Child Abuse Case Study: Ms. Stephanie Loeks Case

Published case reviews draw special attention on the professionals lack of knowledge and confidence when assessing risk in children coming from various religions and cultural backgrounds. A lack of understanding of these two key components, might put at significant risk the children's welfare, leading professionals to overlook certain situations and to offer inadequate support or lower standards of care (NSPCC, 2017).

This was a child abuse case where a Dodge County father and the live-in girlfriend he

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.

According to the National Children’s Alliance, one in four girls and one in six boys under the age of eighteen are at risk of being sexually abused but only according to what is reported. In the State of Texas, a professional has forty-eight hours to report any cause to believe a child been abused as stated in Sec. 261.101. As a foster parent and principal, Angela Sugarek and Carol Jeffery had a major moral responsibility and legal duty to report what her three year old foster son was displaying: behaving strangely and an anal injury.

For centuries child abuse was not investigated due to many reasons. For instance, children were historically seen as property. Young boys and girls were to always follow an adult’s orders without questioning if it was a wrong act that could harm others or themselves. Therefore, kids became taught to stay silent, and never go against their parent’s decisions and expectations. Furthermore, different cultures and family values made it hard to create a definition for child abuse that addressed how to determine if a child was truly being physically, sexually or mentally abused. In 1874, the abuse case of Mary Ellen helped create the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, which brought to light the seriousness of how children were being

Returned call to Ms Deborah Turner. She wanted to complain about a CW worker that did not allowed see her great-niece Astasia (2years old) and great-nephew, Odion (4 years old).

Found all over the world, in every social economic class, child abuse is still present even though its terms and definitions have changed over the years. Child abuse is rarely reported by the kids or parents, but by responsible adults in authority over the victim. The poem “My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke reflects the issue of child abuse, by portraying a young child’s attempt to normalize an abusive situation. Survival mechanisms used by children in abusive situations make discovery and treatment of abuse difficult. Abuse treatment demands early identification and reporting of possible victims. Education is the primary way to ensure effective, prompt reporting by required individuals. The law requires certain people to report potential abusive situations, but child abuse can and should be reported by any individual that suspects it. In order to reduce the statistic of child abuse, any person with authority over children must be educated and become proactive in reporting.

12/21 this worker messaged Lamyia at 9:51am letting her know this worker never heard from her. 9:53am Laymyia messaged this worker that she had stopped to see her children and went home to cry herself to sleep. Lamyia was very stressed out about everything. 11:38am this worker messed Lamyia and told her that is why she needed to call this worker so we could talk and get things stared and going for Lamyia. This worker also wanted to speak with her about Christmas gifts going to the children in the foster home not to her because they are for the children while they are in care. 11:45AM This worker spoke with Lamyia on the phone. Lamyia told this worker that Mike O'Neil was going to get involved in her case and she may be charged criminally for the child abuse. Lamyia was worried about being arrested and sitting in jail rather than working on her services. Lamyia told

I contacted Pamela Nieva Mr. Flores’ probation officer who verified Mrs. Flores statements. In addition she requested e-mails containing any issues involving Owaldo Flores.

“Child Protective Services (CPS) promotes the safety and well-being of children through intervention in reported child abuse cases. The goal of CPS is to keep children in their homes when it is deemed safe, and to provide them with a safe environment when they are determined to be at risk. CPS workers have a wide range of roles that they must play on a day-to-day basis.

I have been in contact with Ms Mullen almost every day since last week. Ms Mullen was informed that, after two investigation, there is no evidence that her grandson is being abused by CLCM caseworkers. She said that is not going to stop calling this office and Dr Richardson’s office. She believes that OAAPI investigators violated her rights because they disclosed confidential information to CLCM Investigator, Karen Johnson. She did not provide any proof of it.

In the book Child Maltreatment: An introduction, third edition, chapter 9 discusses “Controversial Issues in the Study of Child Maltreatment”. In this chapter, the author expresses their views on child maltreatment and the concerns regarding cases of abuse. They begin with the concerns about overreporting and alleged false allegations. The voice in this section expresses concerns about the integrity of claims from the (alleged) victims of abuse-- wondering if the abuse occurred or could the “victim” have been persuaded to believe they were a victim. This section includes the idea that children may even create false accusations about behaviors of abuse.

REPORTER: The reporter/teacher (Lynn) called to report Child Abuse for the victim, Alexander. According to Lynn, on last night (8/25/2015), the uncle (West) tried to provoke the victim. West was punching (unknown where) the victim and tried to get him to punch him back. Also, the West (uncle) and aunt took the victim’s personal belongings and items from school and threw them out into the yard. The uncle (West) cut the cords on his devices. On yesterday (8/25/2015), Lynn saw the victim walking on the side of the highway. The victim cried and left the home after the uncle (West) attempted to provoke him. The victim said he went to the voting station where his grandmother (unknown) was to escape from what was going on at the home. It is unknown

R/s Adam and Deana are beating Autumn (13), Kylie (12), and Madison (10). R/s Adam and Deana are using their hands and a belt to beat the children. R/s Adam punched Autumn in the face on Wednesday. Autumn has bruises on legs and ankles because her father pulled her off of the top bunk bed. R/s Kylie has bruises overall her legs. R/s Adam and Deana are doing drugs (pot and pills) and drink beer in the presence of the children. R/s Adam mostly beats the children when he is drunk. R/s the house is filthy with roaches, bed bugs and lice. R/s Autumn had lice for five years. R/s the family has to wash dishes in the bathtub. R/s Autumn, Kylie, and Madison are sharing a room with 18-year-old Cameron. R/s 71-year-old Larry (paternal step-grandfather)