Capstone Integrative Project Final Solution Assessment

Assignment

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Child abuse and neglect is a common issue that is common in society and affecting the well-being of children. According to the Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR), child abuse and neglect is considered to visible or invisible physical injury of a child under situations that shows that their health or well-being is harmed or is in a considerable risk of being harmed. The focus of this discussion is on the issue of child abuse and neglect in Maryland.

The child abuse and child neglect in Maryland is a reality and the incidents are rarely self-reported. When children are abused and neglected and the family or the adults fail to receive services and interventions, human and social costs become huge. The reported data have shown that the issue of child abuse continues to rise. Maryland is having the reporting laws that are aimed at ensuring that children and vulnerable adults are protected. Nevertheless, the reporting laws are more complicated and are sometimes confusing to the population.

According to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), the children subject on an investigated report claiming child mistreatment in 2018 was 24.1 percent in every 1000 persons. The total child maltreatment victims were 5.8 per 1000 persons in Maryland. The Child fatalities were at 3.0 per 100, 000 individuals in 2018. Based on the age of the victims, children under 1 year were the most affected individuals at 7.3 percent with children of 18 years and above being least affected (Maryland (Context Data), n.d).

Base on this data, the issue of child neglect and abuse is still considered to be a social problem. According to Lafferty (2018), child abuse has been identified as a major social problem in the United States and Maryland in general. Even though this is still a problem, physical and child neglect sentencing Maryland is limited (Lafferty, 2018).

The possible approaches of the chosen human service response towards addressing the issue

The efforts by the Department of Social Services, Child Protective Services Bureau is important in the reduction of the social issue selected. According to the Child Protective Service Bureau, child neglect is considered to be the inability to have access to meal, housing, proper parental careor supervision, education, or the medical care for children due to actions or habits of the parents or caregiver. This department help in dealing with the child abuse and neglect issue through providing a hotline number that can be used to make contact for any help and reporting of the abuses and neglect (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2016).

The departments are also involved in the assessment of the child's and family needs or engaging in other interventions to help in supporting the family's efforts to provide a safer, nurturing environment for their children. There are professionals in this department who are working with law enforcement officers and courts to ensure that children are protected (Palusci & Vandervort, 2014).

When the reports have been made concerning the incident of the child neglect or abuse, the children are required to remain in their won homes and this is then followed by assessment and investigation. The stay at home is temporary pending the outcome of the investigation that is being performed by the Department of Social Services and Child Protective Services Bureau. The stay-at-home intervention is used as an opportunity of allowing the parents or caregiver to show some changes in their behaviors, social support, and enabling children to live in an environment where there is safety and giving children an opportunity of re-uniting with the parents. The services aim to ensure that there is an existence of a good relationship between the parent and their children thus creating a safe environment from abuses and neglect (Palusci & Vandervort, 2014).

The ethical consideration for the Department of Social Services, Child Protective Services Bureau in dealing with child abuse and neglect

These human services organizations have professionals who are actively involved in the tasks of helping the victims of the social issues. The caseworkers, supervisors, and other staffs are guided by the sets of ethical standards that helps in the decision-making process and conduct. In this case, the relationship with the individuals or colleagues is expected to be focusing on promoting the mutual respect, obligation, and trustworthiness. They are expected to consider the cultural variations and the right to privacy. These are some of the ethical practices that are expected of the caseworkers who are working with children youth, and the families (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2016).

According to the National Association of Social Workers, there are sets of professional standards required of the caseworkers while working to help in preventing the future problem under discussion. The caseworkers must act ethically in accord with the service, social justice, integrity, and showing respects to the person being assisted. The caseworkers must be continuously involved in the performance of the assessment to help in the collection of information an intervening with sufficient evidence to make sure that there is safety for children (Palusci & Vandervort, 2014).

While dealing with the issues of child neglect and abuse, the caseworkers need to balance between the autonomy, beneficence, and non-maleficence. When the life of the child is in danger after reporting on the abuse it is important to come up with interventions that help in the promotion of the well-being of the client. The privacy and confidentiality must be valued since it helps in ensuring that the patient is not exposed to prevented harms once the parents learnt about the reporting incidence (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2016).

The human service chosen

The chosen services include the Department of Social Services and Child Protective Services Bureau. The Child Protective Service Bureau is a government organization that is responsible for the provision of child protection by performing activities like reporting child abuse and neglect. On the other hand, the Department of Social Services is considered to be the alternative name for Child Protective Services. It is a name that is used to refer to child protective services. These two services are aimed at enhancing the security and well-being of children through the intervention of reporting child abuse cases. The programs or services are also aimed at keeping children in their homes when they are deemed safer or providing them with a safe environment when they are considered to be at risk. The services are also targeted at ensuring that children and younger individuals can have access to services to help in dealing with the effects of the selected social issue on their well-being and health (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2016).

One of the strengths of the Children Protective Services is that they perform their assessment to approve the claims made during the reporting process. They determine whether an investigation is required, therefore, the caller does not have to certain the proof of abuse or neglect. The other strength of these services is that they are client-centred. In this case, they are involved in paying full attention to what is being communicated by other individuals taking their time to comprehend on the presented arguments (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2016).

The Services offered by these programs are effective since they help in addressing the main problems being encountered by children in Maryland when it comes to child neglect and abuse. They can perform successful child protection investigation, offering family-centred services and supports, promoting care, and adoption when the child is considered to be at risk when left at home. The effectiveness of these programs is also on their ability to perform their research during investigation instead of relying on the information provided by the caller (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2016).

References

Lafferty, J. M. (2018). The Effects of Gender on Physical Child Abuse and Neglect Sentencing in Maryland Circuit Courts (Doctoral dissertation). doi:https://doi.org/10.13016/moxm-wukq Maryland (Context Data). (n.d). General Child Population (Census Bureau). doi:https://cwoutcomes.acf.hhs.gov/cwodatasite/pdf/maryland.html Palusci, V. J., & Vandervort, F. E. (2014). Universal reporting laws and child maltreatment report rates in large U.S. counties. Children and Youth Services Review, 38, 20-28. United States Department of Health and Human Services. (2016). Administration on Children Youth and Families. Child Maltreatment 2014.