June 6, 2005
Milwaukee Bureau of the Child Welfare Department Investigates Homeschool Family
In Milwaukee, an unsuspecting HSLDA member family was visited by a social worker from the Milwaukee Bureau of the Child Welfare Department. Surprise visits by social services are always traumatic and this family's experience was no exception. They called HSLDA for help.
The social worker had received an anonymous tip that the family did not have a toilet, had stuffed a cloth in the hole of the toilet drain, and noxious fumes were endangering the family. The social worker told the family that she was required, as a result, to enter the home and interview all six of the children.
HSLDA Attorney, Chris Klicka, spoke with the social worker while the social worker was at the family's door, and explained that the family had done nothing wrong, and that the allegations were false. Klicka further explained that the family was standing on their Fourth Amendment right to not allow the social worker entry into their home.
Klicka wrote to the social worker explaining the family's Fourth Amendment rights and again verifying the falsity of the allegations. Klicka promised the social worker that the maintenance workers from the family's church would be faxing a notarized letter verifying that there were no toxic fumes in the house and that their bathroom was completely sanitary. He also attached a memorandum to the letter, which described why a search warrant is necessary to gain entry into homes.
After receiving Klicka's letter and the fax from the family's church, the family has had no contact at all with the Child Welfare Department.
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