My eight year old cousin "Michael"  is a severe autistic child,  his four year old sister "Lisa" is also autistic but not severe.  Their Mom is a diagnosed  schizophrenic, my question is are her kids safe?  She does verbally abuse them and if I say something then I am her enemy and I am the only person in this town that she has so I can't afford to be her enemy for her kids sake. I have seen her hit them and I hate when she hits Michael in the face or if she is mad because he did something or stole food from fridge. Sometimes Mom and son start hitting each other and she doesn't understand that she is stronger than he is. Please tell me how to handle this situation and at the same time I am afraid if  I inform the state they will put the kids in foster care. I do work full time and I try to give her a break every chance I get.

Thanks for any advice you might give me.