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What is Child Protective Services (CPS)?
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Child Protective Services is a specialized social service for children who
are believed to be neglected or abused, and to their parents or other adults having
permanent or temporary care, custody, or parental responsibility, or to household
or family members, to decrease the risk of continuing physical, sexual or mental
abuse or neglect. In instances where a child can be safely protected in his or her
own home through the provision of services or other assistance to the child's family,
such an alternative is preferable to foster care placement.
What are the goals of the Child Protective Services?
- To protect the child and assist the parents in providing proper care and
attention to the child and to remedy and decrease the risk of continuing
abuse and neglect; and
- To provide an alternate plan of care for the child when parents are unable
to provide proper care and attention to the child.
- Child Protective Services are not designed to address all issues related
to family dysfunction nor the whole range of parent-child problems. The
focus is on protecting children from abuse and neglect. Protecting children
is a community responsibility. Resources should be coordinated through
team efforts. The community has an obligation to ensure that the required
services are available for prevention, intervention, and treatment of child
abuse and neglect.
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What is the Rehabilitative Philosophy for Child Protective Services?
Child Protective Services attempts to assure the safety and welfare of children
through various strategies. A CPS worker enters into a relationship with a family
to identify, control, and reduce the risk to children. Factors relating to the
origin of the risk are identified and matched with client outcomes. The treatment
process is a deliberate, reasonable, mutually agreed upon strategy to reduce the
risk which required CPS intervention. It involves planned action to move the family
toward desired goals.
Using a combination of support, direction, and authority, the worker may provide
direct services to the family members and also act as case manager in coordinating
the provision of other services that are needed.
Fundamental philosophical principles to the social work discipline for CPS:
- The ultimate success of CPS intervention rests with the family, which must
be encouraged to be involved with and participate in the intervention process.
- Most CPS clients can change their behavior if provided sufficient help to
motivate and empower them.
- Personal, social and societal factors may lead to inadequate parenting and
to child maltreatment. Most often, they represent examples of failure and
despair, rather than willful premeditated behaviors. Therefore, child abuse
and neglect are principally social rather than legal problems.
- Effective intervention requires that CPS respond in a non-punitive,
non-critical manner and offer help.
- Child Protective Services should collaborate and coordinate with other
disciplines, e.g. law enforcement, medical providers, and educational
personnel, while it maintains its unique roles and functions.
- It is best to keep children with their parents when safety can be assured
and maintaineable for prevention, intervention, and treatment of child
abuse and neglect.
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Click here for information on how to apply for this program.
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