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Issues in Child abuse

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Refusal of, or delay in, seeking health care; ... 'any physical injury, sexual abuse, or emotional abuse inflicted on a child other ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Issues in Child abuse


1
Issues in Child abuse Neglect
  • How to define?
  • Who gets to define?
  • Where to draw the line?
  • What to do about it?

2
Types of Abuse
Other
Neglect
Emotional
Sexual
Physical
3
Physical Abuse
  • Knowingly inflicts cruel and inhuman punishment
    upon a child
  • BUT discipline including spanking, administered
    in a reasonable manner, shall not be construed to
    be abuse RS Mo 210.110

4
Sexual Abuse
  • Fondling a child's genitals, intercourse, incest,
    rape, sodomy, exhibitionism, and commercial
    exploitation through prostitution or the
    production of pornographic materials.
  • Primary issues are ones of proof

5
Emotional Abuse
  • Acts or omissions by the parents or other
    caregivers that have caused, or could cause,
    serious behavioral, cognitive, emotional, or
    mental disorders.
  • Line-drawing and causation are primary issues

6
Neglect Physical Neglect
  • Refusal of, or delay in, seeking health care
  • Abandonment expulsion from the home or refusal
    to allow a runaway to return home and
  • Inadequate supervision.

7
Educational Neglect
  • allowance of chronic truancy,
  • failure to enroll a child of mandatory school age
    in school, and
  • failure to attend to a special educational need.

8
Emotional neglect
  • marked inattention to the child's needs for
    affection
  • refusal of or failure to provide needed
    psychological care
  • spouse abuse in the child's presence and
  • permission of drug or alcohol use by the child.

9
Neglect issues
  • Fault v. Protection
  • Risk of bias

10
Consequences
  • Numbers overall depend on definitions
  • 160,000 severe injuries annually
  • 1,000 to 2,000 children die annually
  • Future consequences include increased risks of
    substance abuse, mental health problems, criminal
    activity, and abuse of their own children and
    spouse

11
Who are the children?
12
Who are the children? Age
13
Who are the children? Gender
SEXUAL ABUSE OTHER ABUSE
?
?
?
?
14
Who are the children? Race
Other
White
Black
Hispanic
15
Who are the abusers?
Parents and Family (75-85) Under age 40
(80) Substance abuse (50-80) Both male and
female (though varies by type of abuse) Anyone
can abuse a child.
16
Why?
  • Complex interaction of many factors

17
Community/society
  • High crime rate
  • Lack of or few social services
  • High poverty rate (Poverty is the most
    frequently and persistently noted risk factor for
    child abuse)
  • High unemployment rate

18
Parental characteristics
  • History of abuse or violence
  • Youth, Emotional immaturity, poor parenting
    skills
  • Single parent or few social supports
  • Poor coping skills, Low self-esteem
  • Substance abuse
  • Unwanted pregnancy multiple young children

19
Child characteristics
  • Prematurity
  • Low birth weight
  • Handicap

20
Additional factors
  • Cultural/Religious Norms - Spare the Rod, Spoil
    the Child
  • Triggering Event -
  • Discipline gone awry
  • Substance Abuse
  • Family Conflict

21
Abuse - R.S. Mo. 210.110
22
Child Abuse Neglect
  • any physical injury, sexual abuse, or emotional
    abuse of child
  • other than by accidental means
  • by those responsible for the childs care,
    custody and control,
  • except reasonable discipline

23
Neglect failure to provide
  • proper or necessary support,
  • education as required by law,
  • nutrition or medical, surgical or
  • any other care necessary for well being
  • by those responsible for the care, custody, and
    control of the child

24
R.S.Mo. 210.110 Abuse
  • any physical injury, sexual abuse, or emotional
    abuse inflicted on a child other than by
    accidental means by those responsible for the
    childs care, custody and control
  • discipline including spanking, administered in a
    reasonable manner, shall not be construed to be
    abuse.

25
What is Reasonable Discipline?
  • Raboin v. North Dakota Department of Human
    Services
  • Should the United States sign the Convention on
    the Rights of the Child?

26
How is abuse discovered?
  • Reporting laws

27
Child Abuse Reporting Statute
  • Definition of Abuse 210.110
  • Reporters Mandatory/Voluntary 210.115
  • Immunity/Penalty for Reporters 210.135-165
  • Privileges waived 210.140
  • Investigation/Assessment 210.145
  • Findings 210.145
  • Central Registry 210.152
  • Alleged Perpetrators rights 210.152 /183

28
Should everyone be a mandated reporter?
  • Mo. SB 627 - This act would provide that any
    person who has reasonable cause to suspect child
    abuse shall be required to immediately report the
    suspected abuse to the division. This act also
    adds an enhanced penalty for failing to report
    child abuse from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class
    D felony when the child at issue dies as a result
    of the abuse or neglect.

29
How does the legal system respond?
  • Criminal Prosecution
  • Private Civil Actions
  • Juvenile/Family Court Intervention

30
Juvenile Court Jurisdiction
  • Delinquency
  • Status Offenders
  • Abuse Neglect
  • Adoption

31
Intervention
  • Hot Line reports
  • Require investigation
  • Protective Custody
  • Reunification Plans
  • Referrals for Termination of Parental Rights

32
Termination of Parental Rights - Procedure
  • Juvenile Officer Investigates and files or gives
    notice of intent not to file petition
  • Family Court may order Juvenile officer to file

33
Due Process in TPR Cases
  • The standard of proof in all termination of
    parental rights cases is by clear, cogent and
    convincing
  • (See Santosky v. Kramer for analysis)
  • Parents have right to counsel by statute but not
    necessarily under constitution (See Lassiter)

34
Termination by Consent
  • Written, witnessed parental consent, reviewed and
    approved by judge
  • Judge determines that termination is in the best
    interests of the child
  • May also occur through an adoption petition

35
Common reasons for foster care
  • Parent is incarcerated
  • Parent has a substance abuse problem or
  • Parent has a mental condition which impairs his
    or her ability to adequately provide for the child

36
Mandatory Filing for Involuntary Termination
  • Foster care for 15 of past 22 months
  • Abandoned infant
  • Certain criminal acts by a parent (e.g.,murder or
    felony assault with serious injury of another
    child)

37
Exceptions
  • A compelling reason that filing would not be in
    BIC or
  • The child is being cared for by a relative
  • The family has not been provided sufficient
    reunification services

38
Additional Bases for TPR
  • Abandonment (actual or constructive)
  • Abuse Neglect
  • Failure to Rectify conditions that brought child
    under family court authority
  • Conviction/Guilty plea to certain sexual crimes
  • Parent is Unfit

39
Parental Abandonment
  • six months or longer,
  • Unknown identity (or)
  • left the child without any provision for parental
    support and visits/ communication

40
Abuse Neglect for TPR
  • A permanent mental condition which renders parent
    unfit
  • A chemical dependency which renders parent unfit
    and cant be treated adequately
  • Severe or recurrent acts of physical, emotional
    or sexual abuse
  • repeatedly or continuously failed to provide the
    child with adequate food, clothing, shelter,
    education, or other care

41
Failure to Rectify
  • The terms of the social service plan and the
    extent of progress in compliance
  • Agency assistance to parent
  • Parents a mental condition
  • Parents chemical dependency

42
Parental Unfitness
  • a consistent pattern of committing child abuse or
    drug abuse before the child or
  • parental rights were involuntarily terminated
    within three years immediately prior to the
    requested termination with regard to the current
    child.

43
BIC
  • the childs emotional ties to the parent
  • The parents interest, commitment, contact and
    support of child
  • Possibility of reunification in ascertainable
    time with more services
  • Length of incarceration
  • deliberate harmful acts of parent or another with
    parents knowledge

44
Sexual Abuse
  • Most abusers are related or live in the home
  • Unlike physical abuse, not spontaneous, but
    seduction
  • Perpetrator often convinces himself that child
    wants to participate
  • Perpetrators threaten child to remain quiet
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