Mom Tells Therapist About Briefly Leaving Kids Alone, Shrink Calls Cops

A mom’s 20 minute absence from
home became an obsession of a Child Protective Services officer. As
is often the case, the issue was not whether anything bad happened
to kids while mom was out. The sole criteria for CPS hounding this
woman for two solid years seems to be that something bad
could have happened.

Of course, if the mom had taken the kids with her, something bad
could have happened to them on the car ride, too. The
number one way children die in the U.S. is as car passengers, not
as kids at home getting ready for the day.

But real odds don’t matter when it comes to the state deciding
who is a dangerous mom. All that matters is the new notion that all
decent mothers are literally at their children’s side 24/7. If you
trust your kids to be okay for a few minutes unsupervised and
government busybodies find out… Well, take a look. Rebecca Ruiz reports on the case of
Lilia Gonzalez for Mashable Spotlight:

 The ordeal began on a June morning when Gonzalez, then 36,
awoke at 7:30 a.m., startled and groggy. Her 16-month-old son
had been sick, and Gonzalez slept fitfully; her husband left
earlier to start the first of his two jobs. Like most parents,
Gonzalez’s mind immediately settled on the day’s many tasks,
including taking the children to walk her four-year-old son to the
bus stop. And that’s when the panic surged — she had overslept and
the bus had already departed.

As her eight-year-old daughter dressed for school, Gonzalez and
her son rushed down the stairs from their third-floor apartment in
Schaumburg, Illinois, and looked for the bus. Seeing an empty
street, Gonzalez quickly decided to drive the two miles to
school.

When she returned home after a 20-minute absence, Gonzalez found
her toddler son watching television in bed and her daughter ready
to attend school. She regretted impulsively leaving them alone, but
felt grateful nothing tragic had happened.

The next day, Gonzalez mentioned the incident to her therapist,
a clinic student who helped treat her for depression. “I did
something probably stupid,” Gonzalez recalls saying. Her therapist
remained silent then, but a few hours later, Gonzalez’s phone
rang.

“I talked to my supervisor,” her therapist said, “and I
explained to her what you just told me, and we have to call
[Department of Children and Family Services].” Gonzalez hadn’t
heard of the child welfare agency, but was terrified. “She started
telling me that they were probably going to come and interview and
probably they would take the children away.”

Gee, wouldn’t you love a therapist like that? You’re trying to
deal with depression and next thing you know, your shrink hands you
over to the folks who take children away from their parents. How
very therapeutic!

The laws in 48 states
make therapists and other professionals—doctors, social workers,
etc.—mandated
reporters.  If a professional has reason to suspect a
child is in real danger from a truly abusive parent, it is his/her
job to report the case to the authorities.

Since when is it the professional’s job to snitch on a mom who
confesses to one imperfect parenting moment? Only when imperfect
parenting becomes illegal. Sadly, that’s the moment we are in
now.