Child abuse awareness training

[mrsd]

I saw on TV this a.m. the city of Memphis is training people who go house to house (meter readers, sanitation workers, utility workers) the signs of child abuse and how to report it. Maybe a life will be saved!

[Bonnie]

I'm not sure I can articulate why, but that makes me *very* uncomfortable. :think

[Six Little Feet]

No kidding Bonnie. That would freak me out to the nth degree.

[racheepoo]

Um, this is not good at all. Are they going to be trained to take into account what a house looks like when a mom has had no sleep and been up with her little ones? Are they going to be trained that sometimes kids say things to get attention, or that there are legitimate reasons for bruises/cuts? Are they going to take a class in child development or the DSM IV so they know what special needs look like?

SO much of abuse is impossible to see on the outside. And this, frankly, is insulting :shrug I'm sure they're thinking this is a good thing, but how about hiring more social workers to manage what seems at times and impossible case load? How about giving the system the tools to follow up with families and really give them the support they need rather than yanking/leaving the kids and hoping for the best because they are so overburdened? :sigh

[Dana Joy]

If it is anything like the training I went through as a school district employee, it would have very little to do with cleanliness, noise level etc. So, so, so many children slip through the cracks, too may, so I think it would be a good thing to have more people aware of what abuse looks like. :bheart

[mrsd]

It had something to do with a worker finding a child in a bad situation, or something like that,

[racheepoo]

Again...hire 1 more social worker, 1 more caseworker, 1 more CASA :sigh How about a police force that responds to abuse that isn't physical?

[Dana Joy]

Again...hire 1 more social worker, 1 more caseworker, 1 more CASA :sigh How about a police force that responds to abuse that isn't physical?
But a family that stays off the radar aren't going to be seen by social workers / police / or caseworkers. ITA that there need to be more of them, but more of them only helps the victims that are found. This type of training helps the victims be found.
(I read an article the other day about which degrees aren't worth the paper they are printed on. Social Work was number 1 :cry )

[racheepoo]

I'm not at all saying that people shouldn't be aware of the signs and willing to speak up on other's behalf. I'm saying that slapping a training course on a bunch of people and considering it training is a lot of responsibility that should be on people who can handle it and want to do it for a living. :shrug Not to mention that it just squicks me out that these are basically government organizations that are in effect spying on people :shifty

[mrsd]

It stemmed from a light/gas worker finding small children home alone-the oldest being only 7.

[cbmk4]

well, for the most part, I doubt that these workers will be all that quick to call in a report unless they hear/see something pretty blatant. Of course none of us would want a meter reader calling CYS on us (especially since my youngest can scream loud enough to be heard down the road!) but on the other hand, I think so much abuse goes unnoticed. If common citizens don't feel empowered to speak up for those without a voice, who will?

[allisonintx]

social work has a really really high burnout rate, and before they succumb to the burn out and leave, children are reunited inappropriately, or never even brought in the system from situations that are appalling, while the 'easier' cases are pulled right into the system and children taken, because it's not as much work as the tough cases.

[RubySlippers]

I can also see many families being harassed who are not harming their children. :-/
Homeschooling comes to mind.

[blessedwithboys]

It stemmed from a light/gas worker finding small children home alone-the oldest being only 7.
Okay, but do workers really need to have special training to tell them that if they find very young children home alone, that they should call someone. :scratch

[Rabbit]

They do here. Child abuse is a deeply ingrained part of the culture. Watching children get whipped with a belt down an entire city block is normal. It got to the point in four years of teaching in Memphis Public Schools that it didn't really register with me anymore that a student had bruises from his ankles to his butt. I'm horrified that I got there, and stopped reporting.

But I would still love to know exactly what's in the training. I have no confidence that it's been handled well.

---------- Post added at 08:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:39 PM ----------

Here an article about it:
http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-mlgw-training,0,2617843.story

[Aerynne]

It stemmed from a light/gas worker finding small children home alone-the oldest being only 7.

That's the kind of situation I was thinking of. And the difference between a messy house (happens to all of us from time to time) and a dangerous house (very old food out where kids can reach it, for instance).

[Damselfly]

I think it could be a good thing but it does also concern me. If the course helps them understand more about what to look for so they can make appropriate calls, that's a good thing. But if it makes them think they have more authority then they do and somebody gets power hungry or doesn't really understand what consitutes abuse, that does bother me. I keep thinking of some of the strangers I've come across who glared at me like I was abusive for letting a baby sleep at a slightly odd angle in my arms or because my child was crying over a disappointment.

I don't know the situation there but in my state social workers are so overburdened there is no way they can possibly handle their cases with the proper amount of attention. I found out from an official source---a state agency---that in one county social workers had 250 cases per worker on average. The goal is supposed to 30 per worker. You get the idea. I called DHS in a case of terrible abuse and as far as I could tell nothing was ever done about it. What's the point of identifying abuse if nothing is done about it? I really feel the focus needs to be on recruiting more workers and giving them thorough training. It's a vicious cycle when workers have so many cases they burn out quickly.