Portsmouth police spent hours trying to get Children Services to respond after a child endangering case involving two minors.
The call started around 11:20 a.m. when a woman contacted police to report an incident that happened at her sister’s home on Harding Avenue.
The original call was described as a verbal altercation, but the situation quickly became more serious.
According to the police log, Children Services was notified through the answering service around 12:40 p.m.
By early afternoon, officers were still waiting for a decision on whether CPS would respond.
One officer noted that he had explained the mother was being charged with child endangering and that family may have been lined up for the two minors to stay with. However, the log said CPS still had to check with a supervisor before deciding “what and if” they were being called out.
A little later, police again noted that Children Services had assigned the matter to a new callout person who also needed to call a supervisor.
The officer wrote that the situation had been ongoing since late morning and that there had still been no response.
Eventually, a CPS worker decided to respond after no one else had shown, according to the log.
Officers transported the children to a Wilson Avenue address, where they waited for Children Services to arrive for a final inspection and safety plan.
Police issued a summons for child endangering.
CPS workers later arrived on scene, handled the situation, and obtained the information needed.
The police log said the CPS workers who responded were cooperative once they arrived.
The woman appeared in Portsmouth Municipal Court the next day and was released on her own recognizance. A hearing was set for Sept. 15.
The case highlights a problem officers have raised before: when police are dealing with children, charges, family placement, and safety plans, delays can leave officers standing by for hours while waiting for the agency with authority over child placement to make a decision.
In this case, police documented the delay, transported the children, issued a summons, and waited until CPS could finish the safety plan.
The charge is an allegation. The woman is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
