The Children Act of 1989
In this essay, I refer to the words Power and Duty. The word power in legal terms is the ability to do or act, which implies a choice. Duty is an obligation; something that law binds me to do. This essay is written in answer to a case study, which examines a situation, which focuses on the Children Act of 1989. This act was composed to protect the welfare of all children, whatever their circumstances and backgrounds.
“An Act to reform the law relating to children; to provide for local authority services for children in need and others; to amend the law with respect to children’s homes, community homes, voluntary homes and voluntary organisations; to make provision with respect to fostering, child minding and day care for young children and adoption; and for connected purposes.”
In this essay I am assuming the role of the social worker. In this case Peter and Jane have a baby son called David, who is about four months old. It says in section 2 (1), that where the child’s parents have been married before the conception of the child, they shall each have parental responsibility for the child, the meaning of parental responsibility is discussed in section 3. In this case, both Peter and Jane were married at David’s birth. Jane bought David in to hospital with a severe head injury. Upon examination by the hospital staff he is found to also have suffered previous injury to some of his ribs. This has caused grave concern and given rise to the hospital notifying the police. They in turn have gone on to notify the local authority, which has appointed me as David’s social worker. Under section 47 I have a duty to investigate the allegations and also a duty to contact all other agencies who might be involved...
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...e whole case will be reverted, but they may have conclusive evidence that has been over looked. As the child’s social worker, I would hope that at the end of the proceedings that there was a happy ending for all of the people concerned, but it would still have to be David’s interests that would come first.
Bibliography:
Bibliography
N.Gravells. Family Law Statutes(5th Ed). Sweet & Maxwell Ltd. London. 1992
M.Hayes, C.Williams. Family Law. Principles, Policy and Practice. Butterworths. London. 1995
M.Oldham.Statutes on Family Law 2000 to 2001(9th Ed). Blackstone Press Ltd. London. 2000
H.Brayne, G.Martin. Law for Social Workers(6th Ed). Blackstone Press Ltd. London. 1999.
M.Davies. The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Work. Blackwell Publishers. Oxford. 2000
M.Thomas, J.Pierson. Dictionary of Social work. Collins Educational. London. 1999
No matter what age an individual is, society automatically deems a person to be an adult once they have a child. Unfortunately, Renee dealt with a lot of isolation, neglect, lack of emotional, physical, psychological support that would have helped her successfully transition into a new chapter in her life. Renee was treated like an independent and competent adult when in reality, she was in serious need of many support systems to educate and support her. As a social worker, Angie Martin’s actions within her practice created an ethical dilemma when she failed to maintain the best interest of her client, Jordan. Angie was expected to fulfill her role as a social worker by playing a vital role in coaching and educating Renee on how to care for Jordan. If there were frequent scheduled appointment in place, there would be enough evidence from Angie’s file on Jordan and Renee alone to decipher who should have been responsible for the death of Jordan. Frequent visits to the young mother and her child would have given Angie the opportunity to provide the courts with enough documentation to understand the case thoroughly to make a conviction, in needed, without dropping charges and dismissing the
The areas in which these reforms should occur are twofold. One argument that Judge Ross raises repeatedly is that measures should be taken to insure the sustainability of Family Court employees through more manageable caseloads. The necessity of this change is evident in countless examples of children suffering as a result of constantly changing, thin-spread, staff. In one particular instance, a six month child abuse case is adjourned because they “don’t have the medical records” in time (128). The second argument that can be implicitly made based off of Judge Ross’s expressed frustrations is that, if given the proper time for consideration, there should be more room for consideration of circumstance in Family Court. From a legal standpoint, there is substantial evidence for the validity of a common law approach to Family Court over the traditional civil law. Judge Ross establishes that ideally “In each case to protect children, to assure due process, to remain neutral until the facts are established, to apply common sense and sound judgment within the framework of the law in making decisions—the Family Court judge’s charge lies quite outside the arena of public policy, comment, and debate” (104). However, as seen in many of his cases, the combination of the overflowing workload and an inability to apply proper consideration to any given circumstance makes it impossible for the pre-existing
C. Cobley & N. Lowe, ‘The stautory “threshold” under section 31 of the Children Act 1989 – time to take stock’ (2011) Law Quarterly Review 396
In the United States there are approximately 397,000 children in out-of home care, within the last year there was about 640,000 children which spent at least some time in out-of-home care. More than 58,000 children living in foster care have had their biological parental rights permanently terminated (Children’s Rights, 2014). Due to the rising number of children in foster care and the growing concerns of the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families, the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 was signed into law. On November 19, 1997, President Bill Clinton signed the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, to improve the safety of children, to promote adoption and other permanent homes for children who need them, and to support families (Child Welfare League of America). The Adoption and Safe Families Act also promotes adoption by offering incentive payments for States. During the FY of 1999-2003 the payment to states which had exceeded the average number of adoptions received $20 million (Child Welfare League of America). The ASFA improved the existing federal child welfare law to require that the child’s health and safety be a “paramount” concern in any efforts made by the state to preserve or reunify the child’s family, and to provide new assurances that children in foster care are safe (Shuman, 2004).
Child abuse and neglect incidence rates are approximately ten times higher than the incidence rates for cancer. The incident rates for child abuse and neglect are 40 children per 1,000 children every year. The incidence rates for cancer patients are 3.9 people per 1,000 people every year. According to Frank Putnam (2005), “We find an incidence rate for child abuse and neglect that is about ten times as high as the incidence rate for all forms of cancer…There is a multi-billion-dollar research base reliably renewed on an annual basis for cancer treatment and prevention. Nothing remotely similar to this exists for child abuse and neglect” (p. 1). The 2001 federal fiscal year budget was $3.74 billion for the National Cancer Institution. Between all of CAPTA’s grants combined, the total of monetary governmental support comes to approximately $72 million. While cancer research is an incredible thing, child abuse and neglect programs should be well funded in order to help more children. In addition to more children being helped, if funding for abuse awareness increased, there would possibly be more jobs open for social workers and other types of advocates. (The Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence, 2005).
David suffered physical, mental, and emotional abuse from the age of four to 12-years-old. As his teachers and principal, neighbors, and even his maternal grandmother and father stand by and let the abuse happen, it makes me wonder what they could have done differently. For example, David’s father saw the abuse firsthand and he would try to intervene to help him out initially. David’s father was caught by the madness of his wife in calling him, ‘the boy’ and ‘It’. As much as his father tried to comfort David, he did not have the will to stand up against his wife. Another example, the maternal grandmother commented on bruises visible on David’s body and she did not take action to report her daughter for abusing her grandchild, David. Instead, David’s grandmother stated that she should stay out of it and let David’s mother raise her children as she saw fit. I believed the unreported instances observed by the public to be just as substantial a crime as the child abusers themselves. Also, the Department of Children and Social Services were contacted because of the alleged child abuse events that occurred previously; however, he was not taken from the home because the social worker of the agency sided with David’s mother. The social worker did not complete a thoroughly
This paper will evaluate and analyze an ethical dilemma that was presented in the textbook and the Case Study #1 that will be evaluated for this assignment. The questions that will be answered include what are the ethical dilemmas in the case and are these legitimate concerns for the social worker. In addition, when evaluating and analyzing the ethical dilemma in this case study it is necessary to look at why the social worker is worried about reporting newborns and why she feels that there are injustices and discrimination that come from these policies. Furthermore, as a social worker in this agency I would respond by figuring out what could be done in this situation and what courses of action could be done to change the injustices in the
It was during the mid nineteenth century in England when the parliament initially recognised juvenile delinquency as a distinctive social phenomenon and accepted the responsibility not only for young offenders, but also for the children who, though not in trouble with the law, required full care and protection. Children who stood before the courts were no longer seen as little adults but were seen as beings in their own rights who were entitled because they lack full responsibility for their actions. Through this change in status it accomplished the introduction of reformatory rather than punitive treatment. A reformatory system undoubtedly distinguishes a child’s offence from an adult crime replaced penal systems which made little dedicated provisions for children. This departure culminated in Herbert Samuels Children Act 1908 (Margaret May 2002). The Children Act 1908 represented a key step in the progress of the idea that children were a special category of problem. Through the establishment of Juvenile Courts which were criminal courts in terms of the procedures and giving them jurisdiction over the care and protection issues. The Juvenile Courts became the family law courts which dispensed family justice. The courts and the state can intervene for the first time in working-class family life when children are seen to be immoral, conditions which were regarded as neglect included: truancy, begging, being beyond control etc...
When a court is dealing with proceedings relating to a child, section 1 of the Children Act 1989 (CA 1989) governs that the court’s paramount consideration shall lie with the child’s welfare. The term paramount was explained by Lord Macdermott in J v C which means ‘that the child’s welfare is to be treated as the top item in a list of items relevant to the matter of question’. His Lordship went on to explain that when all the relevant facts and circumstances are taken into account and weighed, the outcome chosen by the court is based on the interests of the relevant child. Therefore any other party’s interest is only considered as far as it contributes to promote the child’s best interest.
Each year, there are thousands of children that are misplaced from their families and are seeking a permanent living placement. Their permanent placement may be found with family members or friends, or even through a private adoption. There are federal laws and state mandates that are implemented to ensure that the best interests of all children involved in an adoption or placement proceedings are heard. The best interests and needs of a child may include educational needs, medical needs, housing/placement preferences, or finding a family that reflects the ethnic and cultural heritage of the child in question. One federal mandate ensures that the heritage and familial background of children is protected and the best interests of the children are served. The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978 is a federal law that seeks to keep Indian-American children with Indian-American families. This law was created in response to an overwhelming population of Indian-American children being displaced from their families. This law was created to protect youth and help keep Indian-American children with their native tribes. In this paper, we explore the historical factors leading to the implementation of the Indian Child Welfare Act and the purpose of this Act. Further, we explore the development of this law, implementation of this federal law, and the contemporary debates that relate to the implementation of this law.
During the court case the judge said that lead social worker Gunn Wahlstrom was “naïve beyond belief”. This report brought over 68 recommendations to make sure cases like this did not happen again. The recommendations included putting the child first and the parent’s second. “Jasmines’ fate illustrates all too clearly the disastrous consequences of the misguides attitude of the social workers having treated Morris Beckford and Beverley Lorrington as the clients first and foremost” (London Borough of Brent, 1985,p295). The social workers in Jasmine’s c...
In a child protection work, formal knowledge is not only an understanding of the law, official regulations, and ways of practice, but also a theoretical view of 'child development, family dynamics and methods of intervention' (Munro, 20...
A lot can be said about the 500 years of struggle and despair brought on Native Americans especially during the early 1870s through the late 1930s when the United States government declared to instruct various assimilation policies as a fixation to “Indian problems”. Due to the strong concerns of the children’s wellbeing and the failing patrilineal state system to recognize traditional Indian culture, the federal government ratified the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) of 1978. Today, the state of this law situates the protection and promotion of Indian children to remain within Indian country as well as has been a great benefactor in American Indian court cases involving Indian children. The ICWA was established due to the “disproportionately
i. legislative requirements and expectations on individual services to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and
For instance, it strengthened the agencies concerned with the wellbeing of the children to investigate, report, and prosecute those found culpable. The changes mandated such organizations to initiate prosecution following reports of child abuse and neglect (Reder & Duncan, 2013). The case led to new transformations that saw the introduction of foster care, particularly to the children that were suspected to be experiencing maltreatment to save them from the unfairness. Many firms became alert and interested in children’s welfare after Brown’s case, a situation that contributed to the effective introduction and implementation of the acts that protect the