The Failure of Child Protective Services in America Essay

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.

A state that undertakes custody of a child is declaring that it can do a better job providing protection. This system is a powerful agent of support, providing positive nurturing environments that enable a child to reach his or her potential. Nonetheless, when children suffer additional abuse in the system, this government intervention should be questioned.

Child abuse in America is an ongoing problem and something needs to be done. There are approximately one million children abused annually in the United States. (Table 339) Cases of child abuse and neglect are reported every ten seconds, and researchers believe that there’s three times that amount that goes unnoticed. (Child Abuse: Know the Signs and Stop the Violence Against Children.) Something needs to be done for these children who are too weak and too powerless to help themselves.

A nine year old in Oregon was removed from her home by child protective services in 2010 and placed into the care of Kamlo and Dwight Reed. Even though the state Department of Human Services allegedly knew that Dwight had been accused of sexually abusing a another foster child, the adoption still went through. After the Dwight couple abused the young girl sexually, physically, and emotionally, a a guardian who was court-appointed for the child filed a lawsuit against the department in 2016. If the agency had looked into the allegations, the child would have likely been saved from suffering through years of abuse by being placed into a different home. The social service workers receive a large amount of cases each year. According to the U.S. Children 's Bureau, children protection agencies received nearly 3.6 million reports of abuse or neglect concerning 6.6 million children; however, the agency only reported roughly 702,000 children who suffered from abuse, including 1,580 children who died. The number of cases reported is less than ¼ of the cases received. If the agency discovered some of the 1,580 cases quicker, adolescent deaths

Child welfare systems typically receive and investigate reports of possible child abuse and neglect; provide services to families that need assistance in the protection and care of their children; arrange for children to live with foster families when they are not safe at home; and arrange for reunification, adoption, or other permanent family connections for children leaving foster care.When you look up what the Child welfare system it says,

As can be seen there are many different organisations involved when there is any suspicion that a child may have been abused or actually harmed.

Children Act 2004 section 11 states which professional and agencies have to safeguard and promote welfare. ‘’local authorities, councils, public health, NHS foundation and trust, Policing body, crime agency, college, and any person to the extent that he is providing services.’’ (Legislation.gov.uk)

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.

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

Did you know in 2012 that 1,640 kids have died because Child Protective Services did not act upon their situations? CPS stands for Child Protective services; that reports of child abuse or neglect. The government thought that CPS would have helped more than harmed, but because of their statistics CPS has been cancelled and now there is a new program which is called DCS (department of child safety). CPS has failed in their position by not focusing on all child cases; CPS only puts effort towards cases they picked. If we were to continue with CPS the way it is , so many more kids would die. CPS was put down because of the ratio of kids that have passed away under their care.

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

To carry out their mission, DCS oversees areas of child abuse, foster care, adoption, and juvenile justice. They screen allegations of child abuse to determine if abuse may be present. If sufficient evidence of abuse is present, DCS works with other professionals such as law enforcement agencies to conduct

In his article, Jim Hmurovich discusses the need for a uniform, national policy for the prevention of child abuse. He covers what we need policy wise, as well as financially. He state that “The focus should be on each state implementing comprehensive, evidence based, community-driven child abuse and neglect prevention strategies based upon the state's needs. With an emphasis on healthy children, family and community development, a state could develop benchmarks and measures to assess progress and demonstrate to the public what is being accomplished (Hmurovich, 2009).” This is completely true. Without the proper plans, and funding in place it is virtually impossible for proper education to be put in place, with the exception of private organizations.

Child neglect and abuse has gone on for a numerous amount of years, there are three different types of child abuse such as emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. People have been trying to change things to make a difference to protect children from abusers. Children haven't been able to receive the protection they need to stay safe from these offenders because some people argue that offenders have rights, and that some of the laws and new regulations violate these offenders rights and privacy. These people are taking a priority to offenders rights first, when they should be thinking about the children's rights and prioritizing their needs. Offenders have already abused and basically taken away the rights from children when these abusers have