wellbeing of a child or children. There are mandated reporters (meaning that if they suspect child abuse or neglect, they are required BY LAW to report this to the hotline) such as doctors, therapists, teachers, day care providers, etc. That is 100% understandable. Seems fair. I mean, if you are a good parent, and you are not neglecting or abusing your children, then you should be all set, right? WRONG! The hotline is not just available to these court mandated reporters. It's available to anyone to call and make complaints against parents, and because of that, it has become a tool used by individuals who make false reports to CPS in an attempt to settle a score while enjoying the luxury of anonymity. CPS is required by law to investigate every report that they receive no matter how stupid and ridiculous it is, so the hotline has proven to be a good weapon for the immature and spineless. A neighbor, an ex partner, an ex friend, a landlord, LITERALLY ANYBODY THAT YOU HAVE MADE MAD, can call this hotline, lie through their teeth, and target your children as revenge, and not have to face ANY CONSEQUENCES because they are allowed to remain anonymous. RIDICULOUS!

Note: It is a proven fact that the MAJORITY of the reports that the CPS hotline receives are FALSE. It is also said that knowingly making a false CPS report is a CRIME. Penalties may vary depending on the state you live in, but nether the less, it's a crime.

How is this right?!

A CPS investigation is not only stressful and traumatic for the parents, but for the CHILDREN. The children are the ones that suffer the most trauma, especially if Heaven forbid the child is removed from the home. Children are removed from their parents every single day based on false allegations. Granted, some of them are returned, AFTER A WHILE, but that doesn't erase the trauma that the child as well as their parents have been through during the process. Can you imagine how scary it must be for a child to be removed from a perfectly loving family and placed in a home with STRANGERS?! Or for GOOD, loving, parents who have never abused or neglected their children to have them removed, not being able to care for them, and not knowing for certain that they are being cared for properly?! That is terrifying, traumatic, and does PERMANENT damage to parents and children.

So, if after all is said and done, the allegations are proven to be false, why should the FALSE REPORTER be let off the hook?! They are allowed to make a false report, waste the time of CPS (time that could be spent on children that actually need help), traumatize parents, not to mention cause 100% unnecessary stress, trauma, etc. TO AN INNOCENT CHILD, but they are never held accountable.

What needs to be done?

The fact that this is even a question irritates me beyond belief. The reason for the hotline being anonymous is "to protect the safety of the reporters". Okay, that's fine and good if the person calling is reporting a genuine concern, rather than some spiteful nonsense to settle a score. What about the safety of the parents, and their reputation as parents? Or better yet the safety of the children, who are being targeted by someone who is angry with their parents?

1.) ANYBODY that is not a court mandated reporter should be required to leave a name, phone number, and address so that if they are proven to be making a false report, they are able to be legally punished. (They claim that it's a crime to make a false CPS report, yet they allow them to remain anonymous, making it impossible for them to be punished when they lie.) HELLO?! CPS can take down the reporter's full name, phone number, address, etc. without releasing it to the parents. The anonymous confidential BS should only apply to the parents, it should not apply to CPS or the person taking the report. They should have ANY AND ALL identifying information on a reporter so that in the event that they are LYING, they can be reported by CPS to law enforcement, taken to court, or whatever the supposed "punishment" is for false reporters.

2.) IF the allegations are proven to have been KNOWINGLY FALSE, (meaning the person making the report wasn't simply mistaken, but INTENTIONALLY made a false report), then the reporter should be given a 24 hour notice and then the identity of the FALSE reporter should be released to the parents that were the VICTIMS of this false report so that they can file a legal report, take the false reporter to court, etc. (Again, you can't play the safety card here either, because if the name of the false reporter is released, most parents are not going to physically attack them because of the fact that they would now have a CLEAR motive and would more than likely be the FIRST people that would be investigated if anything happened to the false reporter.)

Conclusion

False CPS reports are not a joke. They should not be taken lightly, as they cause unnecessary trauma, stress, and damage to parents and children. Knowingly making a false CPS report is allegedly considered to be a crime, so therefore, false reporters should be publicly put on blast just like any other criminal. Let's be real. CPS workers are required to tell parents EXACTLY to a T what the accusations against them are, and 9 times out of 10 after hearing the accusations, especially if they are false, parents are smart enough to figure out who it was that made the report, and so allowing the false reporter to remain anonymous doesn't protect them from retaliation. Most parents won't retaliate because they are not going to risk their children, and prison time over some pathetic piece of garbage, anyways, but even so, they could if they really wanted to. All the anonymous hotline protects false reporters from is being held legally responsible/accountable for targeting innocent CHILDREN as a form of revenge. If you are truly concerned with the safety of reporters, then start holding them legally accountable when they LIE. If these people were punished for their disgusting behavior, less people would make false reports, and their safety would be FAR LESS of a concern because people wouldn't feel the need to take matters into their own hands. No loving parent is going to sit back and tolerate a GROWN ADULT targeting their child, and they should not have to. False reporters should not have the luxury of having their identity and their reputation protected. They should be publicly put on blast and have to face the music just like every other criminal.

Note: Even if safety is a concern, TOO BAD! This person caused unnecessary trauma to the parents, and the children involved. They should have to face the legal consequences, and if they are afraid for their safety, then they should have thought about that before they made a false report. People fear for their safety every day for all kinds of different reasons. Criminals are afraid of retaliation from people that they committed crimes WITH, but they don't get to hide behind anonymity. So why should a false CPS reporter get to have their identity protected from the people they committed crimes AGAINST? They deserve to feel the shame, embarrassment, and fear that any other criminal has to face.

I bet if people started getting publicly put on blast, shamed, embarrassed, and punished for making false CPS reports, less people would see it as a wise or funny thing to do. These are not only the lives of the parents, these are the lives on innocent CHILDREN. People that KNOWINGLY try to damage, traumatize, or target CHILDREN for revenge or any other purpose for that matter, DO NOT deserve protection and should not only be PUBLICLY EXPOSED, but also punished to the FULL extent of the law.