If someone abducted your kids, we can guess how you’d react. After getting your child back, you’d want justice.
But what if it was an overzealous and undertrained government agency with frightening powers over you and your children?
Imagine the government taking your kids away or interrogating them at school with only shaky evidence of abuse. Imagine them accusing you of doing the unthinkable to your kids.
Parents, advocates, and people in Tulsa’s legal community are troubled by the broad enforcement and investigative powers that have been gradually granted to the Oklahoma Department of Human Services over years and decades.
State lawmakers and other politicians long had good intentions. Everyone wants to protect children from abuse, after all. But at times, perhaps we’ve put our hearts before our heads.
If you find yourself up against Oklahoma Human Services, you might feel overwhelmed and helpless. It’s your story versus a sprawling, government bureaucracy with a $5 billion annual budget that can ruin your life by merely shifting its weight.
Even raising your voice at your kids can get you in trouble.
If you are at risk of having your children taken away, you need an attorney to tell your side of the story.
Keep reading to keep you and your children protected.
This post is part of a series from Norwood.Law on your rights and the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.
A good lawyer
If you’re looking for a family lawyer, you should look for someone who handles child and family cases in your county. Has the lawyer appeared in emergency-custody hearings?
Move quickly. The state’s investigation of you is happening on a clock, even if no one is telling you about it.
Unprivileged
Whether you have a lawyer yet or not, here are some important things to know at the outset of a child-abuse investigation in Oklahoma.
What you say to the caseworker is not privileged.
What you say is written into reports. The government worker decides in their opinion what to write down, or consider concerning, or leave out.
Body language, tone, and offhand comments all become “observations.”
Cooperation with the government does not ensure you’ll be treated well or fairly.
If you admit to sometimes losing your temper, the worker might report that “mother admits anger-control issues.” If you say your kid fell off a bike, they might report “mother’s explanation was not consistent with the injury observed.”
Refusing to cooperate can be used against you, too. Government workers might use it as justification for more investigation or for a court order. So you can’t just slam the door.
The safest move now is to get a lawyer.
Joe protects
If family court was turning your life upside down and you hired Joe Norwood and Norwood.Law to speak for you, below are some of the things he could do.
On your behalf, Joe could communicate with the caseworker from Oklahoma Human Services so you didn’t risk having your words twisted in a report.
Joe could demand specific allegations in writing. He could stand ready for court appearances on short notice. He could coordinate with your therapist, your child’s pediatrician, and your child’s school to make sure records reflect reality — not just the human services department’s glossy reports.
Also, an attorney can prepare you for any interview that might occur.
Aggression
Oklahoma courts, in theory, are supposed to be tough overseers of the agency. But our courts, in fact, almost always side with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services.
Why do parents seem so disadvantaged?
Several reasons. First, statutes are written to benefit the agency. Second, case law handed down over decades has given Oklahoma Human Services wide-reaching immunity for actions taken in “good faith.”
Judges in busy courts see high numbers of agency reports. Such reports might characterize the ordinary frustration of being a parent as “aggression.”
Parents, meanwhile, often arrive to court without a lawyer. They’re scared and in no position to fight back.
Fight back
But there’s hope. Parents can legally challenge agency actions, including school interviews, by filing a motion in court.
For instance, your lawyer might argue that the abuse investigation was initiated in bad faith or an interview was unnecessary or improperly conducted.
Courts are required to balance the rights of parents with the child’s welfare.
Indeed, Oklahoma courts recognize that parents have a constitutionally protected interest in the care and custody of their children. This interest requires that parents be afforded procedural safeguards, including notice and an opportunity to be heard, when their rights are at risk.
Get a lawyer
We’re taught in school that the government is here to help. But what do we do when the government does more harm than good?
The powers and authorities held by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services are unsettling.
State caseworkers can knock on a door, walk into a school building, and take a child out of class.
They can threaten parents with the loss of custody and decide on the spot whether your family is “safe.” And they can do it without a judge being in the room. When the case does make it to a courtroom, judges often defer to the agency.
The human services department chooses what to investigate, how to investigate it, who to interview, and whether to substantiate a finding of abuse or neglect, or whether to seek emergency custody.
Joe knows
Joe Norwood and Norwood.Law have the experience and knowledge you need, no matter how tough your legal matter might be.
You could be wanting legal protection for your small business. You could be battling to protect your civil rights. You could be fighting for child custody.
Norwood.Law practices family, estate, personal injury, civil rights, criminal, business law and more. Let Joe Norwood help you return to the life you had or gain the one you want.
Call for a consultation at 918-582-6464.
Everywhere
The Oklahoma Department of Human Services is pervasive in our courts. The agency is woven into the family-court system in ways most people don’t realize until they’re ensnared by it.
All child-support payments in the state are sent through the department, for example.
The judge can’t enter a judgment until knowing whether the Human Services Department is involved in the case. That is not a trivial detail. It means human services effectively has a seat at nearly every family-law matter in the state.
Do this now
As initial steps, here’s what you can do to begin protecting yourself.
“Will you put that in writing” is the single-most useful sentence you can say to a human services worker. Threats on your front porch might evaporate if they have to be put on letterhead.
Oklahoma is a one-party consent state for recording in-person conversations. You are free to record your own conversation with a caseworker.
Tell your lawyer before you publicize it. Try to have a neighbor, family member, or pastor in the room as a witness.
In the news
Joe Norwood’s successes in both civil and criminal law have been publicized by news organizations nationwide.
So keep reading.
If the government accuses you of a crime or a corporation injures you, call Joe Norwood for a consultation at 918-582-6464.
Watched
It is common for human services to show up unannounced at the schools of children to interview the alleged victim.
The child is pulled out of class. The teacher and other kids watch.
A stranger from the government asks the child whether mom or dad hits them, screams at them, drinks too much, leaves them alone, or has a boyfriend who is mean.
The interview could be over before the parent ever found out it occurred.
Can they really do this? In Oklahoma, the answer is yes. And there is essentially nothing you, or the school, can do to stop it once Oklahoma Human Services has decided to do it.
Joe wins
Joe Norwood’s record says it all.
He’s won against the government over wrongful convictions. He’s won against foreign manufacturers. He’s won against banking interests and insurance companies.
Explore Norwood.Law for more.
Joseph M. Norwood is a Tulsa attorney with the courtroom expertise you need. Contact his office at 918-582-6464.
By G.W. Schulz