Hi there -

I'm a bit of a newbie. I'm the one that posted before about my "I'm partially home bound, what's the best Al-Anon book to start off with since face-to-face meetings are hard to get to?" situation. I decided on "Paths To Recovery", and it just arrived yesterday. :)

After my first chat room meeting a few weeks ago, I was explaining the situation with my AS (would that be the abbreviation? Alcoholic sister?), and the abuse her children are enduring. I will explain it here, too, because if there's any other input y'all have, I'm all ears.

She says she's sober right now, and seems to be as far as I can tell, but, ya know, who knows. Her kids, though, my niece and nephew, ages 12 and 11, have suffered abuse for years - physical, mental, emotional, with occasional neglect. CPS has been called in multiple times, both by me and their schools. She was charged with child endangerment when she got her DUI, since they were in the car, but for some reason, after CPS talked with her, they dropped those charges. They suggested "voluntary rehab", and all she heard was "voluntary". I had to ask if I could drive them home about 5 months ago, because my sister had driven them to an after-school performance drunk. That means when she's not sober, she's driving them around drunk.

Once, when I happened to be at their old apartment, they called the cops for something different. When I spoke with the officers, they said they knew this address well.

It's gotten worse now, though, because their dad got out of prison in January, and is living with them. My nephew has told me that he beats him. Their dad is a Crip, and now, quite literally, the gang's all back together. My sister told me that he took my nephew out to drink with his buddies, using the excuse "It's better he does it with me than his friends". Seriously, y'all, my nephew doesn't have any friends around him to be drinking buddies. I'm getting seriously concerned for my niece, too. She may be 12, but she's 5'11" and maturing quickly. Her dad started calling her a "Ho" back in January, and I can't imagine it's any better with his friends. Just the whole gang culture thing.

To be totally honest, even with this new information about their dad beating my nephew, and how he's treating my niece, I'm afraid to call DHS. Even though it's anonymous, the details I can provide are things only I know because my sister or the kids told me. The only possible person I can think of that they would think called is a neighbor, especially since they just moved into this place. It was hard to call before, when it was just my sister. But now? Their dad is dangerous. He doesn't know where I live, but my sister and the kids do.

Well, a few of you suggested that I contact a Family Law Attorney. I'm on SSDI, so I'm pretty poor. So, I applied for Legal Aid today. I want to talk to an attorney about what to do. In my state/county, it's kinda that nightmare scenario with CPS that I've heard of, but never really believed until I started reporting. They don't have enough case workers, they have high turnover rates from burnout, and so it's usually the most extreme cases that are vigorously worked. They have a years-long case file on her, but apparently it's still not enough to do anything.

So, I think this is the best course right now, talking to an attorney for advice. I've been praying, and turning this over to my Higher Power, and trying to let go of expectations of outcomes. You know, trying. I can't save them - which suuuuucks, because my rescue instincts are in overdrive. I still want to do everything I can to protect them. I also don't want to get hurt in the process, which now, is a real possibility. That one's hard, because it feels super selfish. It's been helpful to hear from more sane minds that yes, protecting myself is priority one. It's just that the guilt sets in, and I start to not believe it. This just sucks all around. I hate this disease.

Any additional suggestions would be appreciated.