LA County Mental Health question

[CornStrategy]

My 12-year-old boy likes to draw. He draws whatever interests him, obsessively, which in the past meant sketchbooks filled with Star Wars and Zelda. When school went virtual in 2020, I let him play video games like Rainbow Six Siege and COD: Warzone to connect online with his classmates. Not surprisingly, he started drawing the guns from the games, and on occasion, operators shooting one another. I know this because he showed me his sketchbooks. While the shooting scenes made me nervous, they were few and far between, and it all made sense in the context of his drawings, namely, scenes and items from Rainbow Six. Besides, I drew mushroom clouds as a kid, since the Cold War was still on and that's what we thought about, with movies like The Day After sitting on our heads. So I decided to encourage my son's gun drawings. I even went so far as to buy him the Smithsonian History of Firearms as a birthday present.

A month or so ago, while in his mom's custody (we split it 50-50 each week), he brought one of his sketchbooks to school, and while away from his classroom for student government, a classmate took the sketchbook from his desk and showed it to the teacher. The book made its way to the principal, and that prompted a call to me.

I told her that he played shooter games, like most boys his age, and that he drew guns from the games. I said I'd seen some of the drawings and they didn't concern me, given the context. I also said he exercised poor judgment in bringing the book to school, since taken out of context, the drawings could scare his classmates. The principal asked if he had access to guns. I said he didn't. She then asked if I owned guns. I repeated my answer from the previous question: He doesn't have access to firearms. She dropped it, then talked a lot about safety, and ended the call by asking to meet with me to discuss the sketchbook. I set up a meeting for the next day, and about an hour before the meeting, the principal's assistant called to cancel the meeting, saying something had come up, and that she'd be in touch shortly to reschedule. That was the last I heard.

Until today. I got a call from LA County Mental Health. They implied that I'm required to meet with them in my own home to discuss things.

Does anyone know what I'm getting into by (1) meeting with a doctor from the county Mental Health department, and (2) by allowing that meeting to take place in my home? What questions will they ask? What are my rights? I really have no idea why the county is getting involved.

EDIT: To clarify, LA County said they want to meet to discuss my son's drawings, and said they'd be meeting with me and my ex, together or separately, our choice.

[Pandanin]

They're probably sending in a social worker instead of a doctor; I'd be really surprised if they sent a psychologist for a house visit.

I would not allow them into my house.

My first tactic would be to decline their invitation to meet. If they insist by threatening to keep your son out of school, meet at their office.

There is no need for a home visit. If they insist they have some right do so, have a lawyer present. The bureaucrats have many weapons available.

[CheapBloke]

Mental health for drawings?

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[CornStrategy]

Mental health for drawings?

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This happened a couple days after that Michigan shooting, so I think the principal had the jitters. But still ...

[CheapBloke]

Should of blamed the drawings on some streets in LA and the BLM riots and Antifa.

Draws a guy in operator uniform? Blame the Antifa and BLM (those rtards that friendly fire on themselves).

Draws a gun? Blame it on the streets of LA, "maybe he saw a gun on the street." Or "maybe he saw a colored individual holding up/burglarizing a store."

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[Yugo]

They're probably sending in a social worker instead of a doctor; I'd be really surprised if they sent a psychologist for a house visit.

I would not allow them into my house.

My first tactic would be to decline their invitation to meet. If they insist by threatening to keep your son out of school, meet at their office.

There is no need for a home visit. If they insist they have some right do so, have a lawyer present. The bureaucrats have many weapons available.

THIS!!!! and LAWYER!!!!!

do not phuk with the state and your child they will take him faster than you can blink.

[MJB]

I would talk with a lawyer

[RickD427]

Be very careful that you don't "Win the Battle" and lose the corresponding "War."

I doubt that you'll be meeting with any doctor. Most likely you'll be meeting with a social worker who is responsible for doing a case assessment.

School employees are mandated reporters for many types of suspected abuse. Some of those construe their mandated responsibilities quite broadly.

Where the suspect abuse was physical abuse in the home, the screening assessments were done by deputy sheriffs. I would get 2-3 of them a month. I'd first meet with the school reporter and would generally be told "I saw a bruise." I'd ask what basis existed to believe the bruise was evidence of abuse (I was a kid once, I got lots of bruises, none of which were abuse). The typical response was "I don't know, I just saw a bruise so I made a report." I'd next make the home visit. That would include an inquiry into the nature of the bruising, but more importantly, I'd look to see if it looked like a properly functioning home, and one where the offered explanation of the bruise was consistent with my observations. Out of maybe a hundred such visits, one or two would be referred to a child abuse detective for follow-up. The other 98 or 99 ended right there.

An unfortunate consequence of the "Mandated Reporter" practice is that there is no vetting of the reports until the DCFS social worker or LEO gets involved. If a four year old tells the teacher that Santa Claus molested him, we're going to do an assessment on Santa Claus.

The key point being that if you frustrate the ability of the social worker to assess the report, you're going to force the social worker to elevate the case. You don't want that.

If that system seems broken to you, don't blame the social worker, blame your elected representatives in Sacramento.

[CornStrategy]

Be very careful that you don't "Win the Battle" and lose the corresponding "War."

I doubt that you'll be meeting with any doctor. Most likely you'll be meeting with a social worker who is responsible for doing a case assessment.

School employees are mandated reporters for many types of suspected abuse. Some of those construe their mandated responsibilities quite broadly.

Where the suspect abuse was physical abuse in the home, the screening assessments were done by deputy sheriffs. I would get 2-3 of them a month. I'd first meet with the school reporter and would generally be told "I saw a bruise." I'd ask what basis existed to believe the bruise was evidence of abuse (I was a kid once, I got lots of bruises, none of which were abuse). The typical response was "I don't know, I just saw a bruise so I made a report." I'd next make the home visit. That would include an inquiry into the nature of the bruising, but more importantly, I'd look to see if it looked like a properly functioning home, and one where the offered explanation of the bruise was consistent with my observations. Out of maybe a hundred such visits, one or two would be referred to a child abuse detective for follow-up. The other 98 or 99 ended right there.

An unfortunate consequence of the "Mandated Reporter" practice is that there is no vetting of the reports until the DCFS social worker or LEO gets involved. If a four year old tells the teacher that Santa Claus molested him, we're going to do an assessment on Santa Claus.

The key point being that if you frustrate the ability of the social worker to assess the report, you're going to force the social worker to elevate the case. You don't want that.

If that system seems broken to you, don't blame the social worker, blame your elected representatives in Sacramento.

Thanks for that perspective.

I set up a consultation with a lawyer. Hopefully he's as knowledgeable on these sorts of issues as the resident experts here. I just want it over and done without further incident.

[RickD427]

Thanks for that perspective.

I set up a consultation with a lawyer. Hopefully he's as knowledgeable on these sorts of issues as the resident experts here. I just want it over and done without further incident.

If you've got an attorney who is experienced in family law matters, he/she/it/other should be pretty well versed in the situations that I described. It's a pretty common occurrence and family law practitioners see it a lot.

[SkyHawk]

An aspiring artist or story-boarder for movies or video games and such would be expected to be talented at drawing such scenes, from an early age.

[Foothills]

Uncooperative parents...

This happened a couple days after that Michigan shooting, so I think the principal had the jitters. But still ...

Yep, and the parents were uncooperative and refused to take it seriously. The parents also bought their kid a gun. And after the parents were uncooperative, the kid shot his classmates.

The politicians will probably provide cover for any social worker who pulls custody for an uncooperative parent right now after that incident.

If you want an attorney present then meet at their office, but don't decline without talking to a child-custody attorney first.

[jeremiah12]

As a teacher, I can say RickD provided good information.

As a teacher, I can say that especially in today's world, there are many teachers and administrators who are overzealous. In urban areas, guns are bad. If a student draws a picture of a gun, it has to be reported. Part of it is CYA. If a school shooting happens and it is discovered later the student had previously drawn pictures of guns, there will be lawsuits and the district will pay out because they should have known.

In high school, I come across several pictures of guns every year. I do not report students just for drawing pictures of guns. Boys ages 14 to 16 just have a fascination with guns and love to draw them and I do not mind if they have finished their work. I do tell them they need to be careful who they show their pictures to.

I would report them if they were exhibiting other types of behavior that gave me concerns that they were a danger to themselves or others. That would include how they interact with other students, any threats they make (verbal or written) and other concerning behaviors. Really, those things that show a student has real issues are what administrators sweep under the rug because in CA they just cannot suspend these students, they are required under state law and Ed. Code to provide the mental health services they need. The problem is, the parents can refuse the mental health services and then the schools have to deal with the kid, allow him to stay in class so he still has his right to his access to an education, and wait for him to go off before he can be removed from class or the campus.

You will very likely be meeting with a social worker. As RickD stated, you do not want to frustrate the social worker and cause your case to be elevated to the next level. You want this to be a one and done.

Having a family law attorney with you is a great idea. The social worker will know in advance if you have any guns registered with the state of CA if that is a concern. If your son having access to them is a concern, expect to be asked to show where they are stored. This is probably why it was suggested the visit occur in your home. The social worker also wants to see what your home looks like. The social worker will likely schedule a visit with

This is a good reason to have your attorney present. You can say no to a request. Expect that a follow up visit will happen, and it will include a Sheriff deputy with a warrant to look at what every you said no to and other things.

Expect things to go bad if you deflect like you did with the principal. When she asked if you owned guns, you did not answer her, you just said that your son did not have access to guns. No matter how you answered, you were not going to win on that one, she was likely going to file a report with CPS and you would still be getting this visit. Deflect with the social worker, and you will be rewarded with even more visits. It is better to have an attorney with you to guide you and be a witness and also keep the social worker honest.

Do not be surprised if the social worker schedules a visit at the home of his mother and does not tell you about that.

I have heard stories from people who have gone through this before. Talk to your attorney before hand and do whatever you need to do to make the visit go well.

How does the mother of your son feel about your guns? I ask this because if she is not comfortable with you having guns when your son is staying with you, she could bring that up with the social worker and it might become an issue.

I do not know how old your son is. The majority of school shooters obtained their guns from their parents. Their parents were sure their kids did not have access to the guns because they were locked up in the safe. The kids made copies of the keys, took the keys, found the combinations, or gained access somehow. I mention this to prepare you for what you might hear in response to you telling them that they are locked up.

I am on your side. I raised a son with guns in the home. My wife did not like it but we were able to figure it out.

Because you and your son's mother are divorced (or never married to begin with) and now a social worker entering the picture, the court can get involved and complicate things.

This is the time to stay calm and play nice. After this, the sketch book stays home. It is sad when we have to teach our children that they cannot even share what they draw with friends at school because if it scares somebody, they can get into trouble.

When I was in school, if somebody looked at our drawings and was scared, the teacher told them to stopped looking at the drawings and they would stop being scared. Also, stop being a tattle tale. Today, it is see something, say something, but do it anonymously.

Personally, if I were the teacher, I would get onto the student who went into your son's desk to take his sketchbook. That kid violated your son's personal space and had no right to go into his desk.

Good luck.

When I was in 6th grade, I drew scenes of nuclear holocaust. This was during the Cold War and once a month we held a duck and cover drill to prepare what to do if the bomb was dropped. It was then I realized ducking under my desk and covering my eyes with my arm would do nothing to protect me from a nuclear blast or the radiation. It would be better for me to go outside and die instantly so I and my friends started drawing scenes of nuclear holocaust and our teachers never said a word.

[jeremiah12]

Yep, and the parents were uncooperative and refused to take it seriously. The parents also bought their kid a gun. And after the parents were uncooperative, the kid shot his classmates.

The politicians will probably provide cover for any social worker who pulls custody for an uncooperative parent right now after that incident.

If you want an attorney present then meet at their office, but don't decline without talking to a child-custody attorney first.

There is no real evidence the parents bought the kid a gun. This is hype from the MSM. The kid was with the father the day he purchased the gun and the kid posted a picture of the gun on social media. From that alone, the media said the father gave the gun to the kid.

The prosecutor in the indictment stated though that on the day of the shooting, the kid took the father's gun out of his sock drawer. There is no allegations he gave it to his son. Neither Federal no Michigan law required the gun to be locked up.

The school messed up. The admin was told by several students that the kid had threatened to shoot up the school and had drawings depicting someone with a gun shooting students at a school, complete blood and bullets drawn. He allegedly told one kid he had a gun in his backpack.

They called the parents in to discuss this and not one administrator though to search his backpack. He was in the office with the gun in has backpack and the administration had him in there waiting for his parents and not one searched him or his pack.

Yes, his parents are jerks and dropped the ball. The admin also screwed up and is trying to cover it up by pointing fingers at the parents.

This kid has a long history of disciplinary issues. There are many reports coming in of threats to shoot up the school. The day before he was searching the Internet at school on how to buy ammo, and he has some pretty graphic pictures of shooting up a school with some very disturbing captions. Put it all together, this is not something a normal kid does. You do not call the kid to the office. You send two people to pick him up from class. One for the kid and the other to take his pack. At my school it would be a SRO and administrator. The SRO for the kid and the administrator for the pack. Administrators can search the pack without a warrant because they have the legal authority to do so at any time on school grounds.

If the kid acts suspicious in any way, he is cuffed. In the office, the pack is search, if something illegal is found, the kid is cuffed and then searched. If a gun is found, the SRO takes over because it becomes a law enforcement matter. The parents will be speaking with their kid at the police department, not at school.

[Jimi Jah]

Teach your kids to fly under the radar. This isn't your Father's America anymore.