Charles L. Levy Cases

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

The article is stimulating to know that others states take action quickly to shield children from further abuse in their homes. The Indiana's Child Protective Services (CPS), offers a service to prevent out-home placement, and assistance to rejoin children with their families in situations where the children can return home (Indiana, 2015). This service is good, if the parents are able to resume the responsibility of taking care of their children.

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.

I started my reading with the New York Times Magazine article (I could not resist an article from the Times). During my internship, I had an experience where I suggested to a client that she might reach out to Allegheny County Children, Youth, and Families (CYF) for assistance. I could not understand her apprehension. Reading about Marie and her sons gave me an entirely different perspective. When Marie walked into the DCF office pregnant and the department decided to petition the court to claim her sixth child permanently - while still in her womb; made our clients apprehension real.

The lawsuit transpired against Department of Human Services in Mississippi because the system deserted the children. In this case, a young girl named Olivia Y was abused by her mother and the foster home. While taking her out the home at the age of three, the system continually neglected her. Department of Family Children Service failed to present Olivia with adequate medical and health support. “This case is alleged that Mississippi’s foster care system was failing adequately to protect children in its custody and provide necessary services in violation of their federal constitutional rights (www.mdhs.state.ms/olivia-y-lawsuit/”).

In an article published in the New York Times July 7, titled “Suit to Accuse New York City and State of Keeping Children in Foster Care Too Long” author Vivian Lee discuses a suit against New York filed by the city public advocate’s office. The suit accuses the system of delays, mismanagement, and incompetence, causing harm to children by keeping them in the system for months and years longer than necessary.

But back in 1891, a bill was introduced in the Illinois General Assembly proposing a children’s court. The person most instrumental in introducing this bill was Timothy D. Hurley, president of the Catholic-controlled Chicago Visitation and Aid Society. The bill would give county courts the power to commit dependent children to any nonprofit child welfare organization incorporated under Illinois law (Tannenhaus, 2002). In addition, the bill proposed that county courts be empowered to commit to private child-saving organizations any child “being trained or allowed to be trained in vice and crime” (Platt, 2009, p. 123 – 124). Lucy Flower supported this bill because it would give judges more discretion in handling dependent cases (Tannenhaus, 2002).

The Ontario Child and Family Services Act (CFSA) highlights a number of amendments that promote the protection and well-being of children in care. Through examining Amina’s story, we have identified which of her rights were violated, and explained why each situation was an infringement of the law, by quoting the relevant sections from the CFSA, Part V, Children’s Rights in Care. In addition, we have also explained what we, as Child and Youth Workers (CYWs) would do differently to ensure that Amina’s rights are respected.

Justice for Gabriel Fernandez can mean justice for all children. In order to protect our children from negligent and irresponsible social work major changes need to take place in not only the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), but all Departments of Children and Family Services statewide. The four Los Angeles County DCFS workers should be found guilty of the criminal charges brought against them for failing to protect Gabriel Fernandez, which led to his untimely death. Our children are dying, because the people entrusted to care for our most vulnerable children are failing

Recently, at my internship I was involved in a re-placement foster home with a six-year old child unknowingly. Initially I was under the impression that I was transporting this young boy back to his original foster home, after a parenting time visit. However, I got more that what I bargain for. I was not given much information on the child, which I would later find out would have been conducive to my approach with the incident that occurred. While transporting this child, I discovered that the child was not prepped for his reassignment to a new foster home, as well as just recently had come into care. The young boy became extremely dismayed when he noticed I was not taking him to his previous foster home.

By the year 1967, all U.S. states had child abuse reporting laws. “Child abuse reporting laws and enhanced awareness of child abuse produced an increase in intervention” (Myers, 2013). As reporting laws came into affect, more and more cases of child abuse and neglect were shown. By the mid 1970s, over 60,000 child abuse cases were reported and the extremely high rate of children in foster care alarmed government officials. In 1980, the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act (AACWA) was passed. This act required every state to make reasonable efforts in keeping children with their families, and when removing the child was not avoidable, the child was required to have a plan to be placed back in the home or have their parents’ rights revoked. For the children whom returning home was not an option, Congress offered financial incentives for adoption. This effort to preserve the families was a main objective of AACWA. An influential investigation pertaining to this was done by Henry S. Mass and Richard E. Engler, as explained by Sribnick (2011). They concluded that many children were living a majority of their childhood years in foster care and institutions. Their findings showed that if a child stayed in foster care for more than a year and a half, it was not likely that he or she would ever be reunited with his or her family or be adopted. In response to this, the Child Welfare League of America lobbied for child welfare workers to consider

This case study concerns our client Mrs DiBendetto. Her two young children were removed from her care due to child neglect. Mrs DiBendetto has cooperated fully with our requests and we are now approaching the six-month court review to determine whether or not the children should be returned to her care. There is an ongoing criminal investigation against Mrs DiBendetto, because of this there is uncertainty on whether reunification should be recommended, this alleged activity does not place the children in direct risk of harm. This has resulted in an ethical dilemma.

In my role as a Guardian ad litem for the Richland County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) I counseled clients in order to determine what was in the child’s best interest (residence, education, healthcare and life skills). My clients were juveniles whom had prior criminal records and was also categorized as juvenile delinquents. In addition, their guardians additionally had prior open and closed cases with the Department of Social Services. I remained calm at all times and I never took things personal when the outcomes were not successful. I was very successful as a Guardian ad litem and an asset to the Judiciary and the Department of Juvenile Justice because I listened to all parties involved thoroughly and conducted all necessary

Writing a court report is one of the most important responsibilities. The court report is the official method that a Court Appointed Special Advocate uses to inform the judge about what the advocates has learned about the appointed child and family. Through the court report a case worker lets the judge know what has been happening to the child while in the court’s care. The report outlines, in a standard format, what the case worker has discovered, the assessment of the child’s situation, and what the case work feels the court needs to do to help the child achieve a safe, permanent home. The case worker court report becomes an official court document. It is accessible to all legal parties in the case, and provides the factual basis from which

At roughly 5.00am on the 6 July 2013 the respondents Drobny and Levy were celebrating Drobny’s birthday and were understood to be inebriated at the time upon entering the complainant’s taxi. The complainant, a taxi driver who was 64 years old at the time, drove for a short time before overhearing the respondent’s conversation, in which Drobny and Levy expressed that they did not have the money to pay for the taxi. Drobny and Levy attempted to negotiate with the complainant suggesting that they could pay the fare later; the complainant asked Drobny and Levy for identification, when they refused he indicated that he would drive to a police station. Drobny and Levy began swearing, the complainant stopped the taxi and as they exited they left the doors open, the complainant got out of his taxi and closed the doors.