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Cindy1302's avatar

Should I report my friend to cps?

Asked by Cindy1302 (806points) September 7th, 2022

My friend lives in a mobile home with her 1 and 2 year old. I visited a couple days ago, and there are little specks of mold near the ceiling in her bathroom. A couple months ago in the other bathroom I noticed mold allover the walls and ceiling. Her dad remodeled it and it looks very nice, although I don’t know if he just painted over the mold or actually replaced the sheet rock. There have also been several leaks in the mobile home. They’ve been fixed but there are still large water stains on the ceiling that have a black hue to them. She was talking about just painting over them. I’ve pointed out the mold a long time ago, and she just brushed it off, so im afraid that if I report her then she would know its me. What do I do?

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16 Answers

Hawaii_Jake's avatar

Do nothing.

chyna's avatar

Mind your own business.

KNOWITALL's avatar

Your unprofessional opinion can’t be valued, no offense. She can install a fan or have drywall replaced. A few spots may be mildew, it often is.
We only call CPS for very serious issues like starving, molestation, etc.. Not a few spots on a wall.

LadyMarissa's avatar

Mind your own business!!!

Jessiemax's avatar

If I were you, I’d mind my business.

WhyNow's avatar

Help her. Two young kids must keep her very busy. Bleach is a very effective mold killer.
Buy a little bleach and some gloves maybe even paint. Make a day of it.

Myself, I would never ever walk away from a friend who needs help

Good luck to you both… I mean the four of you.

Pandora's avatar

Instead of helping your friend you seek to condemn your friend and upset the whole family. If you are a true friend you would offer to help them remove the mold not remove a family. Your friend is probably doing all they can afford to do. If it’s a matter of understanding research articles about mold and pointing out to them why it is unhealthy and then offering to help them remove it.
And if you desire not to help them, then do nothing and as suggested, mind your own business. One of the things you can look up and show her is that mold can do extreme long term damage to the home that will be more costly to repair if they wait too long.

My BIL found that mold in his rental home bathroom came from a leak in the bathroom. When they went to fix the leak, it ended up costing him 23 k to rip up the whole bathroom and walls and replace everything. The mold was behind the walls. The same thing happened to a neighbor of mine.
Easier to deal with and cheaper to deal with replacing a few panels of drywall or floorboards than everything in the bathroom and paying for the mold to be professionally removed because it got out of control.

Also if she has children with allergies and asthma, even mild mold can be dangerous. You can show her articles on that.
A sure sign of a bad case of mold is you can smell it and you get lots of headaches and allergies at home but feel better when outdoors. A lot of people don’t understand the dangers of mold, but reporting your friend will not help them if they can’t afford to go anywhere else.

Zaku's avatar

No. But you could explain your concern to her, and tell her about the free mold inspection service you found and can give her the number to, which you researched before talking to her about it.

filmfann's avatar

Help her with the issue.
Reporting her will only make things worse.

Forever_Free's avatar

No.
If you are concerned for your friend and her children then focus your energy on informing your friend and helping her. She may be in denial and overwhelmed by what it will take to remediate this.

janbb's avatar

I remember your first questions about mold in the schools. You are not responsible for being the Mold Police. If it is a problem for you, let your friend know or visit with her somewhere else.

jca2's avatar

As a former worker of that type, I can tell you I don’t believe that to be “CPS worthy.” If the house had no heat, in the freezing weather, that would be. If the house were filled iwth vermin (rats, etc.), that would be. No food, that’s a report. Child is chronically dirty, child has no appropriate clotehs for the weather, child not going to school, child not being brought to the doctor or dentist,or for therapy, those are all neglect. Child being physically abused, sexually abused, etc. those are all report-worthy. Child being hit with anything other than an open hand, (meaning hit with an object like a shoe, spoon, belt, electrical cord, piece of wood), those are considered abuse. Child being hit hard enough, even with open hand, but to leave a bruise or mark, that’s worthy.

What you’re talking about is a nosy friend, who may be well meaning but is a but too out of line with nosey-ness (that means you). Please back off.

RayaHope's avatar

I have nothing to add but LISTEN TO EVERYONE ELSE!

cheebdragon's avatar

You’ve already mentioned to your friend that you suspect there is mold in the bathroom. CPS can’t tell her who reported her but they can tell her what she was reported for and she’s going to realize that it was you. Do you think she’d ever want to hangout with you again after that?

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