Human service professionals are mandated by law to conclude whether a child was neglected or abused by a family member or caretaker. They must be prepared to take on issues of being in compliance with criminal justice and judicial systems while also being equipped to protect children, despite the conflicts that may arise.
Human service professionals are required by law to protect the welfare of their client which also includes children. As a way of ensuring the safety of children, there are mandatory laws in place requiring social services workers to report suspected cases of child abuse and neglect. Whenever allegations of abuse or neglect have been proven or indicated, the social worker must advocate for the child by identifying
…show more content…
services that can prevent further harm to the child (Hirschy & Wilkinson, 2010, p. 84). It is not uncommon for children to be removed from their home when abuse has been discovered. As a result, all statements and information must be thorough and orderly so proper documentation can be accurately presented to the court. Social service workers need to be prepared to testify on the allegations of abuse; therefore, they are also expected to have all documentation ready in a timely fashion. Issues that may prevent a human service professional from being in compliance with the judicial system and criminal justice system are having doubts of the suspected abuse, and the human service professional wants to give the parent or caregiver the benefit of the doubt.
Also, some human service professionals may believe that they will be able to help and be able to handle the situation themselves. Some human service professionals may feel that if what is suspected is not true then it will bring them repercussions such as losing their job. Some human service professionals also believe that if they report the alleged child abuse the child may suffer from further abuse, and the situation may be worse for the child. Such issues mentioned may prevent a human service professional from being in compliance with the judicial system and criminal justice system. However, it is essential for the human service professional to remember that it is their responsibility to report any abuse including suspected abuse to the proper authorities (Hirschy & Wilkinson, …show more content…
2010). Each state has laws which require human service professionals to report any suspected child abuse to the proper authorities. According to the Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2007b; cases of suspected child abuse can be reduced if the human service professional complies with the judicial system and criminal justice system by reporting the suspected child abuse. It is essential for the human service professional to remember that their responsibility is to the safety and welfare of the child. Despite the risk that encompasses a professional to work with children, the demand is great and requires the working knowledge of which ethical dilemmas may arise when working with children and how to address these difficulties.
Ill-treatment and neglect are a complex and challenging responsibility to address when the judicial and criminal justice system is required to intervene. Human service professionals may come against situations that will need the professional first to “consider legal guidelines in regards to the disclosure of confidential information concerning a minors' right to privacy and a parent's right to know” (Social Work Today, 2008). Social workers specifically, must take into account the best interest of the child, while putting in place safeguards to prevent further harm being caused to the child, and give the child the right to be heard, when appropriate. If it becomes necessary for the human services professional to break the child's confidentiality, it is imperative that the professional limits the amount of information shared in the attempt to minimize harm, while adhering to the legal responsibilities that must be
fulfilled. In conclusion, human service professionals are responsible for educating themselves and knowing the criminal justice and judicial systems as they to pertain to working with children who have been abused and neglected so they may protect the children involved while adhering to the laws of the court. Professionals will have to determine when it is required to report suspected abuse and neglect, what is the appropriate course of action to take, and which agencies to involve to develop a case plan according to what is best for the child involved, while attempting to protect their client and their right to privacy.
Participating in the Mandated Reporter Training is a helpful tool for understanding the role of a social worker as a professional if and when one learns information concerning abuse of a minor. The goal of a social worker is to improve the quality of life for all individuals and if one learns about any type of abuse-physical, sexual, emotional, and/or neglect- it is their responsibility to bring this information to the proper authorities. The training stated that, “Research has shown that when multidisciplinary protocols are followed arrest and prosecution rates increase and trauma to the child decreases” (Arizona Child Abuse Info Center).
As a Child Protective worker, my responsibilities are to assess safety (immediate), risk (future harm), abuse and maltreatment, and make a determination as to whether a child is safe or at risk of future harm and assess the need for services. The child welfare worker assigned to investigate the case failed to ensure the above. Works Cited Downs-Whitelaw, S., Moore, E., & McFadden, E. J. (2009). The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'.
Children’s Social Care work with parents and other agencies to assess the stages of child protection procedures, record information and make decisions on taking further action. The police work closely with this agency to act on decisions made such as removing a child or the person responsible for the abuse while gathering evidence and carrying out investigations regarding the matter. Health professionals have a duty to report suspected non-accidental injuries to Children’s Social Care and examine children to give evidence of abuse. The Children Act 2004 requires every local area to have a Local Safeguarding Children Board to oversee the work of agencies involved in child protection, place policies and procedures for people who work with children and conduct serious case reviews when children die as a result of abuse. The NSPCC is the only charitable organisation that has the statutory power to take action when children are at risk of abuse. They provide services to support families and children and two helplines for children in danger and adults who are concerned for a child’s safety. They also raise awareness of abuse, share their expertise with other professionals and work to influence the law and social policy protect children more efficiently. There are also acts in place to protect children such as the Children Act 1989, the United Nations Convention On The Rights Of The Child 1989, the Education Act 2002 and the Children Act 2004. Legal framework from such acts are provided for Every Child Matters which requires early years practitioners to demonstrate that they provide activities that help children protect themselves. This may be through books and group talks known as “Stranger
The controversial issue of whether or not Child Protective Services are doing their jobs properly, has grabbed nationwide attention. Child Protective Services is the name of a government agency in many states of the United States whose mission is to respond to reports of child abuse and neglect. Some of these cases may include physical abuse, sexual abuse, and mental abuse (Wikipedia). The child welfare system is corrupted. The parents and guardians who are accused of abuse are automatically labeled as guilty and will have to prove their innocence; instead of being innocent until proven guilty.
The tragic story of Veronica Climbie is an unfortunate example that highlights the impact that not only unprofessional practice but what miscommunication amongst disciplines can have on the life of a client, in this case, a young and innocent little girl. The Veronica Climbie Inquiry (lord lamming, 2003) was established after the tragic and preventable death of a young abuse victim in the UK caused an understandable amount of outrage and consequent reassessment of the functioning and protocol of many multi-disciplinary domains related to her untimely death. In the report, Lamming makes numerous recommendations to improve the child protection sector and prevent unnecessary deaths like Veronicas from happening again, one of these such recommendations is the need to enhance communication between the many disciplines involved with the complex issue of child abuse and protection, and the need for agencies to take accountability of their workers, their decisions and their actions within this context. It is unfortunate that the death of an innocent child had to be the catalyst for positive change and development within multi-disciplinary practice, nonetheless , we can see that a push in policy to create a greater structure for accountability and communication in complex social issues that require interprofessional collaboration can help us
...children, young people and their families can be both complex and difficult. Social work practice is one of the most challenging as it involves work with a diverse range of both professionals and service users. However, there is more that one single reason for this. As all professionals, agencies and parents continue to work together in various different cases, a variety of skills are required including: communication, preparation, intervention skills, assessment of significant harm, research of current legislation and decision making skills, all of which contribute to the complexities and difficulties of social work. It could be argued that these difficulties are highlighted most in many public cases of child abuse; moreover these cases can be seen to be changing social work practice, affecting the difficulties and complexities of working within this profession.
Most services provided to families by the child welfare system have complicated requirements that make it nearly impossible for them to receive all the necessary resources. For example, the child welfare system currently provides the family with a packet of resources, in which the family on their own must contact agency after agency for services, just to be notified that there are fees to receive services or there are long waiting lists. For the most part, families are then discouraged from asking for further assistance. The child welfare system needs to be able to address the underlying issues that disadvantaged families are dealing with, which may be playing a role in the child maltreatment occurring in the home, whether it is general neglect or child abuse.
When children are hurt physically, emotionally, or sexually it is known to be child abuse. Children are known to be neglected when they are not getting the proper attention needed for children. When children are neglected or abused in any way it is the responsibility of others to report such acts to the authorities as to what they have witnessed first-hand or signs of abuse or neglect seen after the fact, these people who reports such acts are known as third parties. The proper authorities to report child abuse or neglect is called Child Protected Services also known as Child Welfare. After the abuse or neglect is reported the proper authorities will then investigate to see if the abuse or neglect is legit or fraudulent (Sedlak, 2001).
Human Service professionals are responsible for many tasks over a course of one’s position as a professional. One part of what is required of a Human Service worker would be the understanding of the individual, family and community that they are serving, respecting the diversity that would be amount us, and being able to make professional judgments whenever one is needed to.
Relating to the law, the Department of Human Services has responsibility to access and investigate suspected child abuse. " Each year Department of Human Services investigators conduct 20,000 investigations involving 30,000 children (in the state of California).2" There are a lot of cases reported each year, involving innocent children, abused by their parents. Although there are thousands of cases reported each year, thousands go unreported. "Child abuse has serious consequences which may remain as indelible pain throughout the victim's lifetime. " Child abuse can have permanent negative affects on the child, permanent affects that the child will never forget.
A Child Protective Service worker is a career that can be mentally and physically exhausting with emotional upheaval and wonderfully rewarding all at the same time. This paper discusses several “best practices’, their descriptions, and how they are put in use to assist the children who need help and the parents who unwillingly become a part of the Child Welfare system; even though they count on the system to help them better themselves and the lives of their children. Child Protective Service workers require extensive training, vast knowledge, multiple values, and strong ethics to effectively assist this
The job of a child welfare worker appears to be a demanding profession that promotes the child’s safety, but also strengthens the family organization around them in order to successfully raise the children. This child welfare workers work in the system known as the Child Protective Services whose initiative is to protect the overall welfare of the child. The short novel From the Eye of the Storm: the Experiences of a Child Welfare Worker by Cynthia Crosson-Tower demonstrates the skills necessary to deal with the practice of social work along with both its challenges and its happy moments. The novel consists of some of the cases involving Tower’s actual career in social work. In reading the book, I was able to experience some of the actual cases in which children dealt with physical and mental abuse from their families that caused them to end up within the system. Also, some of these children had issues in adapting to foster and adoptive families based on the issues they faced earlier in life. As we have learned earlier in the course, the violence that a child experiences early in life has an overall affect on the person they become as they grow into adulthood. When children deal with adverse childhood experiences, they are at a higher risk for abusing drugs and/or alcohol, increased likelihood of abusing their own child or spouse, higher rates of violent and nonviolent criminal behavior, along with several other issues throughout their lifespan.
Child Protective Services For 30 years, advocates, program administrators, and politicians have joined forces to encourage even more reports of suspected child abuse and neglect. Their efforts have been successful, with about three million cases of suspected child abuse having been reported in 1993. Large numbers of endangered children still go unreported, but a serious problem has developed: Upon investigation, as many as 65 percent of the reports now being made are determined to be "unsubstantiated", raising serious civil liberties concerns and placing a huge burden on investigative staff. Unreported Cases Most experts agree that reports have increased over the past 30 years because professionals have become more likely to report apparently abusive and neglectful situations. But the question remains: How many more cases still go unreported?
In 2006, child advocacy organizations received around 3,300,000 claims of child neglect and abuse concerning 6,000,000 children (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008). However, Finkelhor and Jones (2006) recorded a noteworthy [drop] “in the rates of physical abuse and...
Child abuse is a very serious problem that continues to happen all over the world. The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, defines child abuse as a failure to act as a parent or caregiver which results in physical/emotional harm, sexual abuse, and in some cases death. There are many different types of child abuse such as emotional, physical, neglect, and sexual. With each type of abuse there are warning signs you can spot before it is too late. When a child is abused there is a huge possibility that it can cause them to have many long term effects.