Because I was a caseworker, I knew of the impact of DFCS on families, and I knew that most of our interventions were positive for the children and families involved. DFCS is in the business of helping families and children, yet I frequently found myself having to defend the work my agency was doing. This constant need to defend and explain DFCS was the impetus for this book. With the constraints of confidentiality there was not the option of telling the facts about a particular case. I was often shocked by the magnitude of misinformation presented to me as fact—and often by professionals as well as the general public. The longer I was an employee of DFCS, the more often I was put in the defense mode. There was a need for facts and common sense with respect to social services. This book is one way to provide information and understanding to more than one person at a time.

This book conveys the process of investigating allegations of child abuse. Of the thousands of cases I investigated, I have chosen ones that represent common reports received by DFCS on any given day in any social services agency.