Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Chapter 19Toward a Better Tomorrow

Understanding Child Abuse and NeglectEighth Edition

Cynthia Crosson-Tower

Slides by Lynne Kellner, Fitchburg State College

This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law.  The following are prohibited by law:

•Any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; •Preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; •Any rental, lease, or lending of the program.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Society, Change, and Child Protection

• Moved from a “child saving approach” to one that recognizes systemic factors and has a strength-based perspective

• Focuses on safety and risk assessments• Increased attention to surveillance of children, of

pedophiles, and accountability of professionals and agencies

• Increased acknowledgement of rights of children as well as parents

• Decreased stigma to being involved in services

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Challenges in Child Protective Work

• Over-inclusion of clients (those referred but should not be)

• Under-inclusion of clients (families who can benefit from services, but are not referred)

• Inadequate capacity of CPS to meet the needs of clients

• Competing mandates of investigating cases; keeping families together

• Service delivery is uneven across communities, often falling short in minority communities

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Addressing the Need for Change in Child Protective Services

• Create national standards and guidelines for agencies; take out the parts in laws that leave too much room for interpretation

• Provide adequate and ongoing training and support for workers

• Meet the needs of minorities; provide training for workers to understand oppression issues

• Consumer representation on boards and committees• Improved interagency communication• Include informal helping networks

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Supporting Families

• Help families counter the negative influences of poverty

• Reaffirm parenting as valuable, but realistically acknowledge its difficulties

• Provide expanded day-care options• Counter the patterns of violence children

observe in our culture• Promote healthy sexuality• Provide healthy adult role models

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Research Needs

• Investigative process: effects of CPS caseload, how workers make decisions, and the impact of race and economic status on decisions

• Efficacy of different types of prevention and interventions

• Information on neglectful parents and evaluation of current interventions