Five Normal Things DCFS Doesn’t Always Like to See

Extended Co-Sleeping

DCFS likely won’t think anything of a bassinet in your room, especially if you just had a baby. However, they might not be excited about extended co-sleeping. Many parents choose to share a room with their newborn baby for the first three to six months, as the baby will typically need multiple feedings during the night. Extended co-sleeping refers to bed with the parent(s) past infancy. An example may be allowing your seven-year-old to sleep in your bed. While some practice extended co-sleeping, research suggests that this practice is damaging to a child’s development. Studies have shown that extended co-sleeping puts children at an increased risk for anxiety disorders, depression, aggression, problems with attention, and a lack of independence. While extended co-sleeping by itself is unlikely to cause you to lose all rights to your children, it should be understood that DCFS does not generally like to see it.

Clutter and/or Dirt

While it is normal to live in a house that didn’t come out of Martha Stewart’s magazines, it’s not normal to live in a filthy house. Sure, there will be glasses of water left out every now and then. Maybe there’s a wrapper left under the cushion. But there should never be mold, rotting food, or filth coated floors. Nobody expects your home to be spotlessly cleaned and organized, but if it’s excessively dirty, that could pose a safety hazard to the children in the home. Clutter may be another problem. It’s not necessarily expected that homes are 100% clutter-free. However, at a certain point, a home can become a fire hazard. This can be a particular concern for homeowners suffering from hoarding disorders. Not only can clutter cause a fire hazard, it can also be a sanitary concern. Even if the person isn’t preoccupied with hoarding rotting food and/or trash, clutter could attract rodents whose waste could transmit disease.

Too Many Indoor Pets

Too many indoor pets may be a concern for multiple reasons. Normally, DCFS is not going to be concerned with the number of pets you have, assuming they’re appropriately cared for and they’re not causing issues within the home. However, at a certain point, having a large number of indoor pets can cause sanitation problems, especially if you have a large number of pets such as cats, rodents, birds, etc. This can be an even greater problem of these pets are at liberty to wander around your home and they aren’t trained to use the bathroom in a litter box or outdoors. A significant number of pets may also negatively impact the air quality within your home. If you have a child who’s suffering from a health concern that is caused by the animals or negatively impacted by the animals, having an excessive number of pets may not be pleasing to DCFS. Similarly, if you have an animal who has a history of aggression and/or may pose a danger to the children, DCFS may not be happy to see that.

Lack of Hygiene

A child’s personal hygiene may give a lot of insight into the parenting style, potential mental health concerns with the child, and behavioral issues. Children should bathe regularly, and the American Academy of Pediatrics states that most children are able to bathe themselves unsupervised by the age of six or seven. Bathing regularly is only one part of hygiene. Children should also have good dental hygiene. While children can brush their own teeth from a very young age, children may need to be reminded and nagged about brushing their teeth for a shockingly long time, but these reminders are important because good dental hygiene is important. If your child’s teeth are discolored, rotting, or filled with cavities, that may not look good to DCFS—especially if the child hasn’t been to the dentist and there is no plan in place to care for the child’s dental needs. Lastly, children should be wearing clean clothes that aren’t filled with holes and/or are appropriate for the weather.

Alcohol and/or Legal Substances

Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean that DCFS wants to see it out in the open, littered all over your house, and in reach of a child. If you have legal substances such as recreational cannabis (this is still state-dependent) and/or alcohol, you need to take proper precautions to ensure that your children are kept safe, especially when you’re ingesting the substances. You should never get so intoxicated that you’re unable to care for your children. All such substances should be kept far out of the child’s reach. If you have cannabinoid products that could be confused as candy, you may need to take extra precautions to ensure that children do not come into contact with that substance, as there’s a very real risk that they may assume that it is candy and that it’s safe to eat.