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Child protection policies and procedures
Overview of child protection
Child protection policies and procedures
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Kidjacked: The Corruption of Child Protective Services Each of the 50 states has an agency responsible for protecting children. In Los Angeles, California, this agency is known as DCFS (Department of Children and Families Services). The Los Angeles Department of Family Services has recently made the news after a class action law suites ranging in the millions has left locals wondering whether or not DCFS is actually protecting the children they take into their custody. With the increasing number of cases each day, concerns are being raised as to whether the rights of parents are being violated. It is common knowledge that there have been serious accuracy flaws resulting in the wrongful termination of many parents’ rights. However, little is being done to fix these errors and give parents their children back. Child Protective Services is the most needed yet unwanted Agencies in each state. While a system is necessary to intervene and protect children who are abused, there are speculation on the procedures and policy the state uses. While interventi...
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).
The Office of Child Abuse Prevention. (2011). Child Abuse and Prevention Treatment Act (CAPTA). California Department of Social Services.
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 government designates certain professionals within society as mandated reporters. This means that if a person, who holds a position identified by the government, suspects that a child is being abused or neglected, they must go through the process of reporting the abuse/neglect to their local Department of Health and Human services office (“Michigan Child Abuse Laws”, 2017). This policy is relevant not only to those working within the social work field, but also to those who work closely with children, such as teachers and day care workers. Michigan’s Child Protection Law identifies citizens in the following positions as mandated reporters:
DHS is no exception. At least two of the parents whose visits I shadowed that got their children removed were in the foster care system themselves. Now as adults they have to go to DHS to see their children after they themselves grew up in the system. These two parents had hostile concerns towards DHS in their paperwork. However, this is another area where Child Welfare gets to interact with other components of the CJ system. Often times, these children are put through tremendous amounts of stress as they are often bounced around from one foster home to another never laying down any roots and having unstable relationships. These are children who might be experiencing behavioral problems, resentment towards DHS, hatred towards the police, lack of relationship with their biological parents, and indifference towards their foster parents. These are children likely to become part of the CJ system, not as victims anymore but as potential offenders. MgY, a seventeen year old, is one of the children that is under DHS custody. As I shadowed her visit, the SSA pointed at a cut on her arm and some scrape marks on her elbows. The SSA explained how she had been arrested earlier that week and how she had resisted the arrest fighting against the police. These are real cases, real juveniles that are being grown in our Child Welfare system whose cases often end up bleeding through to the other components of the CJ system. In other cases, the Child Welfare system might completely let down some children. In one case, one of the SSAs was transporting AC, when he started telling her how the foster parents did not feed him, withhold food and use humiliation as punishment, as well as maltreat him and his brother. From AC’s perspective, DHS was supposed to make life better. They took him from his parents, because the situation was supposed to get better, yet he is now harmed by the very system meant to protect
Myers, J. B. (2008). A Short History of Child Protection in America. Family Law Quarterly,
Child abuse is an issue in every state, every country, worldwide. There is no place that is immune to child abuse. This being stated they need better policies in place regarding the education on child abuse. Many people have many different opinions on how to lessen the amount of child abuse that goes on in this country, however many of them focus on stricter punishment for the abuser’s (Hmurovich, 2009). However, they know that stricter punishment will not lessen the amount of child abuse; it would truly have little to no impact on...
A state that undertakes custody of a child is declaring that it can do a better job providing protection. This system is a powerful agent of support, providing positive nurturing environments that enable a child to reach his or her potential. Nonetheless, when children suffer additional abuse in the system, this government intervention should be questioned.
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?
Downs-Whitelaw, S., Moore, E., &McFadden, E. J. (2009). Child welfare and family services: Policies and practice, USA: Parson Education Inc.
Child Protective Services systems are often called “broken,” and the case of Logan Marr is a solid example of why. Logan was taken away from her mother, Christy, after an extensive battle that involved accusations, investigations, and mandates. After the struggle, Logan was finally placed into a foster home under the supervision of Sally Schofield, a child caseworker of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services. Schofield admits that she soon saw that book-learning and experience were two different things. Her lack of true preparation for the supervision and care of Logan ultimately lead to the death of the child.
All the benefits provided by CAPTA are important, but one highly important benefit CAPTA provides for infants and children is that all allegations of child abuse and neglect must be investigated to ensure the well-being and safety of every infant and child. After allegations of child abuse and neglect are reported an investigation is the next step in protecting every child. Another benefit of CAPTA for infants and children is that if the heart wrenching experience of child abuse or neglect occur the state CPS systems and private organizations are trained and prepared to provide treatment for the child. In a like manner, CAPTA provides benefits for women and families by providing support and services that address domestic violence. CAPTA also promotes family involvement in all aspects of a CPS case involving child abuse and neglect. The states benefit by the foundation that CAPTA sets regarding the functioning of CPS systems and in a financial aspect. CAPTA provides funding to “Support child abuse and prevention activities by funding discretionary grants to states and/or public or private agencies or organizations” (California Department of Child Services, 2011). Everyone benefits when CPS systems according to CAPTA policies, “The act’s sponsors meant to feature three important themes of CPS reform in these amendments, including encouraging the involvement of family members in a child welfare agency’s decisions process; promoting and enhancing COS collaboration with domestic violence services and substance abuse treatment programs, and increasing the use of differential response by states through the use of noninvestigative/nonaccusatory approach to responding to reports of child maltreatment” (American Bar Association,
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.
In response to this social issue, the first federal child welfare policy Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) was signed into law by President Nixon in 1974. According to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Child article 19, “all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measure to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child” (Detrick, 1999). CAPTA governs Child Protective Services programs across the country supporting...
Every year there are countless amounts of kidnappings. With the majority of the victims being white females between the ages of twelve and seventeen. Sadly, approximately ninety percent of the abductors are men and in half of the cases, the victims were sexually assaulted (Krajicik).