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PROGRESS REPORT ON... child abuse
Frances Grunberg
Social Work Instructor
Langara College
Reflections on the Last Decade
During the last ten years there have been some
remarkable developments in the field of child abuse and neglect
in British Columbia.
A new Child Protection Act was introduced in
1996 which reflects the results of extensive consultation
by a Community Panel as well as the recommendations of the
Gove Inquiry. The Child, Family and Community Service Act
is based on the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child
and recognizes that there are many forms of child abuse, including
emotional or psychological abuse. Children who witness violence
are considered to be victims of emotional abuse, which is
a reportable form of child maltreatment.
This Act has provisions for removing an alleged
offender from the home and gives social workers and the police
the ability to "take charge" of children at risk
for up to 72 hours without having to go to court. A new handbook
entitled "Taking Action for Child Abuse and Neglect"
was released to accompany the Act. It stresses interdisciplinary
cooperation in order to facilitate thorough case management
of child abuse cases. The new Act, in concert with the Freedom
of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, allows for expanded
sharing of information in order to provide professionals with
greater latitude in child abuse cases.
The Ministry for Children and Families was created
in 1996 in an effort to develop a more integrated approach
to offering services to children, youth and their families.
A massive re-organization of all of the child-serving ministries
was undertaken with the best of intentions. However, a rather
chaotic and unfortunate process ensued, which resulted in
the crippling of the child welfare system. The problems that
had existed in child protection prior to the creation of the
new ministry were never fixed and social workers continue
to be overburdened with cases without having the benefit of
enough resources, supervision and training to handle the many
complex situations they encounter daily. Retention of child
protection social workers therefore is an issue which impacts
greatly on the competence and efficiency of the child protection
system.
On another note, a ministry risk assessment
model has been developed and is being used to determine the
risk of future harm to children. The tool has great potential
to standardize and improve the practice of child protection
assessment and intervention. Unfortunately, it has not been
fully implemented and social workers use it only sporadically.
On one hand, the Ministry says it is committed to making things
better, but its efforts are inconsistent and often ill-conceived.
My view is that child protection social workers remain deeply
frustrated in their attempts to carry out their mandate.
Another recent ministry policy development is
that anyone who now wishes to become a child protection social
worker must pay for their own pre-employment training before
being hired. It is difficult enough to recruit people who
want this job-why put another roadblock in the way?
In the last few years, the development of the
Office of the Children's Commissioner has fortunately lent
strong accountability to an otherwise faltering child welfare
system. This office is responsible for investigating all deaths
of children as well as other breaches of the rights of children
in care of the ministry.
Recently, The Society for Children and Youth
of BC hosted a "Children as Witnesses Roundtable",
which was sponsored by the Attorney General's Office. Although
we have certainly made progress in the last ten years on allowing
the evidence of children in the courtroom, participants identified
many areas where things must be improved. Courthouses need
to be more "child-friendly" and innovative methods
of protecting the children and helping them give their evidence
were recommended. The Attorney General seems very supportive
and announced that day that twenty courthouses would be furnished
with videotaping equipment in order to facilitate children's
testimony. The recommendations made by the conference delegates
will be sent to the Attorney General very soon.
Tremendous advancements have been made in the
Child Abuse Prevention field. There are school-based programs
on sexual abuse prevention, bullying prevention and conflict
resolution in most communities. The Red Cross Abuse Prevention
Program has expanded from being BC-based to becoming a national
program reaching thousands of children across Canada. There
is still not enough public education and not enough services
in the primary prevention field. Programs such as those being
offered to support high risk mothers through the Building
Blocks Program in B.C. need to be expanded so that these mothers
can get the support they need in order to care for their children.
A national research study on the incidence of
reported child abuse in Canada is being conducted and the
results should be out later this year. This is the first time
that this data has been collected and analyzed for each province.
The recruitment of children for abuse via the
Internet is a burgeoning issue. As of yet, I'm aware of no
laws that have been enacted to regulate this disturbing phenomenon.
A related issue that is compelling public attention is the
lawfulness of the possession of child pornography. The Courts'
pending decisions will have a tremendous impact on both child
and society, and we can only hope that the rights and well-being
of children are upheld.
In summary, we have made major strides in this
field since Henry Kempe identified "The Battered Child
Syndrome" in 1960. The fact remains, however, that children
are our most vulnerable population, and they continue to be
abused, neglected, sexually exploited and exposed to violence
at astronomical rates. Clearly, there is still tremendous
work that needs to be done at all levels.
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