NiKole Cutler Meredith Maitland Jack Likes Jackson Hill
Forgotten Families How can we prevent child abuse and truly support families?
Prepared by Group 2, COMM 352:03, BYU-Idaho
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Contents
Contents
How can we prevent child abuse
and truly support families?
Introduction - Child Abuse and the Need For Prevention............................. 1 Child abuse is a prevalent problem in society, resulting in children and adults who struggle with lifelong problems like depression, anxiety, aggression, and substance abuse, just to name a few. Society’s answer to this problem is CPS - Child Protective Services - where caseworkers intervene on behalf of children who are being abused. This solution isn’t perfect, however, as many innocent families are investigated, and children who are actual victims of abuse slip through the cracks. Preventing of child abuse in the first place would be a better solution.
Solution 1 - Parenting Classes During Pregnancy......................................... 5 Parenting Classes offered during pregnancy can help parents prepare for caring for their child. People don’t have any kind of formal training before becoming parents. Giving parents tools will help empower them and give them the self confidence they need in knowing they are doing the best they can. Not only that, but if we start a family with classes and training before a child is born, the family is more apt to ask for help later on if and when stresses in the family occurs that would raise the risk of abuse.
Solution 2 - Visits From Nurses or Teachers Verses CPS Case Workers........ 7 Home visits from nurses or teachers are far more effective in preventing abuse than visits with CPS caseworkers. The most important thing to finding success in this type of program are trust and follow-through. The kids and parents have to trust the advice and path the counselors advocate. This is often not acheived with a CPS caseworker.
Solution 3 - Community Family Nights for Support...................................... 9 Community family nights hosted every other week can help families come together with others in their community. By reaching out and making friends with others, families can get support in times of crisis and can learn better parenting tools from those in their community.
Taking Action - What We Can Do................................................................. 11 What can we do to take action on this sensitive issue? We proposed three solutuions, however the most important thing we can do is to start a conversation about it. Child abuse is a problem that impacts the community. Community members not experiencing this problem should care about this issue because children absorb what they see and hear in their homes. Making the home better for one child impacts a village.
How can we prevent child abuse and truly support families?
Introduction
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Introduction
Child Abuse and the Need for Prevention In 2012, U.S. authorities received more than 3.3 million reports of abuse, representing
about
6
million children, or 8% of the child population. History
The first organized child abuse prevention group in America was formed in 1875. Before this time, there were various laws and peretrators prosecuted for child abuse, but such interventions were not consistent and children were less protected from abuse than they are now. Even after this first organization was founded, help was limited. By 1922, 300 other organizations had been formed across the country, but many cities and rural areas still had little help in protecting children from abuse. These agencies were “also non-governmental” and so lacked the funds to be able to protect the whole community they served. Even in the 1960’s, there was little protection for children from abuse, other than “noteworthy cases.” (Myers, John E.B.) Finally, doctors became interested in the subject of child abuse, after a radiologist published a report on children with head injuries and broken bones, implying that child abuse was the cause. Media interest followed, bringing the subject to national attention. This spurred Congress to step in and require states to pledge to make child welfare services available statewide. Laws were created to require reporting by 1
doctors and other responsible professionals. Unfortunately, this didn’t solve the problem. Once children who were being abused were removed from their homes, agreeing on where to send them became the next hurdle. There were arguments over whether orphanages or foster care would be best for children, as well as who should be allowed to adopt children whose parent’s rights were terminated. The system was overwhelmed with cases to investigate and the amount of children in foster care, inspiring Congress to step in and require all children who were removed from their home to have a “permanency plan.” (Myers, John E.B.) This was a plan set up to either make a child’s home a safe environment and allow him or her to return, or to terminate parental rights, allowing the child to be adopted. This didn’t reduce the number of children in foster care, however, and, while many more children are protected today than before intervention organizations were established, there are still problems. There are still overwhelming numbers of reports of child abuse and case workers are overloaded with trying to investigate the reports in the time How can we prevent child abuse and truly support families?
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Introduction
allowed. This creates problems with a high turnover in CPS caseworkers, as well as innocent parents being investigated or children suffering abuse to be overlooked. “In 2012, U.S. authorities received more than 3.3 million reports of abuse, representing about 6 million children, or 8% of the child population. From those reports, after investigation and intervention, about 400,000 children were placed in foster care, and of those, nearly 60,000 were permanently taken away from their families of origin.” (Soronen, Rita, 2014) In 2013, 23,439 children graduated foster care by aging out, rather than being placed with permanent, loving families. (Soronen) The statistics for children who remain in the foster care system until they age out aren’t hopeful. “Conservative studies find one in five will become homeless after 18; at 24, only half will be employed; less than 3% will have earned a college degree; 71% of women will be pregnant by 21; and one in four will have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder at twice the rate of United States war veterans. And too often, many are at risk of moving back into government systems -- from juvenile centers to prison.” (Soronen) While intervening to protect children from abuse is
important, it should not be our only focus. Rather, putting more focus on preventing child abuse and supporting families who are at risk for child abuse can prevent abuse and the subsequent trauma. It can prevent children from being removed from their homes, passed between foster homes, and then finally age out of the program, unprepared to face the world and without the support of a family.
CPS and Families in Crisis
CPS intervenes in families when parents and caregivers don’t have the tools to effectively raise and parent children. In order to avoid CPS involvement, we as a community need to get involved and help support parents. Hospitals, churches and other groups can step in when mothers and partners become pregnant. All people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and demographics should be encouraged to take parenting classes. Parenting is a huge responsibility and often parents and caregivers don’t have the tools to effectively parent children. Some resort to the destructive parenting practices they observed growing up in their own families. Physical abuse occurs at all socioeconomic levels. In 2014
“In 2013, 23,439 children graduated foster care by aging out, rather than being placed with permanent, loving families.” “...too often, many are at risk of moving back into government systems - from juvenile centers to prison” (Soronen)
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Introduction
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an estimated 1,580 children died as a result of abuse and neglect. • A single parent who is out of work and has no childcare may be under tremendous stresses that can contribute to abuse. • Lack of social support and reduced access to mental health services may also increase a parent’s risk of abusing his or her child. • It is believed that stress resulting from job changes, loss of income, health problems, or other askpects of the family environment can heighten the level of conflict in the home and the ability of members to cope or find support.
Problems With CPS
Families are less likely to cooperate when Child Protective Services get involved. Statistics show in one year there were 3.2 million reports of child abuse. Only 686,000 were found to actualy be victims of abuse. There is no perfect system to keep good parents from be ing investigated, but surely we can do better. Debra Harrell was arrested after it was reported to CPS that her 9 year old child spent summer days playing in a public park surrounded by families - for letting her child play in a park. The information made its way to CPS by an anonymous call. According to a CPS, “Once you allow CPS into your home, you can ask them to leave whenever you like and they must leave”. However, most families are not made aware. Some of the families among the 2,498,000 referrals found to be non-victims were presumably guilty of abuse that CPS missed. 812,000 families went through a traumatic, frightening, intrusive experience before being cleared of unlawful abuse or neglect. These types of mistakes annually are proof that independent and separate agencies are needed to prevent the types of behaviours that are causing the phone calls in the first place. These parents did nothing wrong, yet their lives were turned upside down. One family was falsely accused of abuse when they took their baby girl to the doctor for an accidental injury. Later, they were compared to “dolphins caught in a net.” A child abuse doctor at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital (HDVCH) in Grand Rapids, Michigan, actually thanked them for “taking a hard hit for the greater good” of catching abused and neglected children.
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They were innocent. Bethany and Andrew Debski did not go to the doctor looking to take a hit. They were concerned about their baby, and wanted to make sure she was OK. They never expected the nightmare turn of events that would arise out of seeking help. They are victims of a disturbing trend in which parents are presumed guilty until proven innocent. In the world of Child Protective Services, the Constitution appears to be meaningless, and children and parents are caught up in a net that was originally intended to catch abusive parents who beat, torment, and molest their children. Increasingly, good parents whose children happen to get sick or injured accidentally are being caught up in this very costly net, causing even greater injury and trauma. How many families will be caught up in the net before the system gets more efficient nets, ones that don’t entrap the guiltless? (LaPoint, Terri, 2013)
Statistics show in one year there were 3.2 million reports of child abuse. Only 686,000 were found to actualy be victims of abuse.
How can we prevent child abuse and truly support families?
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Introduction The long term costs of abuse
Ramifications of Chld Abuse
Parents who were abused as children are at greater risk of becoming abusive themselves, as are parents who are depressed, suffering from post-traumatic stress reactions, or burdened by other psychiatric problems. • Child abuse is linked to poor physical emotional and mental development. In one longterm study, 80 percent of young adults who had been abused as children had at least one psychiatric disorder at age 21. • Abused children are at risk for depression and anxiety. Children that are abused can develop child traumatic stress. • One study indicated that abuse and neglect in childhood increased the likelihood of adult criminal behavior by 28 percent and violent crime by 30 percent. • Child abuse has also been linked in many studies to substance abuse.
How can we prevent child abuse and truly support families?
A study gathered data from 1,740 fatal and 579,000 non-fatal child abuse and neglect cases for a 12-month period. The lifetime cost for each victim of child maltreatment who lived was $210,012, which compares to other costly health ailments, such as stroke with a lifetime cost per individual of approximately $159,846 or type 2 diabetes, which runs between $181,000 and $253,000. For those looking to save money and ignore the problem of child abuse, the financial costs do not go away. They will increase every year with victims of abuse. This cost will be passed on to taxpayers through social security and other taxes used to fund recovery groups. The cost of these programs are far greater than prevention counseling centers. Children who are abused and neglected at home are more likely than their peers to do badly at school, to have behaviour problems and to become victims of bullying, according to a report. Problematic school performance (e.g., low grades, poor standardized test scores, and frequent retention in grade) is a fairly consistent finding in studies of physically abused and neglected children (Eckenrode et al., 1991; Salzinger et al., 1984; Wolfe and Mosk, 1983), with neglected children appearing the most adversely affected. The findings for sexually abused children are inconsistent. Dodge and colleagues (1990) found that physically harmed 4-year-old children showed deviant patterns of processing social information, related to aggressive behavior, at age 5. Physically harmed children (relative to nonphysically harmed children) were significantly less attentive to social cues, more inclined to attribute hostile intent, and less able to manage personal problems. They explain possible cognitive deficits in abused and neglected children by suggesting that physical abuse affects the development of social-information-processing patterns, which in turn lead to chronic aggressive behavior. The experience of severe physical harm is associated with the “acquisition of a set of biased and deficient patterns of processing social provocation information” (nap.edu/read/2117/chapter/8#212)
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Solution 1 1 Solution
Solution 1
Make parenting classes available to help all expecting parents prepare for parenthood Community-based communication and hospital classes can be offered upon pregnancy.
Community based classes would be offered through the city or offered upon at places where government services are offered like the WIC, food stamp, and welfare offices. Hospital classes would be offered at the clinic or hospital where the birth and pregnancy welfare appointments will take place.
Key components of the program Evidence-Based and Evidence-Informed Prevention Program Implementation • • • • •
Classes can give parents the tools to raise their children. They can provide a safe place for parents to ask for help. Classes can help parents become active in their community and join a support group if help is needed. Classes offered to everyone, regardless of need, reduces the stigma of needing help. There is less embarrassment in taking classes if everyone is doing it. “The education approach is community-oriented and • “Recent research suggests that engages sectors and offers a common understanding, parent training can also reduce child abuse and neglect, espevocabulary, and treatment approach. As a result, parcially when the training is ements and children receive more consistent and uniform bedded in a broader community campaign.” services than would otherwise be available.”
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Solution 1
Classes would link parents to tools and health services if needed.
with their children, preventing neglect or mistreatment of their children. • “A recent analysis by Matthew Goldfine and his • If parents are dealing with addiction they can seek colleagues of the cost-effectiveness of PCIT in rehelp in a no-judgment community. ducing child conduct and mental health problems • Parents will be comfortable with seeking help from found that PCIT was an effective and financially healthcare providers if they are used to taking classviable form of treatment for child disruptive bees at the healthcare venue. havior disorders.” • The classes will cover a broad view of topics from https://www.brookings.edu/research/can-parent-trainanger management to age appropriate punishing-reduce-abuse-enhance-development-and-savements. money/ • “The education approach is community-oriented and engages professionals from multiple disciplines and service sectors and offers a common understanding, vocabulary, and treatment ap• Less money can be spent on families overall by proach. As a result, parents and children receive preventing child mental health issues from abuse. more consistent and uniform services than would • Prevention means fewer children dying from abuse. otherwise be available.” • Giving parents tools early on to prevent abuse means less separation of families. Stakeholder education
Advantages
• Everyone in the community will benefit from parents and caregivers gaining parental education • Funds for child welfare services can be spent in being proactive rather than reactive only. • According the study of PCIT “Chaffin and his colleagues estimated that implementing PCIT—thus saving money that would otherwise be spent for subsequent maltreatment reinvestigations and re-opened cases and other services—resulted in a saving of $3,427 per family, not counting further saving in developmental and health services attendant on higher rates of recurrent abuse.”
Disadvantages
• Parents and caregivers suffering from anger, stress or addiction issues may not see they have an issue and not seek help • Those that need the help may not know it is a free service to them and not take part in the parenting classes.
Sustainability
• The program is financially solvent if the program was able to take the money used in dealing with the situation and put toward education. • “The costs of the universal media and communication component totaled less than $1.00 per child in the South Carolina trial.” • The model uses the money to be proactive instead of being reactive by taking services that are used to deal with the issue to prevent the issue • For example, CPS case workers would become educators and help give families the tools to work
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Solution 2
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Solution 2
Home visits from nurses and/or teachers are far more effective in preventing abuse than visits with CPS case workers. Community-based communication strategies and media campaigns are better received by members in the community than communications from court appointed CPS officers.
Community-based communication to families at risk for child abuse can come from a qualified volunteer or a privately employed member of the community whose sole purpose is to better the situation of a family in need, located in private organizations like Family Nurturing Centers. This service will come at no direct cost to the family. Instead, the community will pay for the program. Since the family is part of the community, they will have been paying into the program. They are just a this time using the services, much like going to a park or walking around a water reservoir. It is all community property for the community to take advantage of as needed. By having these programs in the community already, the goal would be to prevent child abuse, and, therefore, the need for child protective services (CPS). This strategy has proven to work in other cities and communities across the nation. They are more effective and quicker to help families than government funded bureaucracies. Finally, media outlets can be used to not only to help those in need know about the services availible to them, but also to keep the community informed of the program and its success. This can be accomplished through advertising at local baseball games, high school events and other community-based events.
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How can we prevent child abuse and truly support families?
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Solution 2
Evidence-Based and EvidenceInformed Prevention Program Implementation • Child abuse causes trauma. Trauma-informed care is a treatment framework that involves understanding, recognizing, and responding to the effects of all types of trauma. All Family Nurturing Center employees including clinical, administrative and support staff are required to be trained on trauma informed care. (familynurture.org/)
Advantages
Disadvantages
• Prevention will stop the potential negative effects of abuse from following a person for life.
• It requires the community to put forth resources and effort to work. • Trust has to be established on a case by case basis. • Trust will be broken at times, crimes will have to be reported if prevention counseling came too late.
• Prevention programs show that the community cares.
• Trauma informed care also emphasizes physical, psychological and emotional security for the client and helps survivors rebuild a sense of control and empowerment. The principles of trauma-informed care and trauma-specific interventions are designed to address the consequences of trauma in the individual and to facilitate healing. (familynurture. org/what-is-trauma-informed-care/)
Taking the compassion out of the equation and looking at the financial facts. It is virtually impossible to calculate, on a national level, an accurate total of direct expenditures since so many costs are blended into other categories or are simply not tracked as abuse and neglect related expenses. However, the government expenditures for child welfare programs do provide us with a benchmark for estimating the annual direct cost for abuse and neglect. In 2010, federal expenditures to states for major child welfare programs exceeded 4.5 billion dollars. That total excludes Medicaid dollars, which are an important source of funding for treatment. (CWLA, 2011) It is also important to note here that federal funding accounts for only 42% of most state child welfare dollars. The remaining 58% is the responsibility of the state and local government. These costs reflect the long term economic consequences of child maltreatment in such areas as education, mental health, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, welfare dependency, domestic violence, homelessness, juvenile delinquency
How can we prevent child abuse and truly support families?
and adult criminality. The indirect costs can also be present in loss of productivity, incarceration, long-term injury or unemployment or death. These figures are much more difficult to ascertain since many are based on assumptions or are extrapolated from research. (http://njcap.org/the-highcost-of-child-abuse-to-society-prevention-pays/)
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Solution 3
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Solution 3 Focus:
Community Family Activity Night
Decrease the number of families in the Child Protective Services (CPS) system in any given community by educating families through a fun filled activity within the community.
Audience
All family’s within a community; especially those who are currently in the CPS system.
Objective:
To build and strengthen all family units in the community. This will be a program to prevent families from ending up in the CPS system by enabling families to grow and develop.
Solution:
Create a Community Family Activity Night (CFAN) every other week which provides ways for families to spend time together and strengthen family bonds, as well as bonds with the community. These events can be games, seminars, dinners, recreational activities, etc. The purpose is to educate parents on the importance of spending quality time with their families.
Feasibility & Effectiveness:
A program like this, to be highly successful, will depend on the leaders running the program. They must be driven and motivated to desire that the community comes closer together. This program will require a lot of funds in order to pay for each activity. The effectiveness will depend on how the leaders will be able to organize, promote, and fund each CFAN. In addition, the effectiveness will depend on whether families will be able to attend.
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Solution 3
Key Components of CFAN Leadership
Community Family Leaders: Each community should have a minimum of three family units where they can meet and correlate information about each Community Family Activity Night.
Raise Awareness • • • •
Word of Mouth Brochures Community Facebook page Home visits
Raising Funds
• Statistic – State children’s trust and prevention funds collectively distribute more than $100 million in funding each year to support a diverse array of evidence-based and innovative statewide and community based prevention strategies. • Find your local prevention fund on http://www. ctfalliance.org
Activities
• Will occur once every two weeks • Will be based on family activities where all can participate • Each activity will include some sort of education portion to help parents rear and teach their children.
Advantages: • The advantages of a program such as this greatly outweigh the limitations. Families and community members play a vital role in preventing family violence. Studies show that abused women turn first to those closest to them—extended family, friends, and neighbors—before they reach out to an organization or professional service provider. Relatively few access shelter services. And they seek out government institutions—police, courts, and child protection agencies—last.
How can we prevent child abuse and truly support families?
Limitations: • This program would be limited if a community has limited viable family structures. In order for this program to work, there must be enough families to sustain activities where other families or individuals would want to go.
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Taking Action
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Taking Action
How can we prevent child abuse
We Propose: • Solution 1 :
Provide classes in the community or hospital setting for expecting parents.
• Solution 2:
Home visits from nurses and/or teachers are far more effective in preventing abuse than visits with CPS case workers.
• Solution 3:
Garner support for families at risk for abuse in the context of community family nights
Reflection
Child abuse is a community problem. Children are abused in too many homes. They grow up and enter society with lifelong problems, including a higher likelihood of becoming abusers, “higher rates of physical and mental illness,” “less likely to marry or to be in a stable cohabiting relationship,” and “more likely to divorce.” (Lauer and Lauer) Families where children experience abuse are often under stress and need support and help from the community, with the first line of defense being prevention, rather than intervention. We have proposed ways to put more focus on preventing child abuse through various support programs for families at risk. There are many more possibile ways of preventing child abuse, and getting the conversation going about this sensitive topic is the first step. 11
For more information: • Preventing Child Abuse
• https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/preventing/ • https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/preventing/preventionmonth/ • https://sparq.stanford.edu/solutions/empowering-parents-reduces-abuse • https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/issue-briefs/parented/ • njcap.org/the-high-cost-of-child-abuse-tosociety-prevention-pays/
• Resources for families at risk
• https://www.familyfirst.net/programs/ • http://news.psu.edu/story/368289/2015/09/03/research/babies-benefit-parenting-classes-even-birth • www.familypaths.org • www.parentproject.com • http://centerforparentingeducation.org
• Research, Statistics and Examples
• http://www.nctsn.org/trauma-types/physical-abuse • https://www.childhelp.org/child-abuse-statistics/ • https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/
• Solutions for CPS
• https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/issue-briefs/differential-response/
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Sources
References “Babies Benefit from Parenting Classes Even Before Birth.” Mental Health Weekly Digest, 2015. EBSCOhost, byui.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true &db=edsgov&AN=edsgcl.429207012&site=eds-live. Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention: Accomplishments and New Directions.” Child Welfare Information Gateway. N.p., n.d. Web. 08. Mar 2017. “Child Abuse and Neglect.” Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, 2016, p. 1p. 1. EBSCOhost, byui. idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-ebscohost-com.byui.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true& db=funk&AN=CH120100&site=eds-live. Herman, Lawrence W.|Gottfredson, Denise C.|MacKenzie, Doris L.|Eck, John|Reuter, Peter|Bushway, Shawn D. “Preventing Crime: What Works, What Doesn’t, What’s Promising. Research in Brief. National Institute of Justice.” ERIC - Education Resources Information Center. N.p., 30 June 1998. Web. 09 Mar. 2017. “Home.” Family Nurturing Center. N.p., n.d. Web 09 Mar. 2017. Lauer, Robert H. and Jeanette C. Lauer. “A Note on Theory.” Lauer, Robert H. and Jeanette C. Lauer. Marriage and Family: The Quest For Intimacy. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. Myers, John E.B. “A Short History of Child Protection in America.” Family Law Quarterly 42.3 (2008): 449-463. Online. 27 March 2017. <http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publishing/ insights_law_society/ChildProtectionHistory.authcheckdam.pdf>. “Office of Children and Family Services.” Preventive Services – New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS). N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2017 “Overcoming Common Challenges Facing Marriages and Families.” Overcoming Common Challenges Facing Marriages and Families. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2017. Skeen, Sarah and Mark Tomlinson. “A Public Health Approach to Preventing Child Abuse in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Call for Action.” International Journal of Psychology, vol. 48, no. 2, Apr. 2013, pp. 108-116. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/00207594.2012.737467. Soronen, Rita. “We Are Abandoning Children in Foster Care.” 17 April 2014. CNN. Online. 2017 27 March. “Suicide Knows No Boundaries.” Suicide Prevention Resources. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2017 “Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Child Protective Services.” WeHaveKids. WeHaveKids, 02 Nov. 2016. Web. 09 Mar. 2017.
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Appendix
Appendix
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Jackson Hill
My name is Jackson Hill. I am originally from Coeur d’Alene, ID and have lived in the Utah Valley Area for over 10 years. I have always loved interacting with people and serving others. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I served a mission for two years serving and helping the people of Peru.
Selection of Issue
Our team chose this issue because with real life solutions, we have the ability to change lives and communities. I was drawn to the topic because it was foreign to me. Never had I dealt with or know someone that has been involved with Child Protective Services. I was intrigued to learn more about a problem that I knew nothing about. I incorporated principals I have learned into the solutions.
Team Member Tasks
I worked on solution #2. I contributed my ideas as well my solution of creating a Community Family Activity Night.
Strategic Research
I spent several hours on researching several studies as well as other issue books issued by local programs. • https://sparq.stanford.edu/solutions/empowering-parents-reduces-abuse • https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/issue-briefs/parented/ • https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/issue-briefs/differential-response/ • https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/preventingcan/ • http://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/abuse.aspx
Personal Reflection
This experience was marvelous for me. When we initially started brainstorming ideas for an issue book, I thought of more generic issues that I have seen in my life. When the idea of helping families and solving the issue of the overloaded Child Protective Service (CPS) program, I became hesitant. This issue was foreign to me in which I knew absolutely nothing. Because of this, I would have rather elected an issue that I was more familiar with. Nonetheless, I moved forward with my group’s decision. After spending time researching about the issue, I became more intrigued about the families and instances where CPS became involved. I quickly began to appreciate the service that the CPS program offered. Nonetheless, I also learned how overworked and under resourced the program is. This is when I started to brainstorm ideas of how communities and families can benefit and would lighten the work load of the CPS program. After thinking and pondering about the issue, I thought about how the church goes about the issue. The primary program that the church has implemented to strengthen and bond family relationships is Family Home Evening (FHE). I personally thought of the fun times I had spending time with my family. I then came up with the solution of doctoring the FHE to incorporate an entire community. Through a program such as this, families would be strengthened, friends would be made, and a community would grow together.
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How can we prevent child abuse and truly support families?
///////////// Appendix Meredith Maitland My name is Meredith Maitland Knudtson. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I am 36 years old and the stay at home mom to 7 children. I have my A.S. in General Studies from BYU-Idaho and I am working toward my Bachelor’s Degree in University Studies. I am part of an active family involved in many sports like softball, soccer, swim team and dance. I like to run in my spare time and I complete several half marathons a year.
Selection of Issue
Our team selected this issue because we feel like it’s a topic that would help and benefit the community. NiKole had this great idea along with a few others. I was personally drawn to this idea of helping those in need of parenting help because education and parenting tools help an entire village.
Team Member Tasks
My tasks were to complete the preparing the background, preparing solutions, provide a template for the editor, conduct, prepare, and submit an interview.
Strategic Research
• Ramirez, Bangon. Personal interview. 15 Mar. 2017. • “Community Services Locator: An Online Directory for Finding Community Services for Children and Families: Knowledge Path.” Child Welfare Information Gateway. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2017. • Arria, Amelia M., Amy A. Mericle, Deanna Rallo, Jerry Moe, William L. White, Ken C. Winters, and Garrett O’Connor. “Integration of Parenting Skills Education and Interventions in Addiction Treatment.” Journal of addiction medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, Jan. 2013. Web. 1 Mar. 2017. • “Phpsanjose.” Phpsanjose. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2017. • “Parent Resource Center Mission Statement:.” Parent Resource Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2017. • “About Us.” For The Child. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2017. • “Child Parent Institute.” Child Parent Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2017.
Personal Reflection
I experienced an overwhelming desire to help people in the community. I think we can all benefit from the solutions we came up with. The issue we have is removing the stigma of parents and caregivers needing parenting classes. By humanizing and making parenting classes something that is done almost at conception makes the people more comfortable to reach out for help. The entire community can benefit from parenting tools and lessons on anger management. We aren’t perfect. No one gives us a manual on how to be parents, much less good parents. We have to diligently seek the answers. Parenting classes are the way to making better people and active parents. I also realized from this assignment the importance of early intervention. We can’t wait for abuse to be a problem before CPS steps in. Parents and caregivers can be proactive by taking parenting classes before anger, stress, addiction and other vices become an issue. The key to good parenting is being proactive instead of reactive. Those might think if the problem doesn’t affect them they don’t need to be involved. This isn’t true in the case of abuse. When a child is affected by abuse in the home, he or she is more likely to repeat the cycle of abuse. The abuse may manifest itself in other destructive ways like bullying, depression or drug abuse. The community can help with programs to stop the cycle of abuse. Helping one child changes the quality of life and benefits an entire community.
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Appendix
///////////// Jack Likes
My name is Jack Likes. I am 37 years old and a father to six children. I have been married for 15 years to a beautiful woman from Wisconsin. We reside in Rigby Idaho. My family life is about as perfect as one could possibly be.
Selection of Issue:
At first I went with the topic for two reasons. One it was different then our group’s last project and two others were pushing for it. I found during my research just how important prevent counseling is. Not only for those in need of it but for the community as a whole.
Team MemberTasks:
I was responsible for the research on the ramifications of counseling programs on a community. It really brought to light the ramification of NOT having these programs available, advertised, and working to remove the negative stigmas attached to it. I was lead to finding solutions to the hurdles facing such programs in small and large communities. One of the most interesting parts of my research was the interview I was able to conduct with Tyre Blackwell, a councillor for families with troubled youth.
Research: • • • • • • •
http://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/preventing/prevention-programs/ http://familynurture.org/ http://ocfs.ny.gov/main/prevention/default.asp https://providentliving.lds.org/lds-family-services-strenthening-marriage?lang=eng https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED423321 http://healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/Famlies/SuicidePreventionProgram/Resources/tabid/1920/Default.aspx One of the most insightful papers I found in my research was written by Shannon. She is a CPS worker with years of experience and lots of insight. She provided a perspective for both sides of the CPS coin. It can be read here. https:// wehavekids.com/parenting/InsideCPS
Personal Reflection:
I was unsure how counseling families and children before involving the government would effect me and my family. My family is happy. We have our problems but nothing needing government or private counseling. So why would or should I, as a citizen, concern myself with the expensive problems of others? Child, drug, spousal, and alcohol abuse truly has an effect on all of us. Whether it is directly or indirectly we as a community, state, and nation, are affected negatively by abuse. We can also positively affect the lives of others to improve their quality of life and earning potential. To think that child abuse could have an effect on my family’s finances was about as far fetched as I could think. Through my research though, I discovered that we truly are all tied together in our complex society. I was able to speak with professionals already involved with helping families before Child Protective Services had to be called. The level of compassion and desire they all seemed to share for success was contagious. I was left with a greater desire to help in areas I could. Whether I was affected or not, I have been trying to find other issues I can get educated on and more involved with.
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How can we prevent child abuse and truly support families?
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Appendix
NiKole Cutler I am NiKole Cutler and I am a wife, mother to five children and a student at BYU-Idaho. I am working to earn my Bachelor’s degree in Marriage and Family Studies, and want to be a licensed art therapist. I love art and have experience in graphic design, teaching art to children, and now teaches art to my own kids as a part of their homeschool.
Selection of issue:
I was drawn to this topic is that I know many foster parents and the struggles they and the children face in working with the CPS system. CPS has too many reports of abuse to be able to do high-quality investigations with compassion within the time requirements easily. In some states, children end up sleeping in the CPS office when a foster home can’t be found for them. With the problems that result from child abuse, combined with the problems with the CPS system, preventing abuse needs more focus than it’s getting.
Team Member Tasks:
I was the editor and responsible for putting the issue book together and collecting or creating images to go along with our issue book, and created miscellaneous copy for smaller parts of the book. I created the appendix.
Strategic research:
• https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/preventing/preventionmonth/ • http://fsaphoenix.org/service/outpatient/ • Lauer, Robert H. and Jeanette C. Lauer. “A Note on Theory.” Lauer, Robert H. and Jeanette C. Lauer. Marriage and Family: The Quest For Intimacy. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012. 21. • Myers, John E.B. “A Short History of Child Protection in America.” Family Law Quarterly 42.3 (2008): 449463. Online. 27 March 2017. <http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publishing/insights_law_society/ChildProtectionHistory.authcheckdam.pdf>. • Soronen, Rita. “We Are Abandoning Children in Foster Care.” 17 April 2014. CNN. Online. 2017 27 March.
Personal reflection:
I am passionate about child abuse prevention. Compassionate help given to families at risk would be more helpful than only focusing on intervention. There are programs for helping families, but they are inconsistent between states, exclude various groups of people, and many are costly. Many families can’t afford help, even when they realize they need it. There needs to be more done to reach out to parents, to help families in crisis recognize they need help, and to remove the stigma in reaching out for help before abuse occurs. The biggest thing I learned from this project concerned my perception of CPS. Because of the experience of family who are foster parents in dealing with CPS, I didn’t have a very high opinion of the organization. When I read Meredith’s interview with the CPS case worker ans she said that keeping families together was her job, I realized I overgeneralized my judgement of CPS and its workers. I thought twice about the caseworkers, and what they had to deal with each day, both emotionally as they visit families where there is heartbreaking abuse, as well as physically as they worked to try to keep up with their immense caseloads in order to investigate the reports of abuse before deadlines. Now I feel more strongly that we need more focus on preventing the child abuse in the first place.
How can we prevent child abuse and truly support families?
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