CWLA Child Welfare League of America

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Child Abuse Neglect Symposium
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Purpose of the Seminar

• To Review the Role of Legally Mandated Reporters
• To Review the Moral and Ethical Obligation of
  Social Workers to Report

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This is hard to talk about!

•  
• The content is difficult to hear
• Most people would prefer not to deal with
  physical, emotional, and sexual abuse
• Children were seen as property until the 20th
  century
• Children are seen as vulnerable and in need of
  protection, thinking
• about abusing them is un- thinkable for most
  adults

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Who is Mandated to ReportAbuse/Neglect?

• Social Workers (including interns)
• Physicians
• Dentists
• School Officials
• Day care center workers
• Child welfare professionals
• Hospital personnel
• Police officers
• Mental health professionals

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History of Child Abuse and Neglect

• The story of Mary Ellen, Henry Burgh, Ella
  Wheeler
• World of abnormal rearing
• Battered child syndrome

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The Mary Ellen Story

• Friendly visitor Ella Wheeler found Mary Ellen in
  a NYC tenement battered and beaten
• No laws protected her, she was considered
  property
• Ms. Wheeler went to Henry Burgh at the American
  Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals for
  help
• They went to court and won Mary Ellens freedom
• In 1875 they founded the American Society for the
  Prevention of Cruelty to Children

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World of Abnormal Rearing

• History of having been abused as a child
• Lack of emotional or social support
• Familial Violence
• Homelessness
• Poverty/Life Crises
• Teenage Parenthood/Absence of Nurturing Attitudes
• Substance Abuse
• Impaired physical/emotional health
• Social Pollution
• Stress of Single Parenting

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Battered Child Syndrome

• In 1961 C. Henry Kemp, MD coined the term
• He developed the term seeing children coming into
  emergency rooms, with unexplained accidents
• He re-discovered child abuse, it took the
  profession 90 years to really confront child
  maltreatment
• Kempe and his colleagues developed criteria for
  abuse and provided legitimacy to address the
  issues of child abuse
• From 1963 to 1965, 47 states passed child abuse
  reporting laws

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Statistics

• In 1997, 234,205 children were reported abused or
  neglected in NYS
• 63 children died as a result of abuse or neglect
  in 1998
• In 1997, 146 children ages 0-19 were killed by
  firearms in NYS in the U.S. 12 children a day
  are killed by guns
• In 1998, 55,995 children were arrested of these
  48 were for a violent crime

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Clash of Values

• Parents Rights vs. Childrens Rights
• Sanctity of Home vs. Freedom From Harm
• Right to Privacy vs. Community Obligations

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Conflicting Professional Viewpoints

• Legal Issues
• Social/Resource Issues
• Medical/Illness Model

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Definitions of Abuse

• Physical Abuse
• Sexual Abuse
• Emotional Abuse

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Physical Abuse

• Physical abuse is characterized by inflicting
  injury by
• punching, beating, kicking, biting, burning, or
• otherwise harming a child. Although the injury
  is not
• an accident, the parent or caretaker may not have
  
• intended to hurt the child. The injury may have
• resulted from over discipline or physical
  punishment
• that is inappropriate for the childs age.

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Signs of Physical Abuse

• Bruises/skin damage/welts
• Bone/skull fractures
• Head and internal injuries
• Burns, sprains, dislocations
• Enuresis/encopresis
• Passivity/over compliant
• Temper tantrums
• Hypervigilance
• Low self esteem
• School problems

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Sexual Abuse

• According to the National Center on Child
• Abuse and Neglect, sexual abuse includes
• fondling the childs genitals, intercourse,
  incest,
• rape, sodomy, exhibitionism, and sexual
  exploitation.
• To be considered child abuse, these acts have to
  be
• committed by a person responsible for caring for
  the
• child (parent, baby-sitter, day care provider).

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Signs of Sexual Abuse

• Pain/bruises/trauma in genital/anal area
• Venereal diseases/Pregnancy
• Persistent of inappropriate sexual behavior
• Depression/low self esteem
• Running away
• Sudden involvement in delinquent behavior
• Inability to make friends/poor peer relations
• School problems
• Suicidal behavior/Sleep problems
• Eating disorders

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Emotional Abuse

• According to O Hagen, emotional and
• psychological abuse is defined as sustained,
• repetitive, inappropriate behavior which
• damages or substantially reduces the creative and
  
• developmental potential of crucially important
  mental
• faculties and mental processes of a child, these
• faculties and processes include intelligence,
  memory,
• recognition, perception, attention, imagination
  and
• moral development

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Signs of Emotional Abuse

• Low self esteem
• Pseudo maturity
• Regressive behavior
• Suicidal behavior
• Sleep disturbances
• Irritability
• Depression/anxiety/withdrawn

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Dynamics of Abuse

• Straus and Smith developed a Child Abuse
• Checklist, Some of the variables include
• Verbally aggressive toward the child
• Verbal aggression between spouses
• Physical aggression between spouses
• High levels of marital conflict
• Family with more than one child
• Parent who was physically abused as a child
• Spousal abuse in family of origin

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Definitions of Child Neglect

• According to the Third National Incidence Study
• of Child Abuse and Neglect, Neglect is defined in
  
• three areas
• Physical
• Educational
• Emotional

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Physical Neglect

• Refusal/delays in health care
• Abandonment
• Expulsion
• Inadequate supervision
• Custody issues
• Other neglect issues

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Educational Neglect

• Permitted chronic truancy
• Failure to enroll
• Inattention to special educational needs

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Emotional Neglect

• Failure to nurture/affection
• Chronic/extreme spousal abuse
• Permitted drug/alcohol abuse
• Permitted maladaptive behavior
• Refusal of psychological care
• Delay in psychological care
• Other emotional neglect

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Dynamics of Neglect

• Neglect can be caused by the physical or mental
  impairment of the parent
• Substance Abuse
• Homelessness/Poverty
• Lack of social support
• Life Crises

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When to Report Suspected Abuse

• As a mandated reporter you must file a report
• when there is reasonable cause to suspect the
• child whom you see in your professional or
• official capacity is being abused or neglected
  or
• the parent or responsible person legally
• responsible for a child comes to you and reports
• that there is abuse or neglect

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When to Report Suspected Abuse

• As a mandated reporter you must file a report
• when there is reasonable cause to suspect the
• child whom you see in your professional or
• official capacity is being abused or neglected
  or
• the parent or responsible person legally
• responsible for a child comes to you and reports
• that there is abuse or neglect

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How to Report Suspected Abuse

• New York State Central Register of Child Abuse
  Reporting
• 1 800 635-1522
• Toll free Hotline for Mandated Reporters

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Risk Assessment

• Decision Trees
• Uniform Case Record Assessments
• Assessing Risk Using Quantifiable Variables
• Standardized Measures

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When to Report Suspected Abuse

• As a mandated reporter you must file a report
• when there is reasonable cause to suspect the
• child whom you see in your professional or
• official capacity is being abused or neglected
  or
• the parent or responsible person legally
• responsible for a child comes to you and reports
• that there is abuse or neglect

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Permanency Planning Outcomes

• Children remain safely with their parents or
  relatives
• Children are reunified safely with their parents
  or relatives
• Children are safely adopted by relatives or other
  families
•      
•  

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Permanency Planning Outcomes

• Children are safely placed with relatives or
  other families
• as legal guardians
• Children are safely placed in another planned
  alternative
• permanent living arrangement
• All children and youth deserve safe, permanent
  homes, with
• loving families
•