Legislation and Child Services in Canada

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Social workers’ duties involve helping different groups of people with a variety of problems. One of the most vulnerable groups is represented by children. There are many challenges that social workers face during their communication with children. The major issue is that it is frequently quite complicated to analyze the problem objectively since the issues of neglect and abuse are hard to determine and evaluate properly (Putnam-Horstein, Needell, & Rhodes, 2013). The problem of child maltreatment is also difficult to deal with because many specialists consider it “atheoretical” (Putnam-Horstein et al., 2013, p. 116). As a social worker, I have many duties and responsibilities. The current paper will focus on the duty to report the abuse of children.

The legislation this issue relates to is the Child and Family Services Act (CFSA) of Canada (“Child and Family Services,” n.d.). According to this law, anyone who works with a child professionally and suspects that a child is being abused should report to the society if he or she presumes any of the following:

the child has need harmed physically by the person who is in charge of that child; there are indications of inappropriate supervision or care of the child; there are manifestations of neglect in care, protection, or provision of the child;
there is a possibility of the child being physically harmed by the people who are in charge of the child;
there are implications of the child to have been sexually exploited or molested either by the people in charge or someone else these people know;
there is a danger for the child to be sexually exploited or molested;
there is a need for the medical intrusion to heal, prevent, or relieve physical injuries, and the people in charge of the child do not initiate such intrusion or refuse to accept it when initiated by someone else;
the child has endured emotional harm that is displayed through nervousness, withdrawal, distress, despair, self-destructive conduct, or slowed development, and there are objective grounds to assume that the emotional harm was caused by the person in charge of the child;
the child has endured emotional harm, and the person in charge does not express support or willingness to provide treatment for the child;
there is a danger of the child suffering from emotional abuse as a result of neglect of the person in charge;
the child endures emotional abuse, and the person in charge does not prevent it;
the child has a developmental or mental problem, the treatment of which is necessary for the child’s proper development but the person in charge does not do anything to arrange such treatment or refuses to accept it once it is suggested;
the child’s parents have left the child or died, or they do not want or are not able to take care of the child;
the child is younger than twelve and has caused severe harm or death of another person and needs special treatment or services, but the person in charge does not arrange such treatment or refuses to accept it once offered;
the child is younger than twelve and has caused damage or injury of another person more than once, and the person in charge stimulates such behavior or does not stop it once he or she notices it (“Child and Family Services,” n.d.).

Although the mentioned cases contain confidential data, they still should be reported (“Reporting child abuse,” 2016). The duty to report abrogates any rules or principles. Also, a social worker is protected from responsibility when making a report. The only way to be charged for reporting is when there were no serious grounds for a report. Also, according to the responsibilities posed on every person, including social workers, everyone should be alert when he or she notices any threat to a child’s life, and if the Children’s Aid Society office cannot be reached, it is necessary to contact the police (“Reporting child abuse,” 2016). The CFSA asks everyone to be attentive and considerate when it comes to children’s welfare.

This legislation is relevant to my area of work because I frequently face cases when children are neglected or abused, and there is a need to report such circumstances. The issues of child abuse and neglect and the need to report them are discussed and analyzed in scholarly literature. Alaggia, Gadalla, Shlonsky, Jenney, and Daciuk (2015) remark that there is a need to differentiate between the cases of domestic violence and other types of abuse.

According to Alaggia et al. (2015), the increased number of cases involving domestic violence against women and children necessitates the introduction of practices that can manage child safety and protection. In their analysis of child abuse cases in Canada, Trocmé, Kyte, Sinha, and Fallon (2014) note that there is a need to differentiate between the urgent protection of children and the long-term need for support.

According to the authors, the measures of immediate protection are given more attention than the approaches to lifelong support and development (Trocmé et al., 2014). However, scholars remark that the majority of cases investigated in the report by the Canadian Incidence Study concerned maltreatment with deep-rooted effects rather than singular cases. Therefore, Trocmé et al. (2014) raise the question of thorough analysis not only of urgent cases but all cases of neglect and abuse.

Apart from analyzing the needs of children that are being abused, scholars also pay attention to the problems faced by social workers during their cooperation with families and the peculiarities of their work. One of the most significant challenges of this profession is the feeling of shame experienced both by social workers and parents of the children (Gibson, 2015). The feeling of shame may have a negative impact on the process of child protection, and this impact may be twofold.

Social workers who feel guilty about reporting on parents may cause serious damage by keeping silent. Parents who feel guilty and ashamed may conceal some crucial aspects of their family relationships, which leads to the insufficient possibility of providing help for children. Choate and Engstrom (2014) also investigate the implications of social work with families. Scholars note that the major problem of analyzing the appropriateness of parents’ fulfillment of responsibilities is that there is no clear definition of what parenting may be considered as “good enough” (Choate & Engstrom, 2014, p. 368).

As a result, social workers may develop a biased attitude instead of reaching the most beneficial outcomes for children. Fargion (2014) remarks that the difficulty of social work is manifested through the conflict of expectations, duties, and demands. According to Fargion (2014), professional culture is the core element of performing social worker’s duties at the highest level and attaining families’ agreement to collaborate.

Case law and legislation impact my role as a social worker and assist in it greatly. Without the support of the Child and Family Services Act, I would be quite limited in my options to help children. Recently, there was a case in my practice when I suspected maltreatment, but the child refused it. The child was eleven, and there were signs of being beaten on her face and hands. The girl denied being abused at home, but I could see that she was very anxious, scared, and emotionally unstable.

The child lived with her mother and stepfather. When I tried to communicate with her mother, the woman refused to talk and asked me to leave her in a rude manner. Since I had all grounds to suspect the abuse, I reported to the Children’s Aid Society of Peel. The inspection confirmed the repeated abuse. The girl was provided with the necessary help and treatment. Her mother’s and stepfather’s actions are being investigated, and they may lose custody if they do not prove willingness and ability to change. Without the support of the Child and Family Services Act, I would not have been able to help this girl. If the information were considered private and impossible to share, many cases similar to this one would have no opportunity to receive support and help.

Social workers have some of the hardest duties, and they have to deal with challenging and complicated issues on a daily basis. Legislation helps these people to reach justice and avoid liability for sharing private information. Child and Family Services Act helps to manage the issues concerning abuse and neglect of children by the people in charge.

References

Alaggia, R., Gadalla, T. M., Shlonsky, A., Jenney, A., & Daciuk, J. (2015). Does differential response make a difference: Examining domestic violence cases in child protection services. Child and Family Social Work, 20(1), 83-95.

Child and Family Services Act. (n.d.). Web.

Choate, P. W., & Engstrom, S. (2014). The “good enough” parent: Implications for child protection. Child Care in Practice, 20(4), 368-382.

Fargion, S. (2014). Synergies and tensions in child protection and parent support: Policy lines and practitioners cultures. Child and Family Social Work, 19(1), 24-33.

Gibson, M. (2015). Shame and guilt in child protection social work: New interpretations and opportunities for practice. Child and Family Social Work, 20(3), 333-343.

Putnam-Horstein, E., Needell, B., & Rhodes, A. E. (2013). Understanding risk and protective factors for child maltreatment: The value of integrated, population-based data. Child Abuse & Neglect, 37(2-3), 116-119.

Reporting child abuse and neglect: It’s your duty. (2016). Web.

Trocmé, N., Kyte, A., Sinha, V., & Fallon, B. (2014). Urgent protection versus chronic need: Clarifying the dual mandate of child welfare services across Canada. Social Sciences, 3(3), 483-498.

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Legislation and Child Services in Canada

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