How would California Child Protective Services deal with a feral humantaur child?

Question

For the last thirteen years, Kerner Syndrome children, known colloquially as humantaurs (as in the image below, having a fully functional second abdomen and second pair of legs, plus a horse-like tail complete with hair similar to scalp hair) have been born at a rate of 1 in 100,000 births. It is not yet known what causes them to be born, but they are born healthy as often as normal children despite their radically altered anatomy, and as Kerner children have matured, it has been found that they have significant advantages in athletic endeavors that involve running. Their mental capacity has not been found to be statistically different to that of children with normal anatomy.

However, the rarity and unusual appearance of Kerner Syndrome persons has led to some being discriminated against and verbally and/or physically abused, they have difficulty in obtaining clothing, and they have difficulty using furniture and vehicles designed for normal humans.

The situation in the Marble Mountain Wilderness is that for the last few years, there have been unconfirmed reports by a few hikers and riders that a humantaur girl has been seen in the area, and was thought to be a runaway, abandoned or feral child. Two blurry long-range photographs taken on separate occasions have been presented, but NPS Rangers could not rule out the possibility that the child was in the company of one or more adults who had simply not been seen by those making the reports.

However, confirmation of the Kerner girl living in the wilderness area has been obtained when the 12 year old Kerner son of a serving US Army Ranger met and befriended the Kerner girl, and through conversation with her learned that she has survival skills that would have taken years of dedicated study to acquire, that she is 11 years old, that it is likely that she has been living in the area for at least four years, and that she does not typically wear either clothing or footwear during spring or summer beyond a pair of belts upon which she carries her tools. Further discreet investigation by the US Army Ranger revealed that after one of the girl's meetings with his son, the girl made no attempt to leave the area and return to civilization as his son did after the meeting, no other people were present anywhere nearby, and that no parents matching the family name and description of their occupations that she gave to his son (mother: 'mayor or something', father: doctor) can be found.

The US Army Ranger and the NPS Rangers to whom he reported this situation believe that the humantaur girl is most likely an unreported runaway, abandoned or feral child, and that the appropriate course of action would be to report the presence of the child to California's Child Protective Services (CPS).

The question I would like answered is: What would California CPS do about an 11 year old girl living alone in a wilderness area, and if they attempted to apprehend her, how might they go about it?

Any actions taken to apprehend the girl would be complicated by the size of the wilderness area (978.3 km²), her familiarity and demonstrated ability to live indefinitely within it, her known skills as an expert bowyer, fletcher, obsidian knapper and archer and her claim to have shot and killed at least four black-tailed deer, her potential speed and endurance, and the fact that she is an expert trail-breaker, having demonstrated her ability to lose an Army Ranger who is an instructor in tracking skills and who grew up locally and is familiar with the area from his own childhood.

EDIT

I'm asking about the policies and procedures of the California CPS and the resources available to that organization should their internal resources lack the necessary equipment and/or training. What would the organization's policy dictate be done about this situation, and where relevant, how might CPS officers in general have leeway to proceed without breaching policy? What sort of physical, human and financial resources could the organization call upon to achieve their mandated goals?

I'll decide myself, based upon the organization's resources, policy and the leeway given to CPS officers in executing policy what will actually occur.

Answer 1

First answer:

I'm not even sure CPS would have jurisdiction over such a creature. Now, they may be born to human Parents, but since they aren't 'Human', they may not be considered as such.

My thoughts here are that California is a notoriously 'liberal' state, so would probably consider them as Human for the purposes of Law.

The next issue is whether or not there is any evidence of Neglect. Now, before you say that the girl is 'Alone in the woods' - in your description, she possesses many significantly advanced skills that need to be taught - Bow hunting, making a Bow and chipping Flint is really hard to do - It's pretty reasonable to conclude that a Child in possession of those skills must have a parent or other guardian who taught them.

Hell, the fact that she can talk - means there must be an Adult presence in her life.

Okay you might say - so she's got a parent somewhere - she's still off alone in the woods - that's clearly Neglect.

Well - I did some reading on this to see what the California minimum age for hunting alone is - I found some conflicting evidence - but I'm going to link this: Minimum Hunting ages in California - one can apply for a lifetime hunting licence, from ages 0-9, provided one has completed the course - some other info suggests this is a de-facto minimum age of 10. Further info here: Minimum age to Hunt Alone with a Firearm - putting aside the Firearm part - there's nothing that says a Minor has to be accompanied by an Adult full stop - it's only required if they are using a Handgun.

In short - It's a reasonable presumption she is solo-hunting. Whether she is or not really depends on...

The final factor IMO if CPS would get involved would be if there were any signs of Neglect - that is Malnourishment, bruising/abuse injuries etc.

If she showed outward signs of Emaciation or malnourishment and was clearly struggling - then I think CPS would get involved. Otherwise if she was an otherwise perfectly healthy child, with advanced hunting skills out in the bush, I'm more inclined to think that CPS would consider that she was the offspring of a social isolationist or extreme outdoorsman or other hermit-styled individual who eschewed society - and left it at that.

Now - all that said - if they did want to catch her - the answer is Helicopters. I don't care how fast she can run/gallop - she isn't outrunning a Heli with Thermals. And the tactic is to simply chase her until she is so tired she collapses from exhaustion - then take her into care.

Answer 2

Child Protective Service would probably treat the case like any other case of a runaway minor: Apprehend her and hold her in a shelter under their care until an appropriate foster family can be found.

Due to the fact that she might be armed, dangerous and hard to track down, they might ask the police and/or NPS rangers for assistance. Government organizations assisting each other like that is not uncommon. However, CPS is a government organization that is notoriously underfunded and understaffed. They got to pick their battles. So it is just as well possible that they decide that it's not worth the effort to do a large-scale search for a child whose exact position is unclear and who might not even exist (all they have is testimony from a 12 year old who could just as well just made her up). It wouldn't be the first missing child case that gets abandoned due to resource constraints. So whether or not you want CPS to get a hold of her depends on what story you want to tell. Either one would be plausible.

Assuming CPS decides they want to apprehend her and succeed. What now? Considering that she is already 11 and appears to be difficult to control and accommodate, it might be challenging to find a foster family who is able and willing to deal with her. But that's not unheard of either. In that case, children remain in the shelter until they become legal adults and are forced to leave.

Her physical anomaly would be irrelevant for the process.

The question about whether or not they are responsible would not arise. Of course the humantaurs are legally humans. They are children of human parents, making them humans as well by definition. Being born with a physical anomaly does not affect someone's human rights. There are countless cases of people who were born with fewer or more body parts than the average person (like polydactyly which is a condition where people have more than 5 fingers or toes attached to one or more limbs). Nobody doubts that these people are humans. And with one in 100,000 they would not be considered a minority group that is relevant enough to attract any larger hate movements that would demand their systematic discrimination and dehumanization. Bigots have larger fish to fry. If you want a serious anti-humantaur movement, make them at least 1 in 1000.

Answer 3

One in 100,000 births would be approximately 36 individuals per year in the US. Over 13 years, approximately 500 of them. Fewer than a hundred in the age bracket you describe.

While you asked for the reaction of CPS, I would expect that other agencies take a keen interest in this individual, starting with the surgeon general. If one of the very first ones goes AWOL, how do agencies and the media react?

I would expect something to the tune of the Idaho quadruple homicide or the Petito homicide. CPS would be unable to stem the flood.

Answer 4

Why would CPS get involved? It's virtually impossible that she's actually abandoned, there must be at least one highly skilled adult closely in her life for her to have the skills and equipment she possesses. She's being secretive about it and not admitting the existence of the person (or persons) but they must exist.

And I'm pretty sure her attire is legal for the location. SECTION 314. Every person who willfully and lewdly, either: 1. Exposes his person, or the private parts thereof, in any public place, or in any place where there are present other persons to be offended or annoyed thereby; or, 2. Procures, counsels, or assists any person so to expose himself or take part in any model artist exhibition, or to make any other exhibition of himself to public view, or the view of any number of persons, such as is offensive to decency, or is adapted to excite to or thoughts or acts, is guilty of a misdemeanor. Note the requirement of "lewdly"--she does not appear to be engaging in remotely sexual conduct and she's showing very little (remember, her tail will cover her genitals.) I also believe California is a topfree state--her breasts don't matter.

Now, the game warden might very well have issues with her actions...