I am often asked by prospective clients what their chances are of winning their grievance hearing? Part of that question is the question, “What hurdles will I be facing as I try to get my name off the CACI?”
Based on my experience, I would say the biggest hurdle you will face is this:
In literally almost every CACI grievance hearing I’m in, the social workers and government lawyers involved misstate the child abuse laws. I can’t over-emphasize how bad it is—it happens all the time.
The reason why they don’t know the law very well is because they don’t handle many CACI cases. Most of their work involves a different area of law (such as child dependency law).
But why they misunderstand the law isn’t all that important. You just need to know that it happens.
There are 3 reasons why this should matter so much to you.
The Government’s Misunderstanding of the Law Will Hurt YouThe social worker and government lawyer will interpret the law in a way that makes it harder for you to win your case. Their belief of what the law is, will be worse for you than what the law actually is. They are not your friends. They are not doing you any favors. Their misunderstanding of the law will hurt you.
The Hearing Officer Will Believe ThemFirst, the social workers and lawyers working for the government agency don’t know that they don’t know the law. They think they know the law. That’s why they feel comfortable making conclusions about your case.
You should not trust their conclusions. They concluded that the allegation against you was substantiated, i.e., that you committed the crime called child abuse. But in order to do that, they have to first know the child abuse laws (i.e., what constitutes child abuse and what does not), and then they have to apply the laws to the facts. That’s how they come to their conclusion.
But if they’re wrong about the law, then of course their conclusion is entirely worthless. And there is no reason why you should have any confidence in their conclusions. More to the point, there is no reason why the hearing officer deciding your case should have any confidence that they came to the right conclusion.
However, if the hearing officer only hears their interpretation of the law, and if the hearing officer doesn’t know that they are wrong…then you’ll be stuck.
You Must Educate the Hearing OfficerHere’s the whole point. The only way you can fix the situation is by educating the hearing officer and correcting the errors made by the agency’s social workers and lawyers. It’s not even enough to explain that they got it wrong—you have to show how they got it wrong. You need to be able to point to exact laws involved, so the hearing officer can see them with her/his own eyes.
And if you can’t do it, then you need to have a lawyer by your side who can. It’s the only way to get over this hurdle. And it’s the single most important thing that will help you get your name off the CACI.
Please take advantage of all the information on this site. Get up to speed on the CACI grievance process. Read all the CACI Frequently Asked Questions. Watch the Quick Tip Videos. You’re welcome to learn more about me. Once you’ve done all that, then contact me so we can discuss your case and see how I can help.