My husband was removed from my home based on a petition to family court from CPS that refers more to an earlier incident that my husband was indicated in that has since been overturned to unfounded and legally sealed than the actual incident that took place in Oct. Another Judge said my husband could come home then CPS filed lies to the family court judge. It is now Feb. And my husband is still not allowed home because the judge has not been made aware that what CPS put in the petition to court has been overturned.
Can I or my husband file a lawsuit against the county for defamation/libel? We have written proof and this has done a lot of harm to my kids not having daddy home.

You can only sue for monetary loss. What is the monetary loss you have experienced?

Do I understand correctly? Some filed a Petition with CPS that caused your husband to be removed from your home. I don't know what "indicated in" means. Do you mean indicted?

At any rate - there was an earlier incident which was based on untrue information, that earlier Petition was dismissed. I have no idea why it would be sealed if it was dismissed - and I'm also in NY.

Based on that earlier Petition and dismissal a Judge said your husband could come home.

CPS has now filed this second Petition which contains info which you can prove is untrue.

How/why hasn't the Judge been made aware that the Petition was dismissed. Overturned is something else, by the way.

I don't see any defamation or libel by the County. Someone gave them info which they believed. Court papers are "sacred." What is said in them is not actionable.

Do I have that right?

(I was actually in Gilboa a week ago working on an accident in Schnectady. Small world!)

I have a 14 year old son that likes to lie and when he gets mad at us goes to school and tells stories. He is in counseling and has been on pins etc. He has also been placed out of district because this school cannot deal with him. He went to school back in March and told a story that landed CPS at our house. At the end of August we received a letter saying that they believed that my husband did something but they just were not sure what. In Oct. after Irene hit us things got very stressful and my husband snapped one night after dirnking and broke in my front door at 3am. I called the cops and took my kids out of the house. He was arrested and spent 5 days in jail because I didn't have the money to bail him out and it was also Columbus day weekend. He went to Albany County jail because Schoharie don't have one right now because of the flood. He went to criminal court and he was released on his own recognince and was allowed to return home to watch the kids while I am at work. That judge did not see him as a threat to the kids at all and he isn't. CPS caught wind that he had been released and filed a petition with Family court to have my husband removed from the home. They based this petition almost entirely on the March incident. Things that my son had said and CPS elaberated things and even included things that were not in the file. The family court judge granted CPS the petition and restraining order not allowing my husband in or near the home or school of my kids. After this my husband appealed the decision on the March incident with the Albany office. We went to family court at the beginning of December and CPS and the judge still won't let my husband come home even though he has done everything asked of him. The next day I got the letter from Albany and it stated that the March incident is "unfounded" meaning they don't believe that anything happened and that the file was to be legally sealed. I called the director of DSS and they were already aware of this when we went to court because they got it by email. Because CPS removed my husband from the home I have had to put my two little ones in daycare and pay for an attorny for myself. My husband was a stay at home dad and I support the family. Come March 1 I will no longer have babysitter because she is having a baby. I don't trust just anyone with my kids and needless to say there are a lot of people out there that are not trust worthy. Come March 1 if my husband is not home I will have to quit my job which means I will probably loose my home and everything.

Oh my gosh! New York State at its lowest!

Do you have an Attorney? I realize money might be tight. Legal Aid MIGHT be able to help you OR a good idea is the County Bar Association which has a list of Attorneys who volunteer their time. You explained it well and I understand what happened.

My sister is a Social Worker for my County and I always hope she's not one of the workers overreacting - and I know they do!

Let me ask her for suggestions and in the meantime try the Bar Association.

And I'll be back!

Yes I have an attorney but my husband has an appointed attorney that is to say the least incompitant. He was given an attorney for the criminal side and ask for the same attorney on the family side but they disn't do that. We ask the court why and they told us that it goes in rounds and he was who was up. I ask my lawyer about that and he said that he has never seen them assign two different attorney's and he was going to look into it. I feel like this has been setup since the beginning. I would really appreciate you getting back to me. I like my attorney but the biggest problem is finding one that is really willing to fight CPS and be aggressive in court. He don't think mentioning the March incident being unfounded will make a difference but I disagree and to him if he is concerned about his relationship with the county I will mention it. Our next court date isn't until March 1. I will call the Bar and see what they say. Do you think I have a case for a suit?

At this point unless it's GROSS (really, really big) incompetence I don't think you do. Cases against the County and State are very expensive because you have to prove that "they" are out to get you... and not just incompetent.

My feeling is that the initial order to remove your husband from the house was based on nothing. I would think that WOULD be important. The present problem appears to hinge on the "old" problem so, yes, I'd say it's important.

Waiting to hear from my sister -

So let me see if I understand this:

There was an incident in March of last year.

And another incident in October of last year. There was something to this, but this case was dismissed.

And then CPS came back and got an order based upon the earlier, March incident. They have now recanted and announced that there is nothing to the March incident either. But your lawyer can't get a hearing at which to get this resolved until after your babysitter will be gone.

Have you lawyer look into getting an emergency order suspending the current restraining order pending the March hearing. If he can get a stipulation from CPS, I don't see why that shouldn't work.

The argument in Oct. was between me and my husband (granted it started because of my 14 year old) he still faces criminal charges but it is going to IDV court. The Oct. incident had absolutely nothing to do with the kids and he never even laid his hands on me. He was just drunk and busted in my front door at 3am and busted up some furniture in the house. He then refused to come out of the house after I left with the kids and because there were rifles in my hime the cops never even went to the house until after he surendered. My neighbor was on the phone with him the whole time and talked him into walking 1/2 mile down the road to there house and where the cops were. The petitition that CPS filed in family court was combined with the March and Oct. incident but took things out of context from my statement and 90% of the petition was about March.
We had a bad flood up here that flooded the court house jail and county offices so the court docket is very full and my lawyer won't ask for a court date until we have this meeting with all of the players and some mediators to try and get my husband home. This was supposed to have been done 2 months ago and someone dropped the ball. I am on the phone daily and really feel like I am getting nowhere. DSS tells me that my husband has been given more supervised time than anyone else would have in this situation. I think it is because I have been calling Albany and they know they lied and are just trying to keep my mouth shut. I can't wait to tell the judge that they had information at the last court hearing that they didn't disclose that could have changed the decision of the court. All they said at the last court date was we need more time. More time to make sure my husband don't drink again. He has been through all of his classes and they still won't let him home. I am really tired of them stereo typing him. They seem to think he is at the bars all of the time but he hasn't been to a bar since the 98 news years eve.

The courts just postponed my court date again now until March 22. I need to petition the court for an earlier court date how can I do that? I need to get rid of my lawyer. I can no longer afford him and I am doing most of the work.