I have been in the childcare field for over 14 years. During this time I have seen some very sad and interesting cases of child abuse and neglect. In my experience the State and my local county seem to be hash and unfair, but at the same time not hash enough from case to case. I battle with understanding the way the state handles each case.
Let me just give you few examples: As a person in a position of trust (Person that works for the state and with children) it was made very clear to us that we had to under any circumstance report any type of child abuse or neglect or suspected abuse or neglect. So this means if we see an infant in a car that is in the parking lot of a gas station and there is no adult near we must report it. If a child tells us that his daddy hit him because he went outside with no shoes, we have to report it. As a person in a position of trust you could imagine the reports are often. Although sometimes I wonder if it’s necessary or are we creating more work for the state then they are equipped to handle. Of course there are those obvious signs and evidence of child abuse and neglect. Like the mother that picks up her child drunk and higher then a kite. Now these are the reports that I fell are very important. However the state didn't always agree. Sometime they will get involved and sometime they don't. The thing that’s frustrating for me is that the kids that are really in danger are not be helped as much as they should until it's too late. On the other hand the mother that had a bad since of judgments and left her baby in the car is slapped with a child neglect charge. This is why I feel like the state does not do enough to protect the children that really needs protecting.
Response from others: I feel like it depends what others have experienced when it came to the state and child abuse related case. I can't speak for others, but I know some of the people I have worked with and talked to feel the same as me. However if I was to ask others I believe it would all be based on experience.
I hope to learn why the state responds to each case so differently. Why they dragging their feet on important case, usually the cases we eventually see on the news. I would like to find out what we can do to keep children safe and loved, because that's what they deserve.
I feel like it is the State's job to protect these children. I was watching the news last night and there was the couple that had 3 of their kids taken away after several visits from Social Services. It was said that they were living in filth, with feces and flies everywhere. Eventually, the children were adopted out. The couple had a few more kids and the same process is happening again. I don't understand. Why can't something be done after one visit? Why does it have to be several visits and several years later? It clearly was affecting the kids because they were non-verbal and unable to communicate. They were only able to grunt. The child's well being should be the most important, even if that means taking them away from that family. A more stable environment is better than the child actually being allowed to stay with the parents because they are the parents. It is just frustrating to see this happen in a lot of cases. Although I believe that every report should be looked into, there should be some structure or maybe some order of severity in the type of abuse and which cases are looked into first. I'm looking forward to following your blog these next few weeks.
ReplyDeleteChild abuse and neglect is such a sad and difficult topic to approach. I commend anyone that works with these types of situations. I agree with you that often times it seems like the cases that should be top priority are overlooked while others of less importance seemed to get severely punished. From my understanding of child welfare cases, they try to do everything possible to keep families together and will wait until that last possible moment to take children away from parents. In most cases, I agree with this; but there are those cases that the state waits too long. You bring up and excellent point in that maybe we are overloading the state with the simple claims and the more severe ones are being overlooked. However, a counter argument to that may be that by reported the small, early on events, the more severe ones never occur. Maybe they feel they can reach more cases by addressing the small issues early on. Perhaps by the time it reaches the point of those severe cases; there is not much they can do besides removing the child. I’m interested to see what kind of research you are able to unfold.
ReplyDeleteMindi,
ReplyDeleteI think you have found a great research paper topic, is the state doing enough to protect children in need? I too have a hard time understanding why the state handles each case as it does. I think you are headed in a great direction with this paper using the questions like, why does the state drag it's feet on certain cases yet others are resolved quickly? I feel like with a better understanding and the answers to your questions you will write a great paper!
Mindi,
ReplyDeleteI am really interested in your topic. I also work in child care and I am also a mandated reporter. It is very sad to see some of the cases that get brought to our attention. Your research question is very intriguing, and I am inclined to answer it as "it depends on the case."
I had one incident when I first started that a father held his son and mother at gun point threatening to kill them both. The mother did not report anything due to being in a violent relationship for years, and it wasn't until the child told us about the incident that we were able to get them both help. In this instance the state worked fast and diligently to get the children and mother help.
However, I had another child that stated his mother beat him with a belt and had a welt under his eye. There were a lot of factors that played into this particular case, but the mother was let go with a light slap on the wrist. That child never returned to our program, so it is hard to say what ever happened to him.
There are many factors that make us report abuse/neglect, and I hope for the sake of the children the state is doing everything they can for each child, but we live in a imperfect world and not everything is done with the efficiency we would like.
I look forward to reading about this topic more,
Brittany Dalbec