Child Protective Services - Essay Example

Task: Child protective services (CPS) CPS department in the American s was formed from the Child Abuse and Prevention Act in 1974 (Mallon 419). It bases on the notion of childcare and concern. Despite its formation, issues of child mistreatment and desertion should remain a whole society’s problem. The CPS role is to coordinate and oversee the program. It is engrossed in the federal government system, which partly funds its activities (Mallon 473). In fact, the police assist in verification and investigation of reports while other agencies help in child treatment and family support.

Briefly, CPS deal with reports about affected children and aid in child-family integration.It is essential to discuss some concepts that this body assumes in undertaking their tasks before discussing its roles. They state that it is the duty of the parents to take care of a child various needs. These needs range from mental needs, medical needs, emotional needs and physical needs (Connolly 60). This is aligned with the ideology that children are best looked after in their family units. Incapability of parents to meet these needs may be attributed to their own problems like mental diseases and drug abuse.

The CPS performs its roles in processes (Lonne 76). The agency is charged with the responsibility of obtaining reports about suspected abuse cases. Reporting of cases is, therefore, a mandate of the public and the body’s workers. In the next stage, the case facts are sought. The case is thus weighed to meet the body’s standard of maltreatment (Depantills and Dubowitz 100). Thereafter, the nature of the family is assessed to establish the cause of abuse or neglect. Future risks of abuse are evaluated at this stage.

From that stage, the child protection team links with the family in reducing the likelihood of future abuse. They can alternatively involve a court process where the situation becomes unmanageable at the family level.In conclusion, it should be noted that the agency cannot fulfill these functions by itself. This is partly because their powers are limited (Seghal 267). It must involve the court process in scenarios that necessitate the same law intervention. This means it cannot prosecute the offenders of the abused child.

It cannot also provide a valid report if it does not involve health care professionals. This, however, does not compromise its main role of treating the affected children.Works CitedConnoly, Marie, Ward Tony and Hill, Yvonne. Culture and child protection: Reflexive responses. Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley publishers, 2006. Print.De Pantills, Diane and Dubowitz, Howard. Handbook for child protection. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2000. Print.Lonne, Bob. Reforming child protection. New York, NY: Routledge, 2009. Print.Mallon, Gerald.

Child welfare for the twenty-first century: A handbook of practices. New York, NY: Columbia university press, 2005. Print.Sehgal, Ashok. Social work. New Delhi, ND: Gyan publishing house, 2005. Print.