A member in a Northeastern state was faced with an allegation after only eight days on the job as an educational childcare provider. Law enforcement and Child Protective Services (CPS) launched an investigation, and several staff members—four caregivers and the owner—were interviewed.
Our member had been hired as the educational director and was still in training at the time of the allegation—she hadn’t been interacting with children at all. In fact, she’d spent the entire day in question in the office with training staff, away from the care areas entirely. Once the two-month-long investigative process began, she was assigned to be the school’s liaison for investigators and any other agents involved with the case. All of these factors affirmed her belief that she was not a subject of the investigation.
At the conclusion of the investigation, our member was informed in a one-on-one debriefing meeting with a CPS investigator that the owner and the caregivers would be receiving “indicated” letters, signifying that credible evidence of abuse or neglect had been found. She was told the CPS investigation was done. She promptly reported these facts to her management and documented the conclusion of the CPS investigation. Notably, despite CPS mandatory protocols that require written notification to and an interview of anyone under investigation, during the entire process, no one alluded to or notified our member that she was even being considered as a subject.
Days later, she received a phone call out of the blue, followed by two letters. One letter was a backdated “first notice.” The other was an “indicated” finding against her. Both were sent after the investigation had been deemed concluded. The timing raised serious concerns about how this was handled. It looked like a violation of procedures—and perhaps something more troubling. She had never received proper or timely notice and had never been afforded the opportunity to affirm in an interview her lack of involvement in the matter.
At that point, she was shocked. Her reputation, her career, and everything she had worked for were on the line. That’s when she reached out, and Christian Educators stepped in to support her. Thankfully, her records documented a detailed account of where she was and what she was doing that day, demonstrating she had no association with the incident. We built her appeal around those records and the dubious inferences raised by the questionable timing of the investigative letters. Only a matter of weeks after submitting the appeal, the state rescinded the earlier finding and assured her name was cleared.
All were relieved, to say the least. Throughout the process, we turned to God in prayer and felt He was walking with her. We praise God for guiding her through what was a truly harrowing ordeal.
