CRIMES AGAINST CHILDREN: THE SOCIAL WORKER’S ROLE IN RESPONDING
Dan Powers, ACSW, LCSW OBJECTIVES
• Discuss the prevalence of child abuse in the U.S.
• Review the history of protecting children in the U.S.
• Gain a better understanding of the dynamics and consequences of child abuse
• Review the importance of Children's Advocacy Centers and the multidisciplinary approach to responding to child abuse
• Discuss a social worker’s role in responding to crimes against children DID YOU KNOW?
• Boys (48.5%) and girls (51.2%) become victims at nearly the same rate. • 2.9 million cases of child abuse are reported every year in the United States. • Children who experience child abuse and neglect are 59% more likely to be arrested as a juvenile, 28% more likely to be arrested as an adult, and 30% more likely to commit violence crime. • About 80% of 21-year-olds who were abused as children met criteria for at least one psychological disorder. • 14% of all men and 36% of all women in prison were abused as children. DID YOU KNOW?
• Approximately 5 children die every day because of child abuse.
• 1 out of 3 girls and 1 out of 5 boys will be sexually abused before they reach age 18.
• 90% of child sexual abuse victims know the perpetrator in some way. 68% are abused by a family member.
• Only 1/3 ever tell MYTHS AND MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT CHILD ABUSE
• Abused children are usually poor • Children adapt to being abused • Abused children will tell someone about their suffering • Most abusive parents are single, uneducated and have low incomes • Most abused children suffer serious physical injuries that you can see • Educated and professional people are educated on child abuse
5 LATEST NUMBERS OF CHILD VICTIMS
• 671,622 victims of child abuse in 2016
• 10,179 in Mississippi up 16.5% from 2015 • 11,289 in Louisiana down 10.6% from 2015 • 9,707 in Arkansas up 5% from 2015 • 10,157 in Alabama up 20% from 2015 • 9,665 in Tennessee down 2.6% from 2015 • 57, 374 in Texas down 10% from 2015 HISTORY OF CHILD PROTECTION IN THE U.S.
• 1874 - nine year-old Mary Ellen Wilson
• A religious missionary named Etta Wheeler learned of the Mary Ellen's plight and was determined to rescue her
• She went to police who declined to intervene
• She went to child helping charities, but they lacked authority HISTORY OF CHILD PROTECTION IN THE U.S.
• Wheeler sought advice from Henry Bergh, the influential founder of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
• Bergh asked his lawyer, Elbridge Gerry, to find a legal mechanism to rescue the child.
• Gerry employed a variant of the writ of habeas corpus to remove Mary Ellen from her guardians.
• Bergh and Gerry decided to create a nongovernmental charitable society devoted to child protection, the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NYSPCC), the world's first entity devoted entirely to child protection. HISTORY OF CHILD PROTECTION IN THE U.S.
• 1912 The Federal Children’s Bureau was created
• In 1935 the Social Security Act had an obscure provision that authorized the Children's Bureau “to cooperate with state public-welfare agencies in establishing, extending, and strengthening, especially in predominantly rural areas, [child welfare services] for the protection and care of homeless, dependent, and neglected children, and children in danger of becoming delinquent."' HISTORY OF CHILD PROTECTION IN THE U.S.
• 1962 “The Battered Child Syndrome” by Henry Kemp • A Newsweek story from April 1962, titled When They're Angry and quoted Kempe: • One day last November, we had four battered children in our pediatrics ward. Two died in the hospital and one died at home four weeks later. For every child who enters the hospital this badly beaten, there must be hundreds treated by unsuspecting doctors. The battered child syndrome isn't a reportable disease, but it damn well ought to be HISTORY OF CHILD PROTECTION IN THE U.S.
• By 1967 all states had laws putting child protection in government hands • Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974 • In 1978 Congress enacted the Indian Child Welfare Act
• CAPTA has been amended many times – • 2003 the Child Welfare Information Gateway was created • 2015 Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act WHAT IS CHILD ABUSE? MALTREATMENT TYPES
• 74.8% of victims were neglected,
• 18.2 percent were physically abused, and
• 8.5 percent were sexually abused.
• In addition, 6.9 percent of victims experienced such “other” types of maltreatment as threatened abuse or neglect, drug/alcohol addiction, and lack of supervision. NEGLECT
PHYSICAL NEGLECT The failure to provide a child with the food, clothing, or shelter necessary to sustain the life or health of a child
NEGLECTFUL SUPERVISION Placing a child in, or failing to remove the child from, a situation which results in bodily injury or a substantial risk of immediate harm to the child
MEDICAL NEGLECT failing to seek, obtain, or follow through with medical care for a child EMOTIONAL ABUSE
Emotional abuse is causing or permitting a child to be in a situation in which the child sustains a mental or emotional injury that results in an observable and material impairment in the child’s growth, development, or psychological functions. This includes:
• being ignored • exploited • rejected • verbally assaulted • isolated • terrorized PHYSICAL ABUSE
Physical abuse of a child is when someone causes any non-accidental physical injury to a child. This includes: • striking • hair pulling • whipping • kicking • choking • or any other action that injures a child • burning • throwing • biting • shoving MILESTONES when children are at greater risk
Sleeping through the Eating solid food Potty training night SEXUAL ABUSE
Sexual abuse occurs when there is sexual conduct harmful to a child’s mental, emotional, or physical welfare or failure to make a reasonable effort to prevent sexual conduct harmful to a child. This includes:
• touching victim • introduction to sexual material both in person or online • having victim touchoffender exposure of graphic content to • exposure of either party • child HEATH IMPACTS OF CHILD ABUSE
• Mental Health Disorders, Addictions, & Related Issues • Risk for intimate partner violence • Alcoholism and drug abuse • Smoking & drinking at an early age • PTSD • Depression • Suicide attempts • Sexual & Reproductive Health Issues and Risk Factors • Multiple sexual partners • Sexually transmitted diseases • Unintended pregnancies EDUCATIONAL / SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES
• Decreased academic performance • Behavior problems • Attention problems
• Inability to form heathy relationships • Sexual behavior problems • Juvenile justice involvement Kids who experience trauma
Have their scope of the world change CAC MODEL
A multidisciplinary approach to: • minimize re-victimization to child victims • provide support and resources to families of victims • facilitate prosecution of perpetrators through effective and efficient fact finding collaboration MDT MEMBERS
• CPS/DHS/DCFS • FORENSIC INTERVIEWERS • ADVOCATES • METNTAL HEALTH • LAW ENFORCEMENT • DISTRICT ATTORNEYS • MEDICAL SERVICES CAC CORE SERVICES
FORENSIC FAMILY THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITY INTERVIEWS ADVOCACY COUNSELING EDUCATION AND SUPPORT SERVICES A SOCIAL WORKER’S ROLE CHILD WELFARE
Social Workers are the best trained professionals to respond to cries against children
Social workers play a vital role in the safety and livelihood of children across the United States on a daily basis.
Those who specialize in child protective services are in high demand, as evidenced by the number of investigations launched into abuse and neglect over the past several decades. FORENSIC INTERVIEWER
• Forensic services are provided to children who may have experienced abuse or who have witnessed a crime or other violent act.
• A forensic interview is a single session, recorded interview designed to elicit a child’s unique information when there are concerns of possible abuse or when the child has witnessed violence against another person. The forensic interview is conducted in a supportive and non-leading manner by a professionally trained interviewer. ADVOCACY
• Advocacy focuses on providing advocacy, support, resources, and information to families involved with the multi-disciplinary team.
• This is at the core of who we are as Social Workers MENTAL HEATH
• Clinical Social Workers offer specialized therapy to children and non-offending family members who have experienced trauma as the result of abuse.
• A Social Worker’s systemic approach makes them uniquely skilled to work with children that have experienced abuse COMMUNITY EDUCATION
• Community education is not new to social work
• Community education has long been social work's response to contemporary risk issues A SOCIAL WORKER’S ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY
Ethical Principle: Social workers' primary goal is to help people in need and to address social problems.
Ethical Principle: Social workers respect the inherent dignity and worth of the person.
Ethical Principle: Social workers challenge social injustice.
NASW Code of Ethics SEE CHILD ABUSE AS A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE
• Learn about how child abuse affects our society
• Recognize and report abuse
• Help your community be aware and respond
• Vote! and educate your local/state/national elected officials DAN POWERS, ACSW, LCSW [email protected] 217/707-7471 Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Adverse Childhood Experiences https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/index.html
ChildHelp. "Child Abuse Statistics and Facts." ChildHelp. Accessed March 3, 2015. . The Advocacy Center. "The Facts About Youth Sexual Abuse." Accessed February 21, 2014, http://www.theadvocacycenter.org/adv_abuse.html.
Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2017). About CAPTA: A legislative history. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s Bureau.
Myers, John (2008) A Short History of Child Protection in America, Family Law Quarterly, Volume 42, Number 3
National Research Council. 1993. Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Pelt, J. (2103), Multidisciplinary Child Protection Teams – A Social Worker’s Role. Social Work Today Vol. 13 No 2
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Administration of Children and Families, Child Maltreatment 2016 https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/resource/child-maltreatment-2016
U.S. Department of Justice. "Sexual Assault of Young Children as Reported to Law Enforcement: Victim, Incident, and Offender Characteristics."