All I know is that school counselors are mandatory reporters. The counselor would call CPS right fucking now. Depending on how much she told him/her, and how much she and her siblings told CPS, I'd assume all three kids would be immediately removed from the home. Not sure about the arrest. If the acid incident comes to light, certainly.
1) School counselors are mandated reporters - they have to report every instance or potential instance of child abuse they observe or that is reported to them immediately.
2) Maybe yes, but it would probably depend on the severity of abuse and prior involvement. 3) The immediate concern would be where there is space for them, except in cases such as developmental delays or extreme abuse. Although most states try to keep siblings together, sometimes that's not possible. In most states, a family placement would be preferred, so if the kids had an in-state aunt, uncle, grandparents etc. that would take them this would probably be the first choice for placement.
I'm going to disagree with the previous commenters on your first question, for two reasons.
One, yes, school counselors are mandated reporters. That does not mean they follow through on this obligation every time--I know someone whose counselor knew about abuse (as did their teachers) and did not call CPS. This was in public schools, late 90s through early 2000s, in the US. So I could see the counselor not calling, potentially (though there will be serious problems for the counselor if abuse comes to light, as well as the counselor suspecting or knowing of abuse and not contacting CPS).
Two, you said that she contacts the counselor because she's not being allowed to study. That alone doesn't qualify as mandatorily-reported abuse, as I understand it, or even neglect, as she's sixteen and not, say, eleven. If the girl doesn't tell the counselor about the other abuse, I could see this being overlooked, at least for a short time.
If she is not going to school, but is enrolled in one, (eg her parents signed her up in the local school and then decided not to let her attend) after a certain number of absences whoever monitors attendance (counselor, social worker or maybe a dean of students) would have to alert the authorities. The parents would then have to prove that she was either enrolled elsewhere or they were homeschooling her. Even if they didn't and said they would make sure she got to school, they would most likely be flagged for followup.
I'm not sure how difficult proving homeschooling would be though. I work in a different state so I can't give you specifics, but in my state it is 15 unexcused absences.
"If she is not going to school, but is enrolled in one, (eg her parents signed her up in the local school and then decided not to let her attend) after a certain number of absences whoever monitors attendance (counselor, social worker or maybe a dean of students) would have to alert the authorities."
I'm not sure if this has changed since the late 90s, but when I dropped out of school, there were two ways to do it--have a parent sign your form, or simply stop attending. After 10 consecutive unexcused absences, you were dropped from the roles. No one ever called the house, or the authorities.
In 2001, I moved to Germany. My family stayed in the states for a few months to tie up loose ends. A month after I stopped showing up, the school called and wanted to know about my text books and if I had turned them in. I was fourteen, so definitely still legally required to go to school. My mom assured them that I had turned in my books and that I was in Germany, and that was that. The school didn't care where I was or why I wasn't going, they were just worried about their books.
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2) Maybe yes, but it would probably depend on the severity of abuse and prior involvement.
3) The immediate concern would be where there is space for them, except in cases such as developmental delays or extreme abuse. Although most states try to keep siblings together, sometimes that's not possible. In most states, a family placement would be preferred, so if the kids had an in-state aunt, uncle, grandparents etc. that would take them this would probably be the first choice for placement.
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One, yes, school counselors are mandated reporters. That does not mean they follow through on this obligation every time--I know someone whose counselor knew about abuse (as did their teachers) and did not call CPS. This was in public schools, late 90s through early 2000s, in the US. So I could see the counselor not calling, potentially (though there will be serious problems for the counselor if abuse comes to light, as well as the counselor suspecting or knowing of abuse and not contacting CPS).
Two, you said that she contacts the counselor because she's not being allowed to study. That alone doesn't qualify as mandatorily-reported abuse, as I understand it, or even neglect, as she's sixteen and not, say, eleven. If the girl doesn't tell the counselor about the other abuse, I could see this being overlooked, at least for a short time.
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I'm not sure how difficult proving homeschooling would be though. I work in a different state so I can't give you specifics, but in my state it is 15 unexcused absences.
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I'm not sure if this has changed since the late 90s, but when I dropped out of school, there were two ways to do it--have a parent sign your form, or simply stop attending. After 10 consecutive unexcused absences, you were dropped from the roles. No one ever called the house, or the authorities.
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