Every month, Kern County residents call Child Protective Services with 2,000 new cases of possible child abuse or neglect in our community. The records that were opened thanks to Senate Bill 39, not only detail the abuse, neglect and deaths of children throughout our county, they also give insight into what social workers must go through to investigate these claims, and how they decide who is safe and who is not. A social worker's job is no doubt grueling and emotionally taxing as they are responsible for our most vulnerable community members is difficult and dangerous situations every day. On a regular basis social workers must make decisions for others that could mean the difference between life and death.
In case, after case, after case, social workers ask questions about the safety of the children in our community. And in the 14 cases where children have died due to abuse and neglect over the past 2 years, something went dreadfully wrong. "If it's a job where you're packing boxes or something and you miss one, it's not quite the same feeling. When you lose a child, it's like loosing your own," said Bethany Christman, the Assistant Director of the Department of Human Services.
The process of trying to prevent losses like these 14, starts with a phone call. CPS gets 2,000 new referrals every month and in any given month, they has about 5,000 children in their system. Anyone in the community can call cps with a concern about abuse or neglect. The emergency response center decides whether a social worker should respond within 24 hours or 10 days. That's when social workers like Alice Mabry come in.
Mabry and others respond to homes where children are often living in unsanitary and unsafe conditions. But regardless of their initial reaction, there are steps that have to be taken, starting with risk and safety assessment forms. The forms pose questions like, have there been prior cps referrals for this family? Does the parent have a criminal history? Was the parent ever abused as a child? "The assessment form is a form but the assessment happens at each step at each interview," said Antanette Jones, the Ombudsman at the Department of Human Services. "We determine what needs to be done, how can we help this family to stay together. That's our ultimate goal, is to provide services to the family," said Mabry.
Only if the risk is very high and the parents are not cooperative, does the social worker consider removing the child. "I usually say it's the worst day of my job is when that decision has had to be made. It's a tough decision to be made. Make sure it's a decision that all around is a last resort," said Mabry. If the report is substantiated for abuse, law enforcement officers must be the ones to remove the child from the home. But a lot of referrals don't get that far. "There are gray areas, and when you're working with human beings there's always going to be a gray area. It's not exactly a for sure thing. We know something is going on, but we can't quite pin down what it is. And that's probably the most uncomfortable situation that a social worker's in," said Mabry. "We have social workers that go to bed at night and they're worried about a child in their caseload. Because something didn't rise to the level that they could do something with, doesn't lessen the concern that that social worker has for that child," said Christman.
With the assessment forms the social worker determines if the children are at low, moderate, high or very high risk. If the determination is low or moderate, they may suggest some resources. Even if the risk is high to very high, they're sometimes limited to offering voluntary services. "Voluntary services can include having the child go and stay some place else, maybe with a grandparent," said Jones. That's what happened one of the 14 cases, when a little girl's parents' home was found to be grossly unfit, she was sent to live with her grandmother. Only problem was, the grandmother's home proved to be just as bad. Social workers say they also inspect the child's new home, but in this case, CPS couldn't locate the family. Half a year later, police found the child dead in her grandmother's home.
CPS officials say cases like that one demonstrate the limits of the system. And it's also demonstrates the importance that community members and law enforcement work together with CPS to keep a watchful eye on children in our community, children who may not be able to look out for themselves; children who don't have to end up like these 14.
If you have a story about child abuse, why it happens and the long term toll it can take, we'd like to hear from you. You can go to our website and click on the "Contact 17" button, or you can call our newsroom at 283-1717.
