by Attorney Eric D. PuryearHaving a DHS, HHS, or DCFS worker appear at your door can be one of the most upsetting and scary things to happen in your entire life. That is true whether you are a parent, a daycare provider, a nurse, or anyone else accused of some sort of child abuse/neglect or dependent adult abuse/neglect.
Often, the DHS or DCFS investigator will appear at your house or place of employment without giving any advanced notice. They do this in the hope of getting you to speak with them when you are surprised and don’t have the benefit of an attorney to help you. In many cases, the social worker will intentionally plan their visit for a time when an attorney is harder to obtain, such as the evening or a weekend. That is true even in cases where whatever is being alleged is in no way time-critical. For example, I have seen many cases in which an abuse allegation is years old, yet the DHS worker picks a Friday at 5:00pm to try and discuss it, and does so in a pushy manner.
Sometimes the HHS worker will try to act as though they are on your side, playing “good cop,” to try and convince you that they just need your help to clear up a misunderstanding. Other times, they will play “bad cop” and accuse of you wrongdoing, in an effort to get you to speak up in our own defense. Regardless of their tactics, the goal is to get you to make statement that will be used against you.
The problem with speaking to Iowa DHS or Illinois DCFS on your own is twofold. Firstly, unless you’re an attorney who does this work for a living you are unlikely to fully understand the law. Just as a person who doesn’t understand plumbing is unlikely to do a good job at plumbing, someone who doesn’t understand the law is unlikely do a good job at legal matters. It’s actually a bit worse since at least when a person makes a plumbing error there is often a visible leak that they can see and get fixed, while legal errors are often invisible and unfixable. Secondly, a person who is being accused of child abuse, child neglect, or neglect of a dependent adult is understandably emotional about the experience. When any person is emotional their judgment is going to be impaired by that emotion. The lack of knowledge of the law plus big emotions is a recipe for legal disaster.
The best course of action is to avoid speaking to the worker on your own. Tell the worker that you decline to discuss the matter until you’ve spoken with an attorney, and then end the conversation. Don’t be drawn into further discussions. Don’t agree to any tests or promise to do anything in the future. Don’t sign anything. Instead, consult with an experienced attorney, and do so without delay.