JP

Camden County

This case upsets me more than the average case.  It goes to show how corrupt our system in New Jersey can be.  DYFS received an anonymous call (although its obvious who called it in) about my client using drugs.  There is no evidence that she has ever used drugs, ever abused alcohol or ever failed a drug test.  For some reason, she decided to go to a DYFS substance abuse evaluation instead of hiring an attorney first.  Now most people in this situation figure, I don’t need a lawyer, I have nothing to hide.  How could I possibly fail a substance abuse evaluation with no drug or alcohol history?  Well, this client had a mother that apparently had some alcohol problems although it debatable as to how serious they actually were.  The DYFS evaluator was not happy with the client’s denials of the drug and alcohol abuse and as a result of her denials and family history, the evaluator thought that the client was minimizing her problems.  As a result, she was referred to out patient substance abuse treatment.  When she refused, DYFS took her to court.

Luckily, our Camden County DCPP Lawyers stepped in to prevent this, but none of this should have ever happened.  She did nothing wrong and this is the last person that DYFS should be focusing on.  So, before you tell yourself that you did nothing wrong and thus, taking a DYFS substance abuse evaluation can’t hurt, read this over carefully.