The Child Welfare System Flashcards
1
Q
The Federal Government’s Role in the Child Welfare System
What are the limits on parental rights?
A
- parents right to raise children without governmental intervention may end when the parent is harming the child –
- the state exercising its parens patriae power: may intervene in the family to protect the child
- this power justifies federal child welfare law as well as state’s child welfare systems which are tasked with responding to reports of suspected child abuse or neglect and arranging temporary or permanent case for children without parents or guardians
2
Q
The Federal Government’s Role in the Child Welfare System
How does the federal government exert control over the child welfare system?
A
- requiring states to meet certain conditions for federal funds
3
Q
The Federal Government’s Role in the Child Welfare System
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA)
A
- child safety and child preservation
- focus on family preservation led to drop in foster care population
- reversed statute bc awareness of child abuse required that states create more narrowed definitions of abuse and neglect
- Congress began to structure funding for foster care in such a way that ended de facto preference for family preservation
4
Q
The Federal Government’s Role in the Child Welfare System
Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (AACWA)
A
- required state agencies make reasonable efforts to avoid removing children from their families to prioritize family reunification for children who have been removed
- worked for some time but then population rose again
- criticism of family preservation: lack of attention to the safety needs of children and a willingness to put concern about parents ahead of concern about children
5
Q
The Federal Government’s Role in the Child Welfare System
Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA)
A
- sought to promote permanency by expediting removal and termination
- clarified that the child’s health and safety shall be paramount in the requirement that states make reasonable efforts to reunify families
- requires child protective services to do concurrent planning after a child has been removed contemporaneously
- make plans to secure a successful adoption in the event that reunification does not occur
- requires states to file a petition to terminate parental rights of any child who has been in state custody for 15/22 months,
- unless the child is being cared for by a relative, the agency has documented a compelling reason why filing a petition is not in the child’s best interests or the state has failed to provide the family with needed services
- similarly agencies are required to file petitions to terminate parental rights if a court determines that the child has been abandoned or that the parent has committed certain violent crimes
- advocates argue this act has helped more children achieve permanency
- while critics argue that this increased intervention is traumatic for many children and point to disproportionate rates of removal and termination in families of color
6
Q
The Federal Government’s Role in the Child Welfare System
Family First Prevention Services Act
A
- permits states to use federal funds up to 12 months of preventative services including mental health services and substance abuse treatment
- although prioritizes family maintenance and reunification it leaves many of the ASFA measures in place to hasten termination
- such as the state’s obligation to file a termination petition if the child has been in state custody for 15 of the past 22 months
7
Q
Abuse and Neglect
how does CAPTA standardize abuse and neglect?
A
- CAPTA set out federal requirements for child abuse reporting and prevention and supplied federal funding to state child welfare programs – first widescale effort to address the issue
- funding authorized by CAPTA - conditioned on state’s adoption of uniform statutory definitions of child abuse and neglect
- most state statutory schemes separately recognize four categories of child “maltreatment”:
- physical abuse,
- sexual abuse,
- emotional abuse, and
- neglect
- some states have also codified parental substance abuse and abandonment as distinct categories
8
Q
Abuse and Neglect
what are exceptions?
A
- exceptions; some codified:
- financial inability;
- corporal punishment as long as it is reasonable and causes no serious bodily injury to a child,
- physical discipline is omitted form the definition of abuse in many states
9
Q
Abuse and Neglect
what are different forms of state intervention?
A
- family assessments,
- formal investigations,
- mandatory in-home services,
- removal of the child and
- in extreme cases termination of parental rights
10
Q
Abuse and Neglect
Referrals and Reports
A
- initiates a state’s involvement with a particular family.
- other ways include: (1) family from its own volition or (2) case from the juvenile family court system – (3) to access resources to help the child with school, mental illness or substance abuse
- mandatory reporters – certain professionals who frequently interact with children such as teachers, social workers, doctors, nurses and therapists
- once a report has been made, most CPS agencies govern intervention by a two-step process (1) screening and (2) investigation and alternative response
- may be screened out if they plainly do not concern child abuse or neglect, they contain insufficient information, or intervention by another agency is deemed more fitting with the circumstances
- once screened-in it is formally called a report
11
Q
Abuse and Neglect
Investigations
A
- state normally commences an investigation within three days (or twenty-four hours if serious abuse is alleged)
- if child not immediately removed, case worker develops a safety plan with the family to ensure the child’s safety in the present
- family will agree to a family assessment by a caseworker of what would require to ensure a child’s safety and well-being
- if child remains at home, the family may be provided “in home” services
- minimal services – including education about parenting, child discipline, grocery shopping and budgeting
- intermediate services including therapy, outpatient treatment for substance abuse or mental health problems
- intensive services including intensive family interventions by a caseworker for a short period of time to resolve issues continuing to maltreatment
- if parent participates then the case will be closed, if not, case will be moved back to the investigatory path
- primary purpose of the investigation is to determine within a set timeframe if the children in the home are safe, if abuse or neglect has occurred, and if there is a risk of child maltreatment occurring in the future
- CPS focuses on the alleged maltreatments, facts about the particular child, facts about the parent or caregiver, and the overall family functioning
12
Q
Abuse and Neglect
Removal
A
governed by best interests determination and guided by factors depending on state law including:
* family integrity,
* the importance of timely permanent placement,
* and an assurance that the removed child will be given the care given
if an agency concludes that a child must be removed, it is required to seek and receive a court order to remove the child; however, in cases of serious harm, the agency can immediately remove the child and seek an order retroactively
- court can: (1) grant ex parte custody to CPS, (2) schedule initial hearing before removal, or (3) deny the petition
- after removal, parties will generally have an initial hearing to assess, via a best-interests determination, whether the child should be placed in foster care or returned to the family during the pendency of the process
- if child is still not back home, fact-finding hearing will be held to determine whether agency can support findings that removal is warranted
- if judge rules in favor of CPS, child’s removal will continue and an order finding facts about the maltreatment that must be resolved, whether the agency has made reasonable efforts to avoid placement in foster care and achieve reunification and whether the child’s placement is appropriate given the child’s needs
- if removal is necessary for the time being, may be a disposition hearing to determine which additional services are to be ordered, including a case plan and options for reunification.
case plan must include:
* a description of where the child is to be placed;
* a plan for ensuring that the child receives safe and proper care
* and that the parents, child and foster parents are receiving appropriate services
- federal law requires states to make reasonable efforts to reunify families, but ASFA excuses this requirement if aggravated circumstances are present
- federal law requires a permanency hearing within twelve months after the child had entered foster care, to be repeated every twelve months thereafter
13
Q
Foster Care Placements
How Are They Made?
A
- preference for relatives, then foster parents, then group home.
- state laws usually require background checks.
- fed. law limits who can provide foster care;
- Agencies avoid placing children in group homes because they usually have 6 to 9 kids.
- must develop permanency plan within 12 months of entering foster care
- if they’re over the age of 14, then the plan must be done with the child
- options for plans include: (1) reunification (2) adoption (3) guardianship (4) subsidized guardianship (4) another planned permanent living situation (5) aging out
14
Q
Rethinking the Child Welfare System: Reform or Abolition?
What does Dorothy Roberts have to say about the child welfare system?
A
- typically focuses on issues as children’s rights vs parent’s rights. instead of viewing it as a civil rights issue.
- black children experience higher rates of separation and there’s a disproportionate number of black children in system.
- racial bias from system actors leads to punishment of parents for failure by threatening removal of children
- systemic factors outside of system make black children more vulnerable to state intrusion
