Does CPS ever make things worse?

I'm worried that if I report a case of parents abusing their teenager to Child Protective Services, the parents will be be able to convince CPS that everything is fine, and then once they're in the clear they'll retaliate against the teenager because she couldn't keep a secret. Can anyone comment on this?

Sometimes easiest thing to do is wash your hand and go to protective services. Unless their is external evidence supporting the claim there is also a chance of prejudicing the security of the child.

It will have to be close to life threatening to make them act. Often all it does is make the parents more careful and make the child clam up.

Hardest thing is to be a friend to such a child. Unless it looks life threatening I would just try and offer support. An understanding outside influence can be life changing for such a child. I hear that story again and again.

My first lifting coach the day he met me went out of his way to meet my mother. The things they talked about I failed to understand the significance of. He let her know he was watching. He queries my weight (very underweight), he queried what he thought was an old impact injury to my ribs. Heard and agreed with all her elaborate excuses, but he made her realise he was either making good guesses or saw something. He was very subtle, something he was seldom accused of.

That's a very helpful response, thank you. It sounds like my suspicions were correct and I shouldn't go to CPS after all, despite being legally obligated to report abuse. I suppose I have the excuse that I have nothing to report without any significant evidence.

Am I to understand that you were abused by your mother as a teenager and you escaped when you became an adult? Do you wish you or your lifting coach had done something different? Since you had bruises, do you think CPS could've taken action?

I can't advise much on what will happen because i'm not sure of your exact situation and what the girls parents are like..
but, i wish that someone had reported my parents when i was a child - even if the police hadn't been able to do anything, the simple fact of them knowing that someone might be keeping an eye out may have made them be more careful with how i was treated.

If someone had queried my weight or the bruises i had then yep.. no idea how that would have turned out but i do wish someone had reported - it would have felt like someone actually cared.

If you're legally obligated to report then please do report.. if the abuse gets suddenly worse and you didn't report then you won't be able to use the excuse of not having significant evidence. The childs words are what you need to act on - the evidence (or lack of) is what social/child protective services, the police and the CPS are responsible for sorting through.

I think I am acting on the child's words by not reporting, though. She's been waiting this out for years and her plan is to just wait it out for two more years so that she can move out. It seems the time for reporting would've been a long time ago. Will having CPS investigate make the parents feel like they need to be better, or will having CPS say they're a-okay embolden the parents to continue with the abuse? And of course make it worse by retaliating against the girl for bringing CPS down on them in the first place.

I appreciate your perspective. Thank you for your reply. I think I'll see about urging her to consider letting me report this. But every time I bring this up, it seems to push her away from me, shut her off. And I definitely still don't want to report it if she says she doesn't want that to happen.

Since you say you wish someone had reported your abuse, had you given anyone reason to believe you didn't want your abuse reported? Since you say it would have felt like someone actually cared, did no one seem to care? Was no one trying to be a friend to you?

completely understand your dilemma - please bear in mind that if i didn't ask you to report then i wouldn't be able to stop my conscience from prodding me.. repeatedly..

the reason i'm urging a report is because of your legal obligation - if you hadn't said that you had a legal obligation to report then i'd be asking you to take your cue from the girl in question and what she'd like you to do.
Do you mind if i ask what your position is? (ie; why you're legally bound to report this..)

Since you say you wish someone had reported your abuse, had you given anyone reason to believe you didn't want your abuse reported? Since you say it would have felt like someone actually cared, did no one seem to care? Was no one trying to be a friend to you?

the world was a different place back then - it wasn't that long ago - i'm only in my mid thirties but still, things were very very different.
abuse is spoken about quite openly in many places now.. it's not the shameful secret it once was.. but when i was a child, these things were to be hidden.. not spoken about.

I was brought up in a family that kept things hidden.. we were taught to shut up and put up - so i just got on with things.. woke up each day and just carried on.
I went to school in torn and dirty clothes.. noone asked.. i went to school with handprints seared across my face and all up my legs.. noone asked. I weighed so much less than the other students in my class that it was stupid.. noone asked.

neighbours saw some of it.. they didn't tell.. relatives saw some of it.. they didn't tell.. friends saw more of it - they didn't tell..
it was just the way it was for me.

I had a couple of people in my life that did care - one was a really nice lady called Betty.. she did care, she didn't ask though and i didn't tell. But she was just nice to be around - to spend time with.

again.. back then abuse wasn't spoken about.. it was shameful.. kept within the family - the only abuse that was even looked at by social services was the really obvious stuff like multiple broken bones or something.

*edit for privacy reasons*

yep..
i gave up long before that last social services visit.. can't actually remember a time from childhood when i felt hope - let alone hoped that anything would or could change.

It's state law that everyone is required to report child abuse.

ah okay.. i'm over in the UK - that's a helpful law that will hopefully do some good.

I think that if you're sure the girl isn't in immediate danger then just keep an eye out but if you think that there's a real possibility of her being seriously harmed then please do report.

2 more years worries me.. is she going to be safe for those 2 years.? would calling social services and having her removed be better for her.?

The reason I don't want to report is that I don't know the answer to that.