Should CPS be held accountable for failing to protect children?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They should definitely be able to better tell normal families with an occasional slap from the horrendous abuse cases. Mandatory reporters should not be told to report every single slightly suspicious thing. They need to zoom in on serious cases instead of harassing middle class parents who slapped Johnny because he was being a brat

Don’t slap your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Say CPS gets reports of child abuse but refuse to investigate, or don't properly investigate, or fail to remove children from the home when there is clear evidence it is unsafe for the child to remain in the home, and the parents end up killing the children. Should CPS be held accountable? Who? The social workers, the supervisor, etc. How should they be held accountable? Firing, jail time, overhaul of the system, etc.

I know of a couple high profile cases where firings, quitting, demotions, and jail time were given from the Commissioner on down to the government and private agency social workers. System review and overhaul took place at well. I agreed with some of the actions but not others (based on news reports). When the system is set-up to fail or punish the line social worker instead of giving them needed resources…someone higher up needs to go to jail instead. Scapegoating the lowest on the totem pole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we’d have to properly fund and staff CPS first.

As someone who was in the system and aged out, I think the first step is overhauling adoption rules.

What would you overhaul? Do you think the rules make it too difficult or are they too lax?
-signed, Adoptive parent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Generally no. They don't have crystal balls, and there is a rightful emphasis on reunification in most cases. However cases involving clear physical abuse might rise to the level of criminal negligence if social workers and/or supervisors were aware of it.

OP here. I know reunification is the goal in most cases, but what about cases where it would obviously be a bad idea to return the child to their parent.

OP I worked in Florida as a child advocate. CPS stinks period. They literally ruin kids lives under the guise of "family". It's horrific.

One little boy I knew mom had 6 under 5 ,drug addict and mentally ill, dad drugs and criminal activities. The judge made this boy go back and forth between bio mom and dad and foster family it made me sick. Finally, the dad said enough is enough I want my kid adopted out. Gave up his rights. By that time the boy was beyond repair. At one point the judge sent all six kids home with mom, in a one-bedroom apartment not on a bus line, no childcare help and how in the world was she supposed to take care of the kids and get a job? He was finally adopted out to woman who only wanted one of his sisters but the judge made her take the boy as well. Such a horribly sad story. CPS during this whole thing recommended bio family WTH.....

[Anonymous]

No. That would create a huge incentive for the government to just do away with CPS entirely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should definitely be able to better tell normal families with an occasional slap from the horrendous abuse cases. Mandatory reporters should not be told to report every single slightly suspicious thing. They need to zoom in on serious cases instead of harassing middle class parents who slapped Johnny because he was being a brat

As someone who was abused in my UMC family, I can tell you that people like you are a huge part of the problem.

This is totally against the premise of mandatory reporting. I am neither trained nor have resources to investigate. I am trained to report when something seems off or a red flag is observed.

[Anonymous]

Gabriel Fernandez.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]They are way too underfunded to expect them to be perfect at their jobs.[/quote]

It's not about the pay, it's about protecting a child from harm and danger! Sure everyone has to pay their bills somehow, but when talking about life and death, nobody should have that kind of mentality. CPS is a child protection service, they SHOULD be doing their jobs properly.

[Anonymous]

If you put poorly paid social workers in jail or fine them for making mistakes, who will agree to be a social worker?

[Anonymous]

It really depends on the situation but overall yes. If they knew about a situation and didn't act on it, yes. If they asked to remove the kids and the court said no or sent them home, no. If they engage in unethical behavior, yes. One big issue is social workers often aren't well trained to do the job and in some states are not actually social workers but just someone who wants to work as a social worker with no credentials.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They should definitely be able to better tell normal families with an occasional slap from the horrendous abuse cases. Mandatory reporters should not be told to report every single slightly suspicious thing. They need to zoom in on serious cases instead of harassing middle class parents who slapped Johnny because he was being a brat

As someone who was abused in my UMC family, I can tell you that people like you are a huge part of the problem.

The problem is in many families, abuse can easily be hidden and without proof there is little that can be done. If the house is clean, kids don't speak up, and bruises aren't viable...Many clean up for the home visit and then everything goes back to normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you put poorly paid social workers in jail or fine them for making mistakes, who will agree to be a social worker?

Very few people are willing to work in CPS anymore. It used to be a good entry job but to do the job well its many hours, above and beyond and it's just not doable once you have your own family, etc. And, the administrators and supervisors are usually really bad and just there due to longevity or favoritism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think we’d have to properly fund and staff CPS first.

As someone who was in the system and aged out, I think the first step is overhauling adoption rules.

What would you overhaul? Do you think the rules make it too difficult or are they too lax?
-signed, Adoptive parent

Absolutely agree. Seen some very unethical adoption allowed by CPS and the courts. And, some are just doing it for the subsidy.

When we were trying to adopt, we were offered some very shady situations. We said no. Child's sibling is in a very unethical adoption situation that the courts and CPS should never have allowed.

[Anonymous]

I’m not a social worker, but thinking about my own job. There have been times over the years that HR wouldn’t let us hire even when seriously understaffed. Doesn’t seem right that we could be personally penalized for not having enough staff to do the job properly.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]They are way too underfunded to expect them to be perfect at their jobs.[/quote]

It's not about the pay, it's about protecting a child from harm and danger! Sure everyone has to pay their bills somehow, but when talking about life and death, nobody should have that kind of mentality. CPS is a child protection service, they SHOULD be doing their jobs properly.[/quote]

We aren't talking salary - we are talking underfunding leads to huge caseloads, which means that people can't spend enough time monitoring each family.