Child Abuse Registry

One of our posters, Belinda, found this article that discusses troubles with the Child Abuse Registry and questions if the registry is even needed.

What are your thoughts - how can we help?

http://www.verizon.net/newsroom/por...sroom_portal_page_us_article&_article=2790576


Thanks Belinda - very important issue!

Salem

It was determined to be unconstitutional in Missouri also. I agree. If a person abuses a child, they should be charged with a crime. They shouldn't be put on a registry based upon a social worker's opinion.
 
I agree that there needs to be a clearer mechanism for who goes on and who doesn't. My first thought was only those charged with a crime. Unfortunately, due to our very lacking CPS sector, many of these people are never charged. So, I'm not sure what I think about it anymore. I just think it shouldn't take 6 years to iron out the kinks in the system. They need to make some solid decisions and get this up and running. Even going with convicted only is better than nothing. If they can do this for sex offenders, they should be able to do it for abusers. It is well known that the minute CPS looks at an abusive family, they will often move to another state to stay under the radar.
 
In CA, I believe parents involved in "substantiated" child abuse cases are placed on the Department of Justices' register. Supposedly this means if one of these parents applies for a job working with children - their name will show up.

I don't think it works very well, though.

Salem
 
I do believe there have been some valid quesitons raised about the registry. I read the stories about those who didn't belong on it being caused great distress. However, I also find it frightening that they are now questioning whether this registry is even necessary. I believe it is absolutely 100% necessary. I question why people are fighting it so hard. Surely, there is a way to work out the problems and introduce a mechanism to remove those unjustly placed on the list? This could potentially be the greatest tool ever created to reduce child abuse.
 
so this is like a sex offense registery for child abusers.

think its a great idea but again we see problems (like with public urination being a sex offense). if they are gonna put the registery in effect they have to go all out to make sure stuff like falsley accused remaining on the list years later doesnt occur, they cant just do half butt it.
 
so this is like a sex offense registery for child abusers.

think its a great idea but again we see problems (like with public urination being a sex offense). if they are gonna put the registery in effect they have to go all out to make sure stuff like falsley accused remaining on the list years later doesnt occur, they cant just do half butt it.

I'll give you a personal account of the child abuse registry. When I had the issues with my teen, the official ruling was parent child conflict requiring therapeutic intervention (or family therapy). I agreed to this.
The case worker put me on the child abuse reg for emotional maltreatment despite the court's decision.

I had to take it to court, after a year of them filing for continuances, they agreed to remove me from the registry without a trial but I still don't know if I'm off the registry. Reminds me, I need to call my attorney again.
Turns out that not many parents file that petition in time to fight it and court officers said they had seen very few cases filed. My attorney had never even handled one. I filed the petition myself, but was afraid to actually go to court without representation. - As soon as I had a lawyer, the state wanted to settle out of court. There was way too much they didn't want exposed.

It's too flawed to be used, plus citizens can't see it anyway. LE could, CPS could. Basically, it prevents you from working in certain fields, adopting, etc, but the decision is made by the same agency that is causing so much harm to the children it's supposed to protect.

I don't think people should be on that list unless the case was adjudicated and the findings were based on evidence and not opinion.
 
I absolutely think there needs to be clear parameters as to who goes on the list. I also completely agree that CPS should have no part in that. I wouldn't trust them to watch my cat overnight. I still think it could be a useful tool if done right. And that is a tall order, if history serves as a comparison. Probably if CPS ever bothered to do their jobs right, it would be completely unneccesary to to have a list, but here we are. Thanks for your first hand account, Chicana. It certainly gives me food for thought. I can't imagine going through such a nightmare.
 
You know, the more I think about it, the more I can see that maybe it is a bad idea. Simply put, there is no way the government will not screw this up and make a lot of innocent people's lives hell. At first blush, it seems like it could be a great tool. It is a shame that this could not be done properly to be a real help in curtailing child abuse, but I'm really starting to see where this could do more harm than good.
 
You know, the more I think about it, the more I can see that maybe it is a bad idea. Simply put, there is no way the government will not screw this up and make a lot of innocent people's lives hell. At first blush, it seems like it could be a great tool. It is a shame that this could not be done properly to be a real help in curtailing child abuse, but I'm really starting to see where this could do more harm than good.

I thought when the court ruled that she was not abused, that was the end of it.
I was told that the judicial decision had nothing to do with the CPS case worker's administrative decision.
She didn't do the state mandated background checks so that she could let my daughter live with criminals.
I challenged the childless caseworker's authority and she made sure I paid for it.
It would be a great tool, if we could trust the government.

Sex offenders are put on the registry after a conviction.
The child abuse registry doesn't even require proven facts.
 
http://crime.about.com/b/2005/11/08/missouris-child-abuse-registry-unconstitutional.htm

I don't plan to adopt and I don't work with kids. What bothered me about being on the registry was the effect it could have on my smaller kids. I was afraid I might have to explain to them that I couldn't be involved with their scout activities or that I might not be allowed to volunteer for classroom outings.
I speak Spanish and have thought about doing some on call work as a translator for hospitals but if I'm on the registry a hospital wouldn't hire me.
My daughter's 19 now and she's still surrounded by drama. I worry because of the fights she has with her boyfriend and the problematic people she surrounds herself with, that CPS will be called one day and that they could take my grandson. If they did, they could use the registry against me and place him with strangers. I'm not very well liked by CPS. When my state rep got involved, they had a hard time coming up with answers for their actions.
It's not easy or cheap to fight it either. That petition was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.

I don't understand some of the CPS cases where there's evidence that a child has been seriously hurt, yet they never involve LE. Truly abusive parents shouldn't just be on a registry that's inaccessible to the public, they should be in jail.
 
I don't understand some of the CPS cases where there's evidence that a child has been seriously hurt, yet they never involve LE. Truly abusive parents shouldn't just be on a registry that's inaccessible to the public, they should be in jail.

Amen to that. I have to admit that I pretty much despise CPS. They seem to do very little good and a great deal of harm. It's sort of like airplane security, the only ones who get through without a problem are the terrorists! They seem to either do nothing at all or they are on a total power trip. I am sorry that you have gone through this. It seems like such a waste when there are thousands of kids being beaten to death every day. Where are they then? I'm utterly disgusted with the whole system. It needs to be completely dismantled and rebuilt. At this point, there are so many children "slipping through the cracks" that the dam is about to burst. I won't say none of them do their jobs, but a lot of them don't. It's another government job you can never get fired from, no matter how badly you perform.
 

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