My son has had diabetes for nearly six years and I have never missed an appointment, but his behavior has changed for the worse and I have tried so hard to find help. His levels are unmanageable to the point that a teacher, who is diabetic, turned me in to Child Protective Services (CPS). I am angry because I am working with the doctors and, if anyone has the right to call CPS on me, it should be his doctors, not some diabetic teacher who only had contact with my son for 45 days. Diabetes is hard enough, but then you add behaviors issues that I don’t know where they are coming from (they say depression), but I don’t know what else to do. Have you ever run into this before? Have you come across people who think they know more than the doctors? The worst thing is that they didn’t even come to me or the doctors about their concerns.

It sounds like you are very frustrated. I am sure you know, a teacher does have a right to report suspicion of neglect or abuse to the state’s CPS division. However, I agree that it is good practice to discuss this concern with the family before filing a report of suspected neglect or abuse to CPS (unless you think the child would be put in more danger by discussing this issue with the parent first). It sounds like this teacher has already gone to CPS, so I assume that CPS will be required to investigate this claim to see if they agree with the teacher’s allegations. It may turn out that CPS does not agree with the teacher’s report. I would hope that CPS will do a thorough investigation, which includes talking to you, your child, and your child’s health care team so that CPS can have a better perspective of what is going on and how hard it is to manage pediatric diabetes.

You also mentioned that your son is having behavior problems and that you worry that he is depressed and that you have been trying to find help. Has your child met with a mental health counselor about some of your concerns? I wonder if your son’s diabetes health care team can recommend a mental health counselor that understands pediatric diabetes related issues. Also, children and teens that are burned out from having diabetes and/or are depressed can often benefit from more adult involvement for diabetes tasks. Can you and the school nurse take over all of the blood sugar checks and insulin administration, and other diabetes specific tasks for now? This may help your son as well.

DB