Child Protective Services Imperatives

Child protective services (CPS) is a government agency located in many states across the United States that helps children stay away from harm and abuse. Child protective services and its agencies plays a big role in society. Children of all ages are assaulted and most of the times by a dearest loved one. Child abuse is defined as any type of neglect upon a child including mentally, physically, and sexually.

There are many efforts that are made each day to ensure safety of children living in the state of Mississippi. The MS Department of Child Protection Services (MDCPS) is at the center of every community’s child protection efforts. MDCPS conducts initial assessments of reports of child abuse and/or neglect. The agency also provides other prevention services to children and families where maltreatment has occurred or is likely to occur. The adaptation of these services examines underlying conditions. These underlying conditions consist of drug and alcohol abuse, sexual molestation, poverty and cultural beliefs. MDCPS utilizes tools such as Comprehensive Family Assessments (CFA) and Family Service

The organization under investigation is Child Protective Services, also referred to as CPS, which is an agency within the Department of Family and Protective Services. CPS is a governmental organization that has existed for years. The agency is designed to protect children from abuse and neglect. There are numerous cases that are called in on a daily basis in the state of Texas, and it is the duty of state employees to address all allegations in a timely manner. The positions held as a caseworker within the agency are either Investigator, Special Investigator, Family Based Safety Services Specialist, or Conservatorship Specialist. Due to the required work and deadlines involved with being a caseworker at CPS, the job can become very

My practicum site was at the Department of Children and Family Services within the Legally Free Unit with Tommy Williams. He has been a social worker for DCFS for approximately seven years. The purpose of DCFS is to protect abused and neglected children. The program is The program is responsible for the investigation of child abuse and neglect complaints, child protection, family preservation, family reconciliation, foster care, group care, in-home services, independent living and adoption services for children ages 0 to 18 years. I specifically worked in the Legally Free Unit of DCFS which is for children ages approximately 7-17 whose parents have has their parental rights terminated and the children are not able to be adopted for various

The controversial issue of whether or not Child Protective Services are doing their jobs properly, has grabbed nationwide attention. Child Protective Services is the name of a government agency in many states of the United States whose mission is to respond to reports of child abuse and neglect. Some of these cases may include physical abuse, sexual abuse, and mental abuse (Wikipedia). The child welfare system is corrupted. The parents and guardians who are accused of abuse are automatically labeled as guilty and will have to prove their innocence; instead of being innocent until proven guilty.

Keeping this is mind; Justice Harrison made a statement stating that “Abraham’s anger and resentment about her own childhood has today affected her parenting.”

Child abuse is when a parent or caregiver, through action or failure to act, causes injury, death, emotional harm or risk of serious harm to a child. According to The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, as amended by the CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010, at a minimum, child abuse and neglect is defined as, "Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation"; or "An act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm (Children 's Bureau, 2010)." The law recognizes a child as being any person who is under the age of 18. The law is broken into 2 sections, and each section treats the idea of child maltreatment in different ways. Criminally, those who abuse children are able to be arrested and prosecuted in court. Civil statutes say that people who suspect a child of being abused are mandated to identify and report it.

What is child abuse? From the word “abuse” we can understand that it is some sort of a maltreatment of a child, causing harm and damage both to his physical and psychological well-being. At the Federal level, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) describes child abuse and neglect as: “any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation, or an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm.” Child abuse is a very substantial and widely spread problem in U.S. affecting children of any age, gender, race, background or income, with more than 1.8 million investigations done every year and on average, killing more than 5 children every day. The main issue of child abuse is that the abuser is usually someone a child loves or depends on (a parent, sibling, coach, neighbor, etc.), who violates child’s trust putting personal interests first, therefore official numbers of how many children suffer maltreatment might be not accurate enough as remarkable amount of these cases go unreported. Each case of child abuse is unique, with a lot of individual factors involved, nevertheless, we can distinguish some of the common causes, such as poverty, lack of education, depression, mental or physical health

Policies and procedures are set in place to not only protect children and young people but also adults who work with them. It is vital that all professionals follow safe working practices to ensure that not only children are protected but also themselves. I have chosen to talk about in a childcare setting for this unit. An example is, if a disclosure is made by a child to a member of staff, it is vital that it is always taken seriously even if it is proven to be untrue or inaccurate. The child or young person should be listened

Physical abuse is when a child is physically hurt . Hitting, beating, throwing, shaking are all physical abuse.

To identify multi agency success where there are concerns with regards to safeguarding issues. Within childcare practice we must be aware that we have a clear and defined role in relation to child protection. Professionals working with children/young people i.e. teaching assistants, volunteers, outside agencies are CRB checked (criminal records bureau). Adults working with children should also be fully trained in safeguarding children by a nominated safeguarding adviser and have the opportunity to receive training in order to develop their understanding of the signs and indicators of abuse or neglect, this training is offered every 3 years. In order for child protection to work effectively we must ensure we have good inter relationships with other agencies and good

Working with agencies is extremely effective in improving outcomes for children, by coming together to share information and concerns a complete picture of the child/ren is formed. Working together to Safeguard Children states we all share responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, this is done effectively through multi agency, team around the child and EHAF meetings, conferences and core groups. When a referral is made to social care, they investigate, gaining information from all involved parties, parents/carers, family. School provides information on attainment, attendance and any concerns, health provides information on immunisations, medical appointments and general health of the child, they also sometimes

For 30 years, advocates, program administrators, and politicians have joined to encourage even more reports of suspected child abuse and neglect. Their efforts have been successful, with about three million cases of suspected child abuse having been reported in 1993. Large numbers of endangered children still go unreported, but a serious problem had developed: Upon investigation, as many as 65 percent or the reports now being made are determined to be "unsubstantiated", raising serious civil liberties concerns and placing a huge burden on investigative staffs.

The Child protective services (CPS) is formed of social workers who are the forefront of

For the purpose of this assignment the focus will be on children and young people who are placed on the Child Protection Register and the Integrated Children’s Computer System. It will look at the current legal, social and policy framework for the child protection register and the integrated children’s computer system and provide an analytical review on how they have been developed. Included for each of these three areas will be an evaluation of how and why they have evolved to contain a higher contribution from the service-user and carer and the effect these have had on the delivery of anti-oppressive services to a diverse range of individuals and service-user groups.