I don't have children of my own, but I am very concerned about my niece and nephew. I'm not sure if calling CPS will cause more harm than good, or if it'll be the right choice. I'll try to explain the situation in as short of a post as possible.

My brothers ex has custody of his two children. My brother is unable to be in the picture (long story.) His son is 14 and his daughter is 12. The mother of his children has severe bipolar disorder, and she is an alcoholic. The kids are very aware of her issues, and seem to be afraid of her. They try to not talk about their mothers issues though.

The other night, she was drunk and threatening suicide. My niece actually watched her mother cutting her wrists. My niece called my parents (their grandparents) to come get them. So my parents currently have the kids at their house.

As far as I know, the police were not called that night. I don't associate with their mother, so I have limited knowledge of everything going on in their home.

I'm concerned about the kids living there. I know they've had bed bugs and other issues as well, and I believe they have scabies (I can't prove it, but I somehow got scabies after being around the kids, and they've been itching all over.)

I'm worried that they're not being properly cared for, and that their mother may not be mentally stable enough to take care of them.

I've never called CPS before, and I don't want to cause an issue within the family, but I just feel like it's my responsibility to call after talking to my niece about what happened.

Anyone want to weigh in and help me feel less terrible about making this phone call?