After Pete Buttigieg’s CPS ordeal, one mom is urging CPS reform after an anonymous report falsely claimed she neglected her son’s health

Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg recently made headlines across the country — but not because of politics or Democratic strategy ahead of the midterms. Instead, it was over a deeply personal matter: someone made a false report to Child Protective Services (CPS). His experience has since prompted many parents to share similar stories about encounters with the agency.

Writing for HuffPost, screenwriter Heather Osterman-Davis argued that after becoming the subject of a CPS investigation herself, she believes the agency is overdue for reforms.

She was accused of neglecting her son’s medical care

Osterman-Davis recounted how, during the height of the pandemic in June 2020, a CPS investigator unexpectedly knocked on her door. She was told the agency had received an anonymous report claiming that a doctor had notified the family months earlier that her son had an irregular heartbeat and that they had failed to seek treatment.

She promptly produced medical records showing that her son was healthy. Even so, the investigator explained that once a report meeting the legal threshold is filed, CPS is required to investigate, including interviewing the children if necessary. Frustrated, Osterman-Davis asked who had made the complaint, only to be told that CPS policy protects the reporter’s identity.

The experience left her worried that anonymous reporting can be weaponized, particularly against what she described as “nontraditional” families. She argued that biased neighbors—whether motivated by homophobia, transphobia, or other prejudices—can misuse the system by making malicious reports.

Buttigieg appeared to voice a similar concern after revealing his own family’s experience. Writing on his Substack, he said, “It’s not lost on me that this happened soon after we shared photos of our family on social media for Father’s Day. Or that this occurred during a month meant to make families like ours feel welcome and safe.”

Concerning statistics

To support her argument, Osterman-Davis cited several statistics suggesting that anonymous CPS reports frequently do not uncover abuse.

Among the figures she highlighted was that more than half of Black families in the U.S. will experience a CPS investigation at some point during their children’s upbringing — more than twice the rate for white families.

She also noted that roughly 96% of anonymous CPS reports nationwide are ultimately unsubstantiated. In some states, the rate is even higher. In New York, she wrote, approximately 98.5% of anonymous reports are found to be unsubstantiated, while in New Jersey the figure is about 99.2%.

Of course, parenting styles vary widely, and CPS only investigates reports that, on their face, meet a state’s legal definition of abuse or neglect. But Osterman-Davis argues that such high rates of unsubstantiated reports suggest the system can be vulnerable to false or malicious allegations. In her view, that not only places unnecessary stress on innocent families but also diverts resources from children who may genuinely need protection.

In response to concerns like these, states including New York, Texas, and California have enacted laws replacing anonymous reporting with confidential reporting. Under those systems, people making reports must provide their names and contact information to CPS, though that information remains confidential and is not disclosed to the family being investigated. Proponents argue the change helps discourage knowingly false reports while preserving protections for legitimate whistleblowers.