Have you ever seen a child being abused? Children today suffer many forms of child abuse by parents, other adults, and even other children. Many children seek refuge in other environments such as schools or other adults. Schools can be the only place these students feel safe and feel loved by someone. Out of all the 718 child abuse cases in berks county 144 indicated child abuse and required intervention by berks county children and youth services (reading eagle).
According to Tobis, these groups experienced both success and failures, but all contributed to the parent movement that improved the New York City child welfare system over time. In the final three chapters, Tobis examines the growing influence of parents in child welfare systems across the nation, the effect of child welfare reforms in New York City and the ongoing need for parents to advocate for the child welfare reform. In his concluding chapter, he looks back on the lessons learned, calls for an expansion of parent
1. Context an Importance of the Social Problem that Underlies the Policy: A) Every year millions of children suffer from child abuse and maltreatment. Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Child Maltreatment 2013 (2015) report shows that in 2013, there were approximately 3.9 million reports of child abuse made in the United States. Of those reported, 678,932 were deemed victims of child abuse and neglect (child maltreatment 2015). Of the four common types of abuse, i.e., physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect, “the greatest percentages of children suffered from neglect (79.5%) and physical abuse (18.0%).”
It is the on-going social worker’s responsibility to provide professional child welfare social work services, through home visits, to the family. This is done by assessing the family’s strengths and needs, developing
At Adult Protective Services majority of our work involves investigation of abuse, neglect, and exploitation. At Adult Protective Services our job is to protect the vulnerable elderly population, as well as the population that have disabilities. “Only APS is statutorily authorized and responsible for investigating elder and vulnerable adult abuse and taking steps to protect the victims, and it is generally only APS that helps the most frail and incapacitated older persons”(Quin, 2012, p.68). When abuse is suspected, a case worker will reach out to all parties involved, such as the alleged victim, alleged perpetrator, and all collaterals. Unlike many other professions, case worker are not required to have any written consent to speak with
A number of families, where CPS workers intervened several times, were subject to child maltreatment and/or neglect, which eventually caused something fatal and/or tragic to occur in either their biological and/or foster care home (Arizona Republic, 2008; The Associated Press, 2015; Bauer, 2012). If CPS workers “[lose] track of [these families]” (Roberts, 2008), which were reported to be an unsafe environment for a child, the child could potentially endure something fatal, such as his/her “remains [washing] up on the… shoreline” (The Associated Press, 2015), being “punched in the face until [he/she passes] out” (Roberts, 2008), being a victim of shaken-baby syndrome, “in which shaking an infant or young child inflicts brain and neck injuries” (Berk, 2012), being “starved, suffocated, burned”(The Denver Post, 2013), etc. If CPS workers miss crucial signs of neglect and/or maltreatment, by performing “drive-by social work” (The Associated Press, 2015), it can lead to tragedies and fatalities amongst children. For example, in New York City it is “the [city’s]…duty to protect [a child] when a Family Court judge [orders] caseworkers to visit [him/her] every two weeks and monitor [their parents-rearing]” (McKinley Jr., 2014); therefore, protecting the child from unsafe environments becomes the job of the city and/or state, which is the employer of
This is done by ensuring children and young people are raised in a positive environment where they are kept safe and cared for. If parents or carers fail to provide protection or a caring environment for their children, they could be taken to court and result in the child being removed from the family home and placed into care. Wider forms of safeguarding can
Every year, 2 million children come into contact with the child welfare system due to investigations of parental abuse or neglect (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2004). A recent policy implemented by Anytown’s Department of Job and Family Services pertains to the issue of child endangerment. It states that, “any household having one or more documented offenses of domestic violence, child abuse, or drug or alcohol related offenses committed by the mother, father, guardian, and/ or caregiver, will result in the removal of any child or children from the home.” The child will be placed in the care of the state until documentation can be provided on the offender, whereas they are “offense free” for a period of no less than six
The client, Chase Robinson, is a 5 year old African American male. The child’s family was referred to CPS after a family friend’s 2 year old son died while being supervised by Chase’s biological mother, Amber Robinson, father, Chance Robinson, and a live-in friend, Anthony Coleman. The case was then transferred to Child Protective Services On-going after Amber, Chance, and Anthony were arrested on first degree murder charges. Chase’s maternal aunt, Octavia Carter, now has temporary custody of Chase and his two younger siblings. Ms. Carter also has 5 children of her own, ranging from ages 5-10.
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010 This is a guide to how organisations must work with other services and individually to fulfil their duties to safeguard children and promote their welfare. Children Act 2004 After the death of 8-year-old Victoria Climbie at the hands of her carers, an independent inquiry led to Every Child Matters policy which led to the Children Act 2004. This act includes: • A duty for key agencies to safeguard children. • The local authority to set up a Local Safeguarding Children’s
In working with families affected by abuse, CPS workers can use intervention to help meet the families while promoting safety, durability, and welfare of the family. Case management is one that CPS is unitizing to help families reach a better outcome. Case management emphasizes decision-making management and provision of services. The caseworker collects and analyze information, arrive at the decisions at all stages of the process, organize services from other professional, and directly provide supportive services. The caseworker is select responsible providers and arranges the appropriate services; They also measure progress toward achievement of the outcome goals and maintain records to document client progress and ensure accountability
According to a Child Protective Investigation, there are approximately half a million children in the U.S. foster care system, otherwise known as congregate care (group homes and institutions). Children are placed in congregate care when they are found to be in an unsafe environment. Usually children of abuse or maltreatment are placed first (Font, 2015). Out-of-home-care causes increased problems of attachment, behavioral, and psychological disorders in the developing child. Child safety is the primary goal of out-of-home-care; however, maltreatment investigations are still reported in those institutions.
However, the history of child welfare in the United States have shift between family preservation and child safety. In the early 1970s, is when they saw a chance to reduce children’s time in foster care and expedite paths to permanency. By 1997 the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) (P.L.105-89) marked the first time related to permanency were explicitly stated in legislation, which was an opportunity in changing the landscape of child welfare practice. Therefore, the law begins to connect safety and permanency by substantiation how both factor was necessary to how they achieve the overall child well-being.
One of, if not the most important issue regarding child welfare is the role parents play in their children’s lives. A major issue facing the protection of children is lack of proper parenting education. According to research by the National Children’s Alliance “More than 3 million American children are investigated for child maltreatment each year. " The site also states that “Nearly 700,000 children are abused in the U.S annually" and even more alarming statics is that “In 2016, an estimated 1,750 children died from abuse and neglect in the United States.” A major part of this issue stems from parents who overwhelmed or are underprepared to be parents lacking the proper resources and parental knowledge to take care of their children.
First and foremost, a law known as the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974 or CAPTA is a law against child abuse. “CAPTA provides Federal funding to States in support of prevention, assessment, investigation, prosecution, and treatment activities and also provides grants to public agencies and nonprofit organizations, including Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations, for demonstration programs and projects” (Children’s Bureau, 2011). Furthermore, services like the Children’s Bureau and the Child Protective Services (CPS) are services against child abuse. “The goal of Child Protective Services (CPS) is to identify, assess and provide services to children and families in an effort to protect children, preserve families, whenever possible, and prevent further maltreatment. Child Protective Services is non-punitive in its approach and is directed toward enabling families to provide adequate care for their children” (Virginia Department of Social Services, 2016).
