The best thing they should have done was just a huge sweep through the area with social workers and detectives interviewing the children. In California sometimes they have sweeps through entire neighborhoods with probation,parole, police, child welfare and welfare fraud. Then there would could be detentions on some cases on the spot or some could be left in the home with further visits. To pull 20 year old Sister Jones's three kids who are 3, 2 and 1 because every other kid is being pulled is crazy and civil suits can/should follow. There are problems with siblings and half siblings and those living under the same roof. For example - in California if a child is taken out of the home for physical abuse or sexual abuse all the other children can be taken out of the home too.
(j) The child's sibling has been abused or neglected, as defined
in subdivision (a), (b), (d), (e), or (i), and there is a substantial
risk that the child will be abused or neglected, as defined in those
subdivisions. The court shall consider the circumstances surrounding
the abuse or neglect of the sibling, the age and gender of each
child, the nature of the abuse or neglect of the sibling, the mental
condition of the parent or guardian, and any other factors the court
considers probative in determining whether there is a substantial
risk to the child.
the legislature in California added this too:
It is the intent of the Legislature that nothing in this section
disrupt the family unnecessarily or intrude inappropriately into
family life, prohibit the use of reasonable methods of parental
discipline, or prescribe a particular method of parenting. Further,
nothing in this section is intended to limit the offering of
voluntary services to those families in need of assistance but who do
not come within the descriptions of this section. To the extent that
savings accrue to the state from child welfare services funding
obtained as a result of the enactment of the act that enacted this
section, those savings shall be used to promote services which
support family maintenance and family reunification plans, such as
client transportation, out-of-home respite care, parenting training,
and the provision of temporary or emergency in-home caretakers and
persons teaching and demonstrating homemaking skills. The Legislature
further declares that a physical disability, such as blindness or
deafness, is no bar to the raising of happy and well-adjusted
children and that a court's determination pursuant to this section
shall center upon whether a parent's disability prevents him or her
from exercising care and control. The Legislature further declares
that a child whose parent has been adjudged a dependent child of the
court pursuant to this section shall not be considered to be at risk
of abuse or neglect solely because of the age, dependent status, or
foster care status of the parent.
As used in this section, "guardian" means the legal guardian of
the child."
that is why this gets so messy because family A should be able to get family preservation services while maybe family B does not but if they both live under the same roof then you might have to look how the courts ruled in previous cases like this.
for futher information: (for california)
http://www.cwsl.edu/content/faculty/WEL ... 300300.pdf