Aunt worried about children

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Updated: March 5, 2012 8:01AM

Dear Annie: My brother lives 100 miles away from his job. He says he has a good job, but our family strongly suspects he is dealing drugs again. He has two children with an ex-girlfriend who is bipolar and not taking her medication.

The children had a weeklong break from school, and my brother left them with the ex-girlfriend’s sister. She is a single mother with eight children of her own. She is also lazy and nasty. When I visited the kids, all the children came outside. One teenage child smelled strongly of marijuana. Another had crusting body sores all over. My brother left his children in this same home a year ago, and when my family found out, we threatened to call Child Protective Services. He promised to get them out of that horrid environment and begged us to give him time. When I saw that the kids were back in that house and that nothing had changed, I called the police.

Afterward, my brother phoned, angry that I’d called the authorities before speaking to him. The police did nothing, and now my brother won’t speak to me. I’m beginning to feel I did the wrong thing. How do I fix this?

Hurt in California

Dear Hurt: You did nothing wrong. Your brother cannot be trusted, and the mother of these children is not capable of caring for them. Everyone may be doing the best they can, but it is simply not adequate. Could you or someone in your family take these children into your home? Your brother might be relieved to know they are with a responsible caregiver. Or, if you still feel the children are in danger, report the conditions anonymously to Child Protective Services and ask them to investigate.

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