Child Protective Services

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 foster care system in Texas is broken and policies like SB-4 and HB-3859 continue to fracture the system even more. The high volume of children entering into the system and the substantial number of caseloads for social workers are exacerbated by the current policies. It is our job as policymakers and policy analysts to address this issue so that ALL the children of the Lone Star state have a better future. Throughout this memo, I will highlight the current condition of the foster care

As of September, 2011 in the United States over 400,540 children were in the foster care system. The Minnesota Department of Human Services, 2011) defines foster care as, ?A 24-hour substitute care for children placed away from their parents or guardians and for whom the State agency has placement and care responsibility.? Of the 400,540 children in foster care nationwide, 195,400 were Floridians. With the fifty social service programs nationwide, Florida is one of a very few states in the nation with statewide privatization of social services, for this study, with an emphasis on privatization of foster care. In the present paper, the privatization of foster care plays a significant role in the care and placement of Florida?s abused, neglected, and abandoned children. The major thrust of privatization of foster care was implemented under the administration of Governor Jeb Bush, a staunch political conservative. The purpose of privatization was to provide better foster care services to stake-holders, primarily to find permanent homes for foster children. The Bush administration was always trying to adhere to the conservative mantra of fiscal reduction as it pertained to social services

“Number in foster care on September 30, 2015, of the Fy was...427,910” (“The AFCARS report”). The federal government spends $4.4 billion each year on the Foster care system for all youths so, as the youth's population in foster care is increasing. It is affecting the budget of a federal government so, that's why foster care became the social issue. The children in foster care were about equally split between Male (52%) and Female (48%). Most of the foster children that were in care September 2015 lived with nonrelative foster families (45%), followed by relative foster home (30%). The remaining children were placed in an institution (8%), a group home (6%), or a pre-adoptive home (4%). Some were on a trial home visit with their parents (5%). One percent were the runaway, and 1% were in supervised independent living. “Time in care (Months)...1-5 months...22%...95,999” (“The AFCARS report”). The more long children live in foster care, and the more federal government has to spend on foster care so — this can cause money to go over the budget of HHS and affect US economy. If parents or anyone else didn’t stop abusing the children, the day will come when all parents are in jail, and all children are in foster

Children in foster care are more likely to have mental, physical, and developmental problems, but are also less likely to receive the health care they need for those problems (Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption and Dependent

Today, in America, a child enters foster care every two minutes (“Statistics on Foster Care”). Thousands of children enter and exit the foster care system each year with some being adopted, some returning to their homes, and others being emancipated and set to be on their own (Statistics on Foster Care”). The foster care system was first put in place to take children out of overcrowded and underfunded orphanages. It was later transformed to help children from abusive, deceased or negligent families be put into a safer, non-permanent home (“Statistics on Foster Care”). With the thousands of kids put into foster care each year, many are sent to loving homes, however, some children are sent to neglectful and abusive homes that can be equal to or worse than their original living conditions. The current foster care system in place in the United States provides insufficient and unsafe care as well as causing short and long-term negative effects on the children placed in their care.

The foster care system in the United States is viewed negatively and the media portrays it as such. The public only knows what the media tells them about the foster care system. The stereotypical views are mostly what is thought the foster care system consisted of, not what goes on behind the scenes (Leber & LeCroy, 2012). The only people who would have a good insight on what goes on behind the scenes are the people that are involved, which are the caregivers, the social workers, the biological families, and the children. Their placements, relationships with their caregivers, and stability all had factors of how the foster care system was

Foster care is a growing epidemic in the United States. Youth who are involved in foster care are more likely to have contact with the criminal justice system, become addicts, and not be able to find employment. As a society we try to care for the child as best as we can. The average cost to help provide for a child is roughly $11,000 per year. The rate of a child being neglected in foster care is much higher than a child living with biological parents that’s being neglected.

However, there are major problems in the Foster care/ Adoption system and many children continue too many years in foster care without a permanency plan. According to The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Adoption and Foster care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) from October 1, 2007 through September 30, 2008, there were 123,000 waiting to be adopted. Currently there are 200,000 plus children in foster care nationally. Many have been in continuous foster care for as long as 2-3 1/2 years. (1.) Initially children are placed into the foster care system because of high risk safety factors which determines how the government will respond. What’s not clear at the time is that the child may have underlining problems- mental health issues, truancy, juvenile delinquency. Once placed in foster care if the issues are not detected and the case management plans do not address the underlining problems they may be aggravated and increase the severity of the child’s conditions/ behavior. (2.) Many times agencies and case managers do not have access to information and files that their counterparts have even when they are involved in the same case because of

This brief highlights the current status of the foster care system in Texas in addition to recommendations that tackle the increasing caseload for social workers and the policy landscape. The structure of the document dives into the background, recommendations and implications for the foster care system. The background provides context on 2 state policies and the overwhelming caseloads for social service workers. The recommendations focus on how to reduce the caseload quantity and policies that do ameliorate the foster care system. Finally implications for the foster care system showcase the necessity for the recommendations in tandem and the lack of sustainability for the status quo overall. The policies that are stated in this document

Foster care services in the U.S. have been decreasing while children in the system have been increasing. According to Teresa James, Commissioner of the Department of Community Based Services, the system has an average of 7,700 to 8,200 children in need of foster care (qtd. in Toncray). Reduction of the system has caused foster children to suffer more than they already have. This has reached a crisis in which needs immediate attention. The U.S. government and foster care services know of the issues, but continue to disregard. There is more to the children then many people may realize. Foster children will end up homeless and stay suffering if no attention is aided.

CAPTA continued the efforts to rid child abuse through funding programs that not only assisted in providing knowledge with identifying and reporting cases of abuse, but also providing aid and helpful resources to the child victims. “The Promoting Safe and Stable Families Programs, Title IV-B subpart 2 of the Social Security Act, is a significant source of federal funds to help states keep children safe from maltreatment, allow children to remain safely with their families, and ensure safe and timely permanency for children in foster care.” (Program, 2011). These programs receive funding and the costs vary depending on the demands, “In the most recent years, Congress has provided between $7.6 billion and $9.7 billion in federal support dedicated

In May of 2013, eight year old Gabriel Fernandez was failed by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. After multiple reports were filed and subsequently ignored, the eight-year-old was repeatedly abused by his mother and her boyfriend, up until the day of his death (Karlamangla). Child Protective Services is a government run agency that deals with reports of child abuse in the United States. A majority of the time, CPS can be successful in taking a child out of a dangerous home. In some instances, however, Child Protective Services can fail and leave the child in a dangerous home. Likewise, CPS occasionally mistakenly removes children who are not in any danger in their safe homes. In recent times, the role of CPS and their accomplishments has been challenged, because of an increase in the amount of minors killed by the hands of their own guardians. If new laws were instilled and the program became more strict, the general public may begin to have a positive opinion towards it. Improvements in how CPS handles their cases could create an all-around safer environment for families and children.

All child protective services caseworkers are at all time expected to adhere not only to SC DSS policies and procedures, but all interactions with children and their families must be guided by the Child protective services imperatives and these imperatives are realistic and goals set forth by the agency are achievable. Weekly self-monitoring and supervisory monitoring allow for individuals to achieve and adhere to the performance standards and more importantly to assure that all children are safe. Oversight of worker safety and child safety are at the upmost importance of agency staff, although at times many caseworkers can note times where they personally did not feel

“A home with a loving and loyal husband and wife is the supreme setting in which children can be reared in love and righteousness and in which the spiritual and physical needs of children can be met”. Said David Bender. One of the main section of the Michigan Department of Health & Human services MDHHS website is Adult and services children. the major type in this section is called abuse and neglect and under this division, there are adult and children protective services and others. One type of abuse interested me and surprised me referring to the statistics I found is children protective services. The children protective services CPS program is a responsible for investigations