A Bizarre Encounter with CPS

This is standard practice, and Deborah was taking steps to cooperate with CPS. But she also wanted to limit the invasiveness of the CPS investigation into her children’s lives and prevent possible trauma resulting from the investigation. Scholarship has consistently found that CPS investigations, regardless of the outcome, can have lasting, sometimes lifelong effects on children.^[1]

Deborah was particularly on guard because of some offhand comments the CPS investigator had made to her about not liking homeschooling.

I immediately responded to the investigator’s email with two questions: First, was she providing Deborah with legal advice? That would be illegal under California law, unless she is an attorney. And second, was she trying to prohibit Deborah from exercising her constitutional right to retain the attorney of her choice? The investigator never responded to that email.

In the meantime, as part of Deborah’s desire to cooperate with the CPS investigation (while also limiting trauma to her children), she had agreed to a short video call with the CPS investigator and me so the investigator could conduct a virtual assessment. The investigator’s response to Deborah’s email shocked me for a second time.

The photo referenced by the CPS investigator

“Is this Will Estrada for the HSLDA?” she wrote to Deborah. “If he is going to be on the virtual call I’m really hoping he look [sic] like this.” Attached was a photo of me she found online.

So, a government official (the CPS investigator) was harassing a family, potentially trying to come between her and her chosen attorney, and then making completely inappropriate and unprofessional comments. I was incensed on behalf of Deborah and her children.

We have years of experience walking families through CPS investigations, and have recently defended families facing them in Indiana,^[2] Texas,^[3] Florida,^[4] and other states.^[5] And we drew on this experience as we represented Deborah and her family.

I called Deborah, and we discussed how to respond. Deborah decided she no longer trusted the CPS investigator to be fair and impartial.

So I emailed the CPS investigator (copying her supervisor and including the email which contained my photo) and advised both of them that as I had already told her, Deborah was represented by counsel (me), and all further contact with the family had to be done through me as Deborah’s attorney.

I then included the following paragraph:

“Please be advised that under well settled law, any investigation conducted by your agency must be conducted in accordance with the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, including attempted home visits. As you may not be aware, the 9th Circuit, in a case litigated by HSLDA, has held that a social worker may be held personally liable for a failure to comply with the Fourth Amendment. For your convenience, I have attached the court’s decision in that case to this email.”

I included some additional relevant information documenting Deborah’s good faith efforts to cooperate with the investigation, including the fact that she and her children had previously met with another investigator, and that her attempts to set up a meeting with the current investigator had been met with silence for several months.

I closed my email with these words: “If you or your [county agency] attorney believe that further action is necessary to close this investigation, please advise me of such. Otherwise, we will expect you to close this investigation [into Deborah] as unfounded.”

Soon after I sent this email, the CPS investigator called me directly. Her tone had completely changed. She acknowledged that Deborah had never been the subject of the CPS investigation, that she did not need to do any further assessments, and that she was closing her case involving Deborah, while she would continue to investigate the allegations against the children’s father.

I called Deborah and relayed the good news. Needless to say, she was overjoyed. A few months later, I was privileged to meet Deborah and her beautiful children in person at a homeschool event in California.

When I was going through these hard times, every story I read about how HSLDA helped families like mine gave me the encouragement to go on,” she later told me. “I cannot even begin to tell you how much your help meant to me. Going up against a government entity is terrifying. Thank you so much for your help.”

As noted earlier, Deborah’s family is one of many member families HSLDA has successfully represented in CPS investigations related to homeschooling. 

In California in particular, we saw a significant win after CPS investigators entered the Calabretta family’s home without their consent and strip-searched their children. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled CPS had violated the family’s Fourth Amendment rights by searching their home without probable cause or a warrant.^[6] It was this case that we referenced in our defense of Deborah.

We also represented Vanessa Wilson in California after CPS wrongfully took custody of her 4-year-old. She was reunited with her daughter and received a $700,000 settlement from CPS after we filed a lawsuit on her behalf.^[7]

These cases show the breadth of experience that HSLDA can bring to bear for our member families. And we will continue to do so. Our goal is to vigorously advocate for homeschool freedom and give families peace of mind as they educate their children.