http://taxdollars.freedomblogging.com/20…
I came across this article this morning and it made me wonder about several things:
1. Do you feel that the actions of the AM (cutting the AD%26#039;s hair as punishment) should be considered abuse - why or why not?
(I also wish I knew how well the APs were educated about their AD%26#039;s history and issues, but on the other hand, the APs are relatively well educated in a general sense and work in the medical and law enforcement fields...)
2. Do you think the APs received %26quot;special treatment%26quot; due to their job statuses?
3. %26quot;We got off their list, but there are a lot of people out there who don’t have the resources we have,” Bette said. “ They don’t’ have a husband who’s an attorney, they don’t know what the law is. To me, it’s a really sad state of affairs when your liberties are taken away from you and you have no recourse. We want the public to know that this situation exists. Is there anyone else who’s been in this situation?”
Do you feel that this statement applies could apply to some biological parents also? What do you feel should be the recourse for people who have been %26quot;bullied by the system%26quot;?
4, The APs lawsuit against DSS states:
“This case amounts to an unconstitutional abuse of power by county social workers and county policies that both violate and demonstrate a deliberate indifference to the constitutional rights of Plaintiffs, parents and others who work with children. County social workers, acting as judge and jury, and without meeting any burden of proof, have the ability and authority to arbitrarily and falsely stigmatize individuals as ‘child abusers’ and without providing any pre-deprivation procedural due process, then blacklist their names by reporting them to a central registry maintained by the California Department of Justice without prior notice or an opportunity to be heard. In doing so, the (county and state) trample on the constitutional rights of parents to raise their children and maintain family integrity, do irreparable damage to the reputations of those stigmatized as child abusers, deny them procedural due process guaranteed under the 14th Amendment and ultimately harm the very children the defenders are supposed to protect.”
Do you agree or disagree with these statements and what kind of impact could this have on the way we handle abuse cases?
5. What would you change about the way the system works to prevent issues like this? How can we best balance protecting abused children and ensuring sure the system is not being heavy handed towards parents?
I will be ruminating on these questions today and I%26#039;d love to hear your opinions on any or all of these questions if you have the time. Thanks!|||1. Cutting the hair is abuse. Without question. It is punishment based. I want to say though that she likely didn%26#039;t have support to wade her way through this and was %26quot;at her wits end%26quot; as most of us can be when dealing with extreme behaviours. That said, when you do things like this that do not leave a child%26#039;s dignity intact, it is abuse. If my culture it IS abuse always.
2. I can%26#039;t say for sure. I do think though that these issues need to be taken seriously, but people have to understand some of hte crisis issues that come up. I think them being %26quot;higher ups%26quot; might have helped, but as it was acute abuse such as hitting (which it appears you can do anyway, if on the bum) it was not as black and white.
3. We all have no recourse for the system, who bullies everyone on a daily basis. YOu see, in the %26quot;protection of the child%26quot; sometimes they go to far. In this case intervention and support would have been a much better action, and yes, this woudl apply to biological parents as well. The first action cannot be to just say %26quot;abuse%26quot;...you have to look behind the red curtain.
4. When we signed up to be foster parents years ago, we were told it wasn%26#039;t a matter of if, but when, there will be a time when allegations are made. The process, whether biological, foster, or adoption, should have someone as support for the parents (you should not have to get your own lawyer) and of coursre have the investigation. We can%26#039;t %26quot;lax%26quot; it, but we can use some common sense.
5. I think about this all the time. Our dog bit one of my children, a small bite, but a bite nonetheless. I have to say the dog was severely provoked. The school in all it%26#039;s wisdom called CAS on us, who then had to do an investigation. For a dog bite. The social worker has to, by law claim two things: either a dog bite happened, or it didn%26#039;t. Once they declare it happened, they HAVE to, by law, investigate. So here is my choices they give me: Either put my children, who have gone through trauma in their short lives through an interveiw process with social workers...two years after their adoption (yeah, that will make them feel secure) or put the dog down. What a position....we had already been wading back and forth on our dog%26#039;s aggression matched against my chid%26#039;s fits, but they took the hcoice and time out of our hands. They would have said to put him down anyway, as is practice in our province with dog bites. I understand they have to check these things out, but there were many ways to handle this: 1) school calls US instead of CAS, 2) the law is not black and white, and we can be given time to do things the right way. in the end, losing the dog was trauma enough, but I will not put my kids through that whole process. So i think of this often, and wonder if they ahve so much time for dog bites and such, that every child who suffers abuse should be saved, or perhaps they can gear their focus towards true abuse.
Just my two long cents, but I think of this often, and don%26#039;t have an answer, but wade through it every day.|||I consider the cutting of her hair as abuse.
Balancing the system is an ongoing task---or the attempt is.|||I don%26#039;t think its abuse but its still not very cool.
Yeah I think they got special treatment because of %26quot;his%26quot; position, not necessarily hers.
Part of me wants to say %26quot;too bad%26quot; but i have to agree that there are some seriously over zealous case workers. Their rights were trampled, they were put on a registry without being able to defend themselves, how does that feel? Similar things happen to parents and adoptee%26#039;s every day.
I%26#039;m glad the story was told, but I still don%26#039;t feel very sorry for them, they got this story told and will probably win their law suit because of their status. They talk about their rights but what about everybody elses.|||I think it%26#039;s sick that after 14 years of her living in and out of foster homes and who knows where, that they thought she would suddenly be the perfect child who didn%26#039;t lie, run away or %26#039;cavort with an unidentified male.%26#039; Children learn to get their needs met, even if it%26#039;s in destructive ways, and why fix something that, in their mind isn%26#039;t broken. I mean, honestly, did they think that raising a foster child was going to be the same as raising their biological son?
I do believe that cutting the girl%26#039;s hair was indeed abusive. I mean, hair doesn%26#039;t have nerves in it, but could you imagine if a parent said they would cut off a child%26#039;s fingers until they began telling the truth? If I had been that daughter I would not have given in. I would have ended up bald as a baby out of spite and to assert my own sense of control over the situation, and I was just an infant-adoptee. And you know what this whole situation proved to this girl...that people who say they love you really can%26#039;t be trusted...|||Yes, I think what the AM did is indeed abusive. That is ~not~ an acceptable way to teach a child that lying is wrong. Firmly opposed to corporal punishment, yet a form of emotional torture is perfectly fine. That kind of crap sticks with a person. For years. I know. My Amom was a fan of that particular %26quot;teaching%26quot; tool. Go for the hurt.
Yes. I do think that they got special treatment. I do imagine there are bio parents out there who were indeed bullied by the system. Not entirely sure on recourse though.
I do agree that there should be a burden of proof there, not just based on accusations. I do agree that a person should have the chance to defend themselves before being publicly listed as a child abuser. But at the same time, children need to be protected.
I%26#039;m not sure on #5. I%26#039;m still learning about procedure, and the system in this country.
