To be clear, I don't think Ari is going to get removed. I don't think there's any reason to remove her, at least not any type of reason an overburdened system can act on. Ari's best hope is that the Smiths can somehow get custody and that Alex drinks herself to death sooner rather than later. Alex's parents are dysfunctional, she's awful, and Noah is a BPD mess.
CPS has intervened with Alex before, when the caretaker (Hannah)-- who had actually been on-scene and hands-on with Alex and Ari-- made a report. We don't quite know the extent of the involvement CPS had immediately after Ari's birth, but something was going on, and the reports that triggered that likely came from the hospital. Alex has been reported heaven only knows how many times by Redditors (who blame us, when they think the sub is in danger of getting nuked), and the reporters apparently do their due diligence and follow up, but nothing comes of it, likely because people who have never laid eyes on Ari are making reports based on social media (frequently involving things that aren't actionable, anyway).
Alex has always preferred party-prone caretakers who are her age or younger, and those unqualified caregivers are a lot less likely to make a report in the first place. She's hiring caretakers to be paid friends and, for Ari, this has the unfortunate side effect of meaning that the caretakers themselves are probably shady (like Salina) and thus unlikely to act when everyone in the house is stewing in their own pee 24/7.
Alex and her parents are trashy alcoholic hotheads, and people like that are-- unfortunately-- a dime a dozen. The reality, though, is that Alex isn't going to live forever. The newer SMA drugs, like the twerk juice, slow the disease's progression, but they can't undo what's already done. The drugs will benefit the young, who can start them very early, more than they'll benefit someone Alex's age, who already has 30+ years of deterioration under her belt/weird boobs. Because of her poor lifestyle choices, she's going to aspirate alcohol one of these days, get a gnarly lung issue, and not wake up. At that point, we'll find out if her parents really want to deal with Ari or if they'd prefer to retire to the lake.
As an aside, I keep meaning to mention this: Alex's nickname growing up was "Dirty Al." Her classmates called her this because she was always so filthy. I think of that when I see current photos of Ari, who's always grubby now, and not in the "child who's been playing outdoors and hasn't had her bath yet" kind of way.
