NCJ Number
159827
Date Published
1994
Length
7 pages
Annotation
While child abuse and neglect are serious problems, the Family Research Council believes that government efforts to prevent child abuse have led to excessive intervention in family life and that the government's response to child abuse has often harmed rather than protected children.
Abstract
Genuine caring for children must be based on viewing them in the family context, and child protective service (CPS) agencies often pose a threat to parents in their role as caregivers. CPS agencies do not operate under the same checks and balances as those required in the judicial system. Further, the mere allegation of child abuse is sufficient to suspend the constitutional rights of parents. An anonymous telephone call is often all it takes to set the CPS system in motion, whether justified or not. Additionally, the range of maltreatment justifying intrusive government action has been broadened to include neglect, an imprecisely defined word. About 80 percent of child abuse cases involve emotional or developmental dangers to children but not serious physical threats. Educational, emotional, and physical neglect are difficult problems, but they do not fall into the same category as physical abuse that results in injury or death. The CPS system tends to be a "hair-trigger" system in which false accusations often prevail, particularly since mandatory child abuse reporting statutes require professionals to report not only known but also suspected abuse and neglect. False child abuse reports harm children by wasting valuable resources and harm nonabused children by placing them in conflict between the government and their parents. Reform is needed to ensure abused children receive the emergency protection to which they are entitled, to make it less likely that nonabusive parents will be forced into contact with a system whose services are unwanted and unneeded, and to provide a higher level of due process protection for families and children.