Legal / Legislative Updates

COLORADO

Case Closed: Thankful Family

Alarmed to find a Grand Junction caseworker at their front door, the Boda family refused to allow the caseworker to enter their home or to interview their children.* After the caseworker left, this member family called Home School Legal Defense Association for help.

Courtesy of the family SOLID AS A ROCK: The Boda family and HSLDA worked together to prevent an unwarranted social services investigation.

HSLDA Senior Counsel Christopher Klicka spoke with the caseworker on the Bodas’ behalf. He learned that the caseworker had received a tip that the Bodas’ discipline of their children was physically abusive. But these allegations were completely bogus.

During Klicka’s subsequent consultation with the Bodas, they told him that an upset relative had been harassing them for some time and was simply using the system to injure them. Klicka advised the family to provide the caseworker with character references and to have their family doctor examine the children to verify that there were no signs of abuse.

Klicka also wrote to the caseworker, explaining that the Bodas were innocent, as proven by the letters of reference and doctor’s statement, and that the Bodas wanted to minimize the trauma to their family by declining the caseworker's request to enter their home and interview their children. In order to resolve the matter, however, Klicka told the caseworker that she could set up a time to come by the Bodas' home and talk to them on their doorstep.

After hearing from HSLDA, the caseworker reappeared at the Bodas’ home, striking a very conciliatory tone this time. She let slip that the allegation was “from a long time ago” and admitted it was an anonymous tip. Then she announced she was closing the case. During this conversation, which occurred outside the house, Mr. Boda and the caseworker even chatted about the many benefits of homeschooling.

In a thank-you note to HSLDA, Mrs. Boda exclaimed, “[We] can’t be thankful enough!” She said her family prays for HSLDA often, and added that she “spreads the word” wherever she goes about the importance of joining and supporting HSLDA.

— by Christopher J. Klicka