Her name was Amber (last name unknown) she has been working for the department for over 6 years and was willing to answer any questions she could. I started our conversation by telling her that I'm a collage student and I'm doing a blog and research on Child abuse and why some cases get assigned and some do not. She was bale to explain to me that in the department there are certain steps that the state will take when a call of child abuse or neglect is called in. The phone operators will get as much information on the accusation as possible. (They call them accusation because that's exactly what they are till the are investigated and founded.)
The operators will asking questions like:
Did you see this happen?
Are their any weapons in the home, or do the parents have any?
Is there drug use in the home or around the children?
What exactly did you see or hear?
How do you know these children and/or family?
What are the name of each child and how do you spell them?
What are ages of each child?
What are their birth dates?
What are the ages of the guardians or the person being accused?
What is their address and what is their phone #.
Where do they work?
On a scale of 1-10 1 being very worried the children are in danger and 10 being not worried at all what would you rate the children's safety?
and any other questions that they feel might help with the case.
The operator will ask for your name and number however it is not required that you give it. If you chose not to leave your name and number then you will not be able to call back and check on the case, but if you do leave this information you can call back and check on the action of the case.
They make sure you know that they will not release the name of the accuser, but warn you that most of the time people can put it together by the accusations.
She then said that after the report has been made it will go before a panel and be determined if the report needs to be assigned to a case worker for investigation or not.
I asked How they determine that? Her answer was each case is different but they will look at many different thing when determining the placement of the case like:
the history of the family and/or is there is any.
The seriousness of the accusation.
If the family is already receiving support and etc by the state and etc.
I told her that I have worked in the childcare field for many years and feel like some cases are address and some are not. Some that I feel should be. Her suggestion in that case is to continue to call and report. The more reports the more likely the case will be looked into. She said simply but carefully, "there are so many reports made on a daily basis looking into everyone right away is not possible. That's why they will review and evaluate every case and it's extremity. They will follow up on other case that may not be assigned right away when they can."
Castaneda,Mindi.Personal Interview.6 Nov.2013
Amber also gave me a great reference to the Larimer county website to get more great information on the topic.
In this site it confirmed a lot of the information Amber had already shared with me. It talks about the different type of abuse physical, emotional abuse ,sexual abuse and neglect. It goes over the steps taken when a report is assigned and investigated like Amber mentioned. It also has information on some services that maybe set up to keep children safe like mediation, Family therapy, protective daycare,counseling out of home placement and ect.The site also goes over the hearing and proceedings it will take to get the child back in the family home if the child is removed.
"Child Protection."Larimer County.Co, Web. 06 Nov. 2013.
"Caseworker Tried to Prevent Denver Couple from Keeping More Children." - The Denver Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.
The first two site I used, showed the process of the state when looking in to a case of child abuse. The last sight I used shows that their are cases that as still being over looked when there is really no reason for it. However in my research I can see that the state has so many cases that need to be looked in to, and the load is over whelming. The state may not be able to explain when cases like the one mentioned above get missed but there is case after case of ignored cases in our state alone.Sadly the lack of protection can sometimes lead to the death of a child.
Since 2007, 175 children in Colorado have died of abuse and neglect - beaten, starved, suffocated and burned. Deepening the tragedy is that the families or caregivers of 72 of them were known to caseworkers whose job was to protect them.
What a fascinating and saddening post all at the same time! The main question I'm left with and the one you raise is how do cases like the Bailey/Sperling case slip through the cracks? This needs to be addressed! Is it a question of funding or not enough employees to check these calls out? Or both? If so, how do we fix it? Do we pour more funding into Child Protective Services, or does it need a complete overhaul in addition to more funding? These are some of the questions I have about it. Unfortunately, child abuse and neglect aren't going away any time soon. (Heavy sigh.) But we can work to make a better system to save these kids. Can't we?
ReplyDeleteI just got so sad reading this post. It's amazing and incredibly sad that there are so many of these cases that some get over looked and continue to go on. Is there a way that child services chooses to prioritize which cases they look in to? I think there is a large difference at what some people consider neglect abuse than others. There was a time that I was in a Wild Oats market in Glendale and I witnessed a man hitting his child hard, repeatedly. I called 911 and in less than 5 minutes 2 policemen arrived and arrested the man. I was amazed and so grateful that there was such a quick response and that the situation was immediately addressed, and that because police had been involved child services probably became involved as well. A few years later I was living in Atlanta and witnessed almost the same scenario, again called 911 and the operator basically gave me the impression that a child being hit (much harder than a spanking I've ever seen), was not enough of a priority to send an officer immediately. I followed the family to their car and reported their license plate number but I'll never know if anyone looked in to the way that child was treated. I wish there was a way for there to be more funding for case workers to have the time and support to protect all the children.
ReplyDeleteKnowing that there are children all over this world that suffer from neglect is a very sad thing to hear about. I sit here in my home with my kids and feed them dinner every night and tuck them into bed but I can't help but think to myself that there are children just like my children that are getting abused and starved to death, who probably do not have a bed to sleep in, or clean clothes to wear, or even water or food to eat for days, even weeks. The more fortunate people take these type of things for granted everyday and do not realize how good they truly have it in life. I seen a movie one time of a few kids being locked and tied up in a closet because their parents were drug addicts and did not want to deal with their children. The little girl was not even a year old and her brother was maybe a year and a half maybe two but either way I know it was just a movie but I am 100% sure there are children suffering out there like this. I work for social services and I help the families of the children that are taken away and getting ready to return to their families so I help them get the food assistance and medical that they need in order so that they are prepared when these children are returned. I always wonder though if that is actually the right choice? There was obviously a reason why these children were taken in the first place so what determines the fact that these parents are now fit to care for their children again? I would love to see you add some research about the statistics of children returned to these homes and what percentage end up getting abused again.
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