This morning the girl was absent again, so I was surprised to see her come to school late, during lunch recess. She was accompanied by her case worker, who told me that there had been a miscommunication about her going to school. We told her to go out to recess, and then the case worker asked me some questions about her behavior at school, and gave me an update. They won't be bringing the court into it at this time, since it was the first incident. The mom will be picking her up today or tomorrow, and there will be some monitoring for a while. She has been told that excessive punishment has been wrong, but apparently it is understood that this is a cultural practice that she needs to unlearn. The girl seemed ok, but I couldn't tell if she was angry with me or not. She was sensitive to being touched as well, saying "Don't hit me," even though it wasn't a hit at all. Reminds me of niece #2.