Help is available to all HSLDA Members
We contacted HSLDA for advice when the Children’s Aid Society (CAS) contacted us to set up a visit with our family. Someone had reported concerns about our children’s education and socialization. During the course of the investigation, we worked with Megen, HSLDA legal counsel, and the Exceptional Needs Specialist, Diane.
We first spoke with Megen, and reviewed our situation at length with her. We discussed how to present evidence of the children’s education to CAS and how to communicate constructively with the worker. We went into the initial visit with CAS feeling calm and prepared, and the meeting went well. The worker initially told us that she would be closing our file. However, she later contacted us to advise that she wished to keep the file open and for us to meet a number of additional conditions. We again spoke with Megen, who assisted us in preparing a plan in response to CAS’ expressed concern, and in understanding which CAS requests were reasonable and which were not.
Megen also put me in touch with HSLDA’s Exceptional Needs Specialist (HSLDA membership includes a free 1-hour consultation with her). Diane was easy to talk to and understood the unique needs of our children. She recommended many resources and connected us to other professionals who were knowledgeable about homeschooling and our children’s needs.
One Call From an HSLDA Lawyer to CAS and Case Closed
Ultimately, Megen contacted CAS on our behalf, confirmed the supports and resources that we had in place, and explained our objections to some of CAS’ requests. That call was successful, and between the call and the plan we had developed together, CAS closed their file. We were very happy with the supports we received through our membership.
D.L., HSLDA Member
