Parents: Judy and Roy Greene
You go out to the trailer at Falk’s Family Park on Saturday. Marky is out with his new mentor, Ben Smith, but both parents are home. The trailer smells a little like pee, especially near the bathroom door. The place isn’t a total mess but you see roaches, both dead and alive. You explain who you are, but you can see that they don’t really get it.
They got Marky a puppy and named it Butch. The puppy is wiggly, and Judy smacks it frequently in an ineffective attempt to control the animal. Roy tells you that he builds roads and works for Charles Carp Construction. He’s been with them for a year. Judy’s not working right now. They have lived at Falk’s for about six months.
You ask them why DCP&P came into their lives. Judy says, “It’s not right! They can’t take him from us! I won’t let them!” She is suddenly very upset. “Calm down now, Honey,” Roy tells her. Then, “Hush! Nobody is taking anybody.” He turns to you. “We love Marky—he’s our boy. I just don’t know if Judy can take it. We’ve been married almost 10 years, you know.”
You ask what happened with DCP&P and Roy takes a matter-of-fact tone, like he’s reciting: “They come over to the house and it was dirty. It was really bad, not like today. I told Judy to clean up, but she wasn’t feeling great and couldn’t do it. They said we didn’t have any food. Well, of course we didn’t— it was Friday. We always shop on Friday when I get home from work with my paycheck. I don’t know why they have to butt in! So we had to clean the house all weekend and show them we had food on Monday. Now they want that lady, Miss Monica, to be over here all the time. More butting in.”
You ask how they came to move here from their previous state of residence. Roy looks guarded and he keeps his answer short. All he tells you is that they wanted a change and they heard that it was nice here, with plenty of work.
You remind him about the court date and he says, “Why do we have to go to court? We didn’t do anything wrong.” You decide to leave any explanation to the DCP&P worker and other professionals working with the Greene’s.
- What difference does this information make to the case?
- What are your follow-up questions for these parents or others involved in the case?