Did you know that leaving bruises like this on a child is LEGAL in Indiana?? I didn't. Not until my friend's abusive ex-husband left these marks on her son.
CPS said that there were no open sores and he wasn't hospitalized, so in Indiana, as long as it was in the course of corporal punishment, his dad had the right to leave those marks. According to the Montgomery County CPS, this is not excessive.
A complaint with the DCS Ombudsman's office was filed. They said that CPS was right. 
Other abuses followed. One of the children started carrying a knife for protection. On the GAL report, it says that his father put him in a chokehold. His father blamed the mother because she sent their son messages about how to identify abuse. Indiana courts agreed. She has supervised visitation only now with that child. That boy has been driven to contemplate suicide. 
The child's therapist called CPS. They ignored it. Family, friends, and others (it's impossible to know how many, as these calls are confidential) called. CPS blamed the mother and said to stop calling them and using their agency. They told her to tell her friends and family who might be calling to stop calling and using their agency. too. 
Because CPS labeled all these things as "unsubstantiated" the judge did not believe that her ex-husband was actually abusive. Either that or she believed it was ok to hit kids. 
Court for modification of custody is pending. I don't anticipate  it going well for this safe parent. Because her ex didn't act illegally. In Indiana, it's ok to hit your kids like this. 
DCS matters are handled at the state level and we need our legislators, our DCS Director, and our governor to step up. 
We need new laws in place that state it is NEVER ok to leave marks like this on children. 
We need our DCS Ombudsman's office to hold CPS accountable. 
We need MORE FUNDING.
We need post separation abuse laws.

Can we add this to the end:

We need TRAINING for judges, GALs, and CPS case workers to keep them from being so easily fooled by abusers who utilize our judicial system for post separation abuse and further traumatization of children.
We need help. Please sign if you believe we need to stop legalizing child abuse in Indiana.
And call Governor Holcomb to take a stand against child abuse.