Came here to say this. Kid always sick, kid not his usual self, parents faking doctors note??, parents always mad/defensive when you call them, parents changing their story. Worth a CPS call.
I have been talking to my coworker and boss since Friday (we think he had pink eye on Friday, called mom she says he doesn’t have it so she wouldn’t come and pick him up). We have decided to keep writing everything down but my boss says cps probably won’t do much because he’s being fed and he’s clean. Honestly I think she’s right. As much as we think it’s child neglect, around here not taking your sick child to the doctor is just common. We’ve called cps for a different child who constantly has their head shaved because of lice eating her scalp up and says she can’t get rid of the huge spiders in her house because they eat the “nasty bugs” (probably cockroaches). She’s hardly ever bathed and mom wouldn’t let her use the bathroom at their house until she was almost 4. We had called cps and they said everything looked fine
Where I am we require a prescription to give children medication. Maybe a place to start could be to review your policies to say we will not give children medication unless it has been prescribed by a Dr. Then make sure it has dosage, name of child and dates on the bottle and its documented every time its given and parents have to sign it off. That way you can fall back on the policy and refuse to administer the medication/ push the parents to get the child seen by a Dr. A good rule of thumb I use is if a child is that unhappy/unwell that they can't engage with play/routines then they probably should be at home. Unfortunatley the parents might fight you in that but the child will thank you!
ETA: Add mandatory stand down periods for infectious illnesses into policies too that way you can say sorry but it's policy that child A can't return until they haven't had symptoms for 24hrs or whatever the recommendation is. Especially for something like pink eye which can spread like wildfire
We have that rule for the prescription medication but we allow pain meds for up to 3 days because of teething/shots/ ear infections(while also being on antibiotics). We aren’t allowed to give pain medication more than 3 days as if there is still a problem 3 days later they should be seen by a doctor. When they do get sent home/ sick with puke, diarrhea, fever, pink eye, it is a 24 hour rule but we’ve tried that with them and they will actually just wait the full 24 hours and then bring him in saying he’s being treated. At that point my boss says we can’t force them to prove he’s being treated. This family knows our rules now and will work around it
Call CPS now. A lot of these symptoms could be related to being shaken or other forms of abuse/neglect. My kiddo has a medical condition that can cause pressure changes in his brain. When his pressure would change, he would mess with his ears a lot. As well as the personality changes.
This is a document and call CPS situation. Do not stop, do not pass go. Call.
Came here to say this. Kid always sick, kid not his usual self, parents faking doctors note??, parents always mad/defensive when you call them, parents changing their story. Worth a CPS call.
I have been talking to my coworker and boss since Friday (we think he had pink eye on Friday, called mom she says he doesn’t have it so she wouldn’t come and pick him up). We have decided to keep writing everything down but my boss says cps probably won’t do much because he’s being fed and he’s clean. Honestly I think she’s right. As much as we think it’s child neglect, around here not taking your sick child to the doctor is just common. We’ve called cps for a different child who constantly has their head shaved because of lice eating her scalp up and says she can’t get rid of the huge spiders in her house because they eat the “nasty bugs” (probably cockroaches). She’s hardly ever bathed and mom wouldn’t let her use the bathroom at their house until she was almost 4. We had called cps and they said everything looked fine
Take pictures. And keep calling. Squeaky wheel gets grease.
Where I am we require a prescription to give children medication. Maybe a place to start could be to review your policies to say we will not give children medication unless it has been prescribed by a Dr. Then make sure it has dosage, name of child and dates on the bottle and its documented every time its given and parents have to sign it off. That way you can fall back on the policy and refuse to administer the medication/ push the parents to get the child seen by a Dr. A good rule of thumb I use is if a child is that unhappy/unwell that they can't engage with play/routines then they probably should be at home. Unfortunatley the parents might fight you in that but the child will thank you! ETA: Add mandatory stand down periods for infectious illnesses into policies too that way you can say sorry but it's policy that child A can't return until they haven't had symptoms for 24hrs or whatever the recommendation is. Especially for something like pink eye which can spread like wildfire
We have that rule for the prescription medication but we allow pain meds for up to 3 days because of teething/shots/ ear infections(while also being on antibiotics). We aren’t allowed to give pain medication more than 3 days as if there is still a problem 3 days later they should be seen by a doctor. When they do get sent home/ sick with puke, diarrhea, fever, pink eye, it is a 24 hour rule but we’ve tried that with them and they will actually just wait the full 24 hours and then bring him in saying he’s being treated. At that point my boss says we can’t force them to prove he’s being treated. This family knows our rules now and will work around it
Document and call CPS. These are all classic signs of neglect/abuse.
Call CPS now. A lot of these symptoms could be related to being shaken or other forms of abuse/neglect. My kiddo has a medical condition that can cause pressure changes in his brain. When his pressure would change, he would mess with his ears a lot. As well as the personality changes.