Cover letter to send CPS?

If anyone wants to take a look at the cover letter we have drafted and give any input on if this is okay to send would be great, thanks!

To Whom It May Concern,

Please see included in this envelope the 5 completed request forms regarding my daughter, SD. There may be another minor child listed in the reports I am requesting as she also lives in the same household, (BM's address). This child, SD's sister, also has my last name, however, is not my biological daughter. It has been proven by court ordered DNA test that I am not SD's sister’s biological father and her mother, BM was verbally ordered by the judge to amend her birth certificate and change her last name in October 2019 after my rights to her were removed. This has not been done so I may have been incorrectly named as sister’s father as well in the reports I am requesting. Unfortunately, since BM has not followed through with amending the birth certificate or last name, it is confusing for both minor children and everyone else and it is assumed I am sister’s father. I did not want to fraudulently name myself on the forms as sister's father to gain access on all reports made regarding (BM's address), but hope as my biological daughter is a minor in the household that she listed in each report.

Thank you,

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I think the wording is

I think the wording is perfect, would it make sense to maybe include copies of the court documents to back up what you are teling them in this cover letter ?

Thank you!

I don't know if that or just adding the sister's birthday would be sufficient?

Please see included in this

Please see included in this envelope the 5 completed request forms regarding my daughter, SD.

There should be another minor child (SD sister name) listed as a resident of the home in the reports I am requesting.. While she shares my last name, it was proven by court ordered DNA test that I am not SD's sister’s biological father. BM is supposed to have the birth certificate ammended but it's possible that I may still be listed as "father" in the reports as I believe she has not had that done to date.

In any case, due to my child's residence in the home, I believe I should be able to recieve documentation of any visits by CPS to ensure I am aware of any and all safety and household concerns. I was surprised that I had not heard of the contact and activity in my child's household and expect to be made aware of any developments and be allowed to request and offer my child support and housing if her home is not deemed a safe place.

Thank you for your assistance with this request. I look forward to reviewing the reports and again am open to offering any additional clarity you may find useful in your investigations.

best regards,

While I agree with what you wrote

I don't think we should be aggressive in terms of saying surprised I was not contacted, etc. until after we receive the copies of the reports. The last time we had to deal with cps, it was a nightmare of hoops to jump through when we were on the offensive of getting information. At this moment the receptionist who is going to complete the paperwork with dates and case numbers is VERY helpful, so I would hate to burn that bridge and make it more difficult before we get information and rather include the other bit about not being contacted to the director after we get all the reports.

Maybe soft peddle it more..

Maybe soft peddle it more.. give them the knowledge that he is willing and able to take his child if they need for that to happen.. and hope that he can be listed as an official parent/guardian that can be contacted. that he would welcome talking to the investigators if they think that would be helpful.

I do think this is a good idea

for sure!

I would probably specify that

I would probably specify that he has no parental rights for SD's sister. Simply stating that he's not a bio father doesn't mean much. Him not having any legal ties to her should be more important here.

I think it would benefit from

I think it would benefit from being more concise. I edited it a bit for clarity and grammar:

Please see included in this envelope the five completed request forms regarding my daughter, <SD's name>. In the interest of clarity, another minor child, <Sister's name>, may be a subject of the reports I am requesting, as she also lives in the same household located at <BM's address>.

This child, <sister's name>, shares my last name; however, a court-ordered DNA test has proven that I am not her biological father. Because <BM's name> has not adhered to a verbal order made by the judge in <county name> to change <sister's name> last name, I want to confirm that I am not identified incorrectly as her biological father in any reports that pertain to her.

I respectfully request that your office provide me with any reports related to my child, <SD's name>, as soon as possible, as I am concerned about the safety of household.

Kind Regards,

<DH's name>

To me this wording sounds

To me this wording sounds better, more concise and simply factual...to the point

Haha I do have the habit of adding more than needed

as well as not being 100% grammatically correct

I get it, I'm an over

I get it, I'm an over-explainer by nature myself! But I volunteer as a CASA for children in foster care, so I work with CPS a lot. The amount of paperwork and reports they are swamped with is absolutely unreal. Something shorter is far more likely to be read and responded to promptly, in my experience. If they need more info to complete your request, they will ask, I promise. But sometimes if they just see a wall of text, they'll move on to work on something else because they're just that overwhelmed.

Makes sense to me!

Which is why I asked for the great minds on here to take a look at what we had drafted! It is easy when it is something that you have emotions about to add more than is necessary versus a third party who has no ties to it.

Honestly I don’t know if they

Honestly I don’t know if they will even read the cover letter, but in my opinion you can just state that older kid is not DH’s, they will just redact her name. When DH requested the CPS report for Spawn accusing SF of SAing her there were a few other girls named in the report and their names were redacted along with Spawn’s brothers name.

Ah, now that is the question do

we want the name redacted? Or leave it be so we get the most information we can?

***EDIT

I went with something in the middle of the advice given:

To Whom It May Concern,

Please see included in this envelope the five completed request forms regarding my daughter, SD. In the interest of clarity, another minor child, SD's sister, may be a subject of the reports I am requesting, as she also lives in the same household located at (BM's address).

The child, sister, shares my last name; however, a court-ordered DNA test has proven that I am not her biological father. Because BM has not adhered to a verbal order made by the judge in (county), to change sister’s last name, I wanted to provide accurate information as well as an explanation if I am named as sister’s father in the reports. In any case, due to my minor child’s residence in the home, I hope to receive documentation of any of the visits to the household located at (BM's address).

I am unsure if my contact information can be listed somewhere in your database to contact me if there are future reports made involving my daughter, SD but if so, would like my information added. I am both willing and able to take my daughter if there are safety and/or household concerns. I would also welcome talking to the investigators in the future if it would be helpful.

Kind Regards,

Leave out the part about your H's parental rights being removed

In the world of CPS, that equates to poor parenting. This situation is of course different but talking to caseworkers, thats what they will automatically presume.

I used to work adjacent to CPS workers and know how they think.

It looks like you updated it and did exclude that. I agree about the conciseness being important. But also, careful how you present yourself.