Child Abuse Cases in US

Many babyren suffer at the detainment of adults often their own p arnts. They atomic number 18 beaten, kicked, thrown into w in alls, and/or burned with cigarettes. They substantiate their heads held under the water governance of toilet bowls, are scalded by hot water or they are forced to stand in freezing guideers until they summersault out. A infant could be stuffed into running washing machines or sexually molested, suffer from dominate in the forms of starvation and lack of medical attention, and dummy up go unnoticed by out facial expressionrs.In fact, it is estimated that terce baby birdren die e very(prenominal) day in the U. S. alone from one form of youngster make fun or an other(a)(a). It is a sickening practice that has no set beat of rules to finish off the persisting problem. Different states suffer different methods and agencies to servicing prevent vilification in the family, some work quite salutary while others bomb a jeopardyous gamble whe n it comes to the life or mental state of a tyke. The precise number of lasts each course is not known because of the extent of close fatality investigations that could be suspect as kidskin treat but are seen as consecrate and shut death cases.A report from the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, however, depicts more than three million reports of alleged chela mal interposition practices in the year of 1995 alone. Many more children are biography with scream rather than dying from it, too. So what steps are existence dispensen to protect our nations children? All states have a Child custodial serve (or CPS) system. This is the governmental system answerable for investigating reports of child insult or neglect. In state after state, the CPS agency lacks the resources to react adequately to the overwhelming number of reports it is legislatively mandated to investigate.All fifty states have child abuse reporting practice of laws requiring reports of suspected abuse to be make by specified professionals and others whose work brings them into regular contact with children. Any citizen whitethorn report suspected abuse as state laws provide for reports to be made to the CPS agency or its equivalent, or to a law enforcement agency. In most states, investigations are conducted by CPS personnel, although law enforcement officers may excessively be involved. The basic c one timern of child welfare proles is for the guard duty of the child.Assessment of the risks involved in leaving a child with its family must be made quickly because children cornerstonenot be removed from their families arbitrarily. Once a child has been removed, the goal of child welfare agencies is to return the child to the family. Ideally, caseworkers school a plan to provide proves with the education of the cover that children need, free from abuse or neglect. This plan is not always carried out to its full intention. No state has the financial resources to prov ide all the work to the children and families who need them.A problem is that in state after state, CPS workers have uppity caseloads, are paid low salaries, and lack adequate training for the internal work involved in investigating abuse reports, and participating in finalitys to remove children from their families then placing them in foster care. The turnover rate among child welfare workers is exceptionally high school. A report done by the joined States Department of Health and Human Services showed the rate of 30 share to be the norm, annually.Whatever the reason inadequate funding, unavailable go for children and families, high turnover rates, lack of training, overwhelming numbers of reports questions are universe increase about the CPS system. The system is based on the assumption that remotion from a troubled family, followed by a return to the family when that can be done safely, is best for the child. A different approach to the problems created by child abus e involves Family preservation Services (FPS). Removal of the risk, rather than the child, is the goal of Family Preservation Services.FPS broadcasts seek to modify the place environment or behavior of other family members so that it is at least as safe for the child to retain in the household as to be removed. Family preservation is based on the assumption that out of home care hurts children, and on the recognition that most families referred to Child antifertility Service can and want to hit the books in the buff ways of coping with stress. Rather than breaking families apart in consecrate to treat them, intensive family preservation services seek to protect children and be cured _or_ healed families by keeping them whole.Specifically, FPS provides intensive services in the home to all the members of a troubled family for a relatively short time quaternion to six weeks. Professional staffs are usually assigned two, but no more than four, families at a time. Caseworkers a re available to families twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. A worker can stick about as desire as necessary to stabilize the household, whether that performer six, ten, or xii hours. Ten states have initiated FPS programs by legislation including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and double-u Virginia.Homebuilders, an FPS program based in Tacoma, Washington, provides the longest running assessment of the effectivity of family preservation services. From 1981 to 1994, Homebuilders saw 3,497 children. Evaluation data indicted that three months after end the program, an average of 94 percent of the families had avoided out of home placement. Twelve-month follow up data showed that placement had been averted in 88 percent of the cases. Furthermore, the cost for Homebuilders family services was only $3000 per case while the costs for an average foster family home placement in the state was $7586.There is a down side to the Family Preservation Service, though. The track record of FPS seems impressive, but a closer see to it at another side reveals its not doing such a cracking job. According to the Clarke Foundation, thither has never been a case of parental abuse or neglect causing serious injury or the death of a child while receiving family preservation services. But since the FPS provides services for a relatively short period of unsloped a few weeks, there is no way of accurately predicting if after that short amount of reflexion that the parents are suddenly fit to care for a child.A worker only stays in the house for a maximum of twelve hours that is not long enough to assess whether the child is in danger and the true nature of the parents. Of course no one is going to slaughter or seriously injure a child in apparent motion of a human services official. No studies are available that show whether the abuse reoccurred after the Family Preservation Ser vices four to six weeks with the family was finished. The Division of Family Services takes another approach to preventing child abuse. The staff is divided into units, working a variety of shifts and functions to best provide the services needed by the children and families.The chemical reaction unit is responsible for receiving all reports of child abuse, neglect, and dependency. They determine the nature of the allegations and the enamour response time for initiating investigation of the allegations. Once abuse or neglect is found or significant risk of its occurrence is identified, cases are transferred to the treatment unit. Workers in these units are responsible for assessing family needs and connecting the family with appropriate resources and services to dispense those identified areas.They are also responsible for monitoring the familys success at utilizing the available services, and communicating with various service providers to assess the ongoing sentry go of the ch ildren and the progress of the family. They close cases when significant progress has been achieved to eliminate or derogate the ongoing risk of abuse to the children. The Statewide Unification Unit is responsible for providing intensive reunification services for children who can potentially return home within six months.Staff work closely with the children, their natural family, and the care provider to facilitate smooth transitions and self-made reunification. When the goal of returning children to their natural families is no longer appropriate, the social workers write Termination of Parental Rights (TPR) petitions, which, once approved by Family Court, allow children to become free for borrowing. They develop long term foster care plans for those children whose parental rights have been terminated, but for whom adoption or returning them to the home is not an appropriate goal.They are also responsible for providing assistance throughout the adoption process to support succe ssful adoptive placements. It has been shown that through most personal accounts, that parents never really learn to take care of their children without using abuse. Because of this, it seems quite logical to make the briny focus on protecting the child, then if returning them to their family is assessed as being completely logical, that is the way to go. I propose that a system of three strikes-your out be implemented. With this, the parent leave alone lose rights to the child for a short time while they go through training and counseling.If they are deemed not insane, then they may care for the child again with the word of advice of what will happen to them. They will have a sort of release officer that will check up on the family annually. On the secondment offense, there will be further counseling, jail time, and other means of reform. If they are granted custody again, they will be checked on frequently and unscheduled. If they can not handle the child without abuse from the re, the child will be put up for adoption. There are very long waiting lists for parents who would love to adopt a child and will provide a loving family that should be utilized.The state would let the recent parents take care of the child financially, but would pay for counseling of that child and training for the rest of the family on how to love on the abused. If in subsequently years, the parent has redeemed him/herself, then they will be allowed to visit and take the child on trips and be allowed to be a friend. After the child has reached the age of eight-teen the will be allowed to decide who they would like to stay with. No system for child protection is going to be full-proof. There are steps that can be taken to improve them. Any system is only as good as the people who implement it. vocalisation Kaye Steinmetz of Missouri is proposing legislation to require additional training for Child Protective Services workers, establish a state team to assist with investigations of arduous cases, and provide for statewide protocols to ensure proper investigations. Representative Debbie Stabenow of Michigan advocates early identification of parents at risk of becoming abusers. Michigan Perinatal instruct project is an example of this. Developed by the states Childrens Trust Fund, the project matches parent volunteers with parents of newborns.Through the childs first year, the volunteer provides support to the parents, whether that involves advice about discipline or other areas that new parents may find difficult. A similar program called Family Skill-Builder is offered in the state of Massachusetts. It offers an in home case management series for families who are at risk of abusing and neglecting their children. Its designed to prevent child abuse and neglect and to help families function independently. Deborah Daro, director of research for the National commission for Prevention of Child Abuse, has several suggestions for legislators to consider.She main tains that states need to provide more services for victims of abuse, especially therapeutic, remedial and support services. She says, States also need to look at the quality of foster care. Foster care ought to be more than just giving a child a place to live. The goal in preventing child abuse should be permanency and stability for the child, whether that means a return to the family or, in some cases, termination of parental rights and adoption. The sooner that can be achieved the better.This can be accomplished by setting up time tables for review of foster care cases, and by establishing specific criteria for permanency planning and termination of parental rights. Another key in preventing child abuse is evaluating each situation case by case. Placing a child in foster care may be the best decision for that particular case, while intensive family preservation services might be best for another. The best answer may lie in a combination of the ideas of different organizations. Individual attention to each case would personalize a plan to get each family on the road to a good, stable, and loving family life in less time.