<p>well i think its kind of in the middle…as whatever4 posted…if casey used caylee as a threat in order to get what she wanted and the parents kept allowing her to do things she shouldnt, then i think they contributed (dont think they had to abuse her in any way) but without firm guidelines (and apparently George thought there were major problems with casey) she could continue without any repercussions.</p>
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<p>It’s true that such situations are common, but I also know of three-generation families like this where things have worked out well, with the young parent acting responsibly, the grandparents enjoying having the child in the house, and the sharing of child care making it possible for the young parent to get a decent career going and eventually move out on his/her own. I don’t think the family structure is at fault.</p>
<p>I think that there were plenty of behaviors from Casey in advance of Caylee’s death for grandparents to contact a child protection agency.</p>
<p>What behaviors?</p>
<p>Lying, sleeping around, and not working are not reasons for CPS to get involved as long as the child is being fed, clothed, sheltered.</p>
<p>There was no evidence that Caylee was ever left “unattended”…no evidence that she was ever being hit, or not fed, or anything.</p>
<p>One does not need evidence. One can suspect a problem and can contact child protection to investigate and see what help is out there and whether Casye requires any resources, but here are some problems (ie: lying about employement while stealing from parents, friends, grandparents and contributing little to Caylee’s care are starters. Perhaps an explosive disposition is another, but I don’t know as I have not lived in their home. I have heard that parents were walking on eggshells).</p>
<p>It is all a moot point because the way things turned out is that Caylee is dead. It is worth discussing if it can save another young child.</p>
<p><a href=“and%20apparently%20George%20thought%20there%20were%20major%20problems%20with%20casey”>I</a>*</p>
<p>George was annoyed at the lies. When Casey stole $4,000 in cash from her parents and then said the money was “gone” because she was “held up” by robbers who came into her job at Sports Authority, Geo went to SA and found out that the store had not been robbed. </p>
<p>George was also annoyed that Casey raided Caylee’s college fund that he had set up and raided Caylee’s piggy bank where he would deposit his daily change.</p>
<p>George also couldn’t understand WHY Casey never seemed to have any money…even tho she was supposedly working and didn’t have rent/food to pay for. </p>
<p>When George would talk to Cindy and Casey about these concerns, Cindy would shut him down. Cindy seemed to always want “peace” in the household…so no discussion of troubling subjects.</p>
<p>*It is all a moot point because the way things turned out is that Caylee is dead. It is worth discussing if it can save another young child. *</p>
<p>True…but again, if a person currently had a Casey-like mom currently in their life, on what grounds could CPS take the child away?</p>
<p>“We also know that sociopaths aren’t born but made (with a genetic predisposition).”</p>
<p>We do?</p>
<p>@Northeastmom- At least in Florida, it would require much more than being a lying, loose woman in order to be subject to intervention. There was recently a case in Miami-Dade County where two adopted siblings were horribly mistreated and the state failed to respond to concerns from neighbors and teachers. It is a horrible system that has “lost” foster kids and totally missed many obvious signs of abuse. They wouldn’t have even shown up at the Anthony home based on the information that was available at the time.</p>
<p>That is what I understood as well. Cindy seemed to be enabling this behavior by “keeping the peace”. </p>
<p>How did Casey and Caylee have health insurance if she was unemployed? I wondered about this as well.</p>
<p>Involvedmom, it sadly might be true. I just wish someone had tried to have the situation looked into by some professional. I do hear about horror stories, but I also wonder about how many lives have been saved or improved when someone does investigate.</p>
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<p>I agree, Marian. It’s just that when the parent of the young child wants to take advantage of the situation, the grandparents’ hands are tied unless they allow the grandchild to be subjected to the kind of abuse/neglect that might enable the grandparents to gain custody. If they lay down the law for their child, their unemployed child moves out, taking the grandchild into a makeshift environment where the grandparents have no contact with the grandchild and can’t ensure the grandchild is fed, not left unattended, and not exposed to drug use.</p>
<p>But if the grandchild isn’t in a risky situation (and instead is being cared for in the grandparents’ home), the grandparents have no chance of gaining custody/guardianship. They are truly caught between a rock and a hard place.</p>
<p>In my state, free or low-cost health insurance is available through the state for uninsured children of low-income parents. If that is the case in Florida, Caylee may have been insured through a program like that (even if the grandparents paid for it).</p>
<p>The Anthonys needed to file theft charges against Casey to start documenting the issues that might enable them to get custody sometime in the future. But when they raised the theft issue with Casey on the evening of Father’s Day, she took off with Caylee – and the grandparents never saw the little girl again.</p>
<p>I wonder if Casey lacking health insurance came to the parent’s attention.</p>
<p>I did not realize that it was when they confronting Casey with the theft that is when she took off with Caylee.</p>
<p>Neither did I. Is there a causal link?</p>
<p>I know what you mean, northeastmom. It is a terrible shame. My gut feeling is that Casey is such a sociopath that she truly thinks of herself as more important than anybody or anything. Her parents were enablers and must live with the aftermath of their behaivor, as well. The most comforting thing about this is that if she is convicted she will go to jail and sit by herself in a lonely cell and America will have moved onto the next big story. She will not be the center of attention and that will be AWFUL for this self-centered, crazy woman.</p>
<p>There was a case in Wisconsin a few years ago in which grandparents sued for visitation with their grandchild, whom the child’s parent was keeping from them in a situation similar to the Anthonys. The court ruled that there is no such thing as grandparents’ rights, period. What a terrible loss for the grandchild. My parents were barely out of high school when they had me, and my life would not have turned out half as well without the influence of patient, loving grandparents.</p>
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<p>It can go the other way too. Suppose your grandparents had been cruel and manipulating - but with no outward signs that a court could consider evidence? Those grandparents would have the same rights as the well-intentioned ones.</p>
<p>Verdict to be announced at 2:15!</p>
<p>um wow…</p>
<p>Not much comforting going on between George and Cindy. You wouldn’t even know that they know each other.</p>