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Lesson Seven: (Continued)
Q: Are children taken away forever?
A: California has strict rules about removal of children from their
families. However, because children are vulnerable, the law also
affords them significant protection. Peace officers are authorized
to take an endangered child into protective custody, and to place
the child in the care of the social service department. Law, without
a warrant, allows this initial, emergency removal for up to 48 hours,
not counting holidays and weekends.
Should the child protection agency decide the child cannot be safely
returned home, the agency must formally request the Juvenile Court to
hold a hearing to determine if continued removal is necessary. This
is accomplished by submitting a dependency petition outlining the
allegations that brought the child to the attention of the child
protection agency.
Q: If children are placed in foster care, do parents ever see their
children again?
A: Yes. Parents are expected to visit regularly, except in unusual
circumstances. The parent/child relationship must be maintained if
at all possible. It is very hard for children to be separated from
their parents, even when the parents have harmed the child. No one can
easily replace a child’s parents.
Q: What happens if the abuser is someone outside the household?
A: A report about an abuser not living in the child’s home is
made in the same way as any other report. Once the child protective
services agency determines that the child is not subjected to harm
within the home and the parents did not contribute to the abuse or
neglect, referrals for counseling or medical care can be made and
the case is closed by the social services or probation department.
Law enforcement will conduct its own, separate criminal investigation.
Charges may be filed and the abuser prosecuted.
Suspected abuse or neglect in a child day care facility, or foster
home or other residential facility, is referred to the appropriate
community care licensing office or to county licensing, which
investigates separately or in conjunction with the other investigating
agencies. An administrative proceeding to revoke the facility’s
license and/or to exclude a perpetrator from employment in a facility
may follow.
Q: Specifically, what does the Social Worker do?
A: The social worker interviews the child and family to evaluate the
situation. The worker’s primary responsibility is the protection
of the child.
Often, parents or others who mistreat children are beset by problems
which overwhelm them. Abusive parents are frequently very lonely and
have few friends. Many of these parents report that they were poorly
treated by their own parents and that their childhoods were unhappy.
These parents may not be able to handle the normal stresses of raising
children without help. Because they were denied safe, secure lives as
children, they may not understand the behavior of a child who is
experiencing a “normal” childhood. As a result, they may
have unrealistic expectations about their child’s
behavior.
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