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Show Try To Deal With Davis Child Abuse By ROSELYN KIRK Child abuse and neglect in Liavis County' crosses all socio-economic barriers and there appear to be no ready solutions to eliminate the problem, according to Dave Mullen, Division of Family Services (DFS). But one group that is attempting to deal with the problem is a child protection pro-tection team, made up' of representatives from several agencies. This team meets twice a month to make recommendations to protective service workers, who deal directly with the abused or neglected child. MR. MULLEN pointed to cases in Davis County where the children are not able to meet the expectations of the parents. One child was beaten because he was not toilet trained at 20 months. Another hyper-active child was tied to a chair while the parent was at work. Such cases as these are investigated by, protection service workers for the DFS-office. DFS-office. In the past, child abuse and neglect cases, in which the parents couldn't or wouldn't change, were turned over to the authority of the juvenile court. While that option is still open to the protective ser-. ser-. vice workers, the child abuse team provides another avenue. THE TREND nationwide is to gather a team of professionals with varying backgrounds, Mr. Mullen said. These people with special skills coordinate, diagnose and recommend treatment in homes where child neglect has been demonstrated. Members of the child protection team in Davis County are Sue Robinson, probation officer for the juvenile court, David Peterson, Pe-terson, Davis County Community and Family Mental Health, Milton Schaum, social worker from the Davis County Schools, Joan Whitmore, public health nurse, and Diane Stevens, juvenile expert from the Bountiful Police Department. MR. MULLEN is the coordinator of the team, which also includes protective service ser-vice social workers Gerald Jeffries and Steven Cook. Pointing to the advantages available from the team, Mr. Mullen said, . "Through the expertise they have in their area and through information available to them, they are able to recommend an agency or resource to help the family." The team attended a training session in Denver in May where they received instruction in-struction on how a child protection team.' can work. THE REASONS for the increase in the child abuse and neglect are many-sided, Mr. Mullen said. He pointed to the mobility of the society which tends to break down the extended family. This pattern tends to "isolate the family from meaningful relationships which could result in child abuse since parents are unable to establish es-tablish other meaningful relationships," he said. Other problems that can result in child abuse, according to Mr. Mullen. are unstable un-stable marriages, parents who lack knowledge of child growth and development, develop-ment, and parents who are ignorant of how to take care of a home. When child abuse results, some of the agencies recommended by the child protection team can give social workers solutions to the problems. "ANYTHING THAT makes a crisis, can lead to abusive behavior," he said. "What is needed is a way to provide ways for parents to find strength and energy to cope with the situation." One system used to provide "lifelines to high risk families." Parents can immediately reach a family service counselor who can ' "understand or empathize with him in a ' crisis." The mental health emergency number is another lifeline service which can help parents to cope rather than to abuse their child in moments of stress. Mr. Mullen said that sometimes the child protection team will refer the parents to "Parents Anonymous" for help. These are parents who have themselves them-selves at one time abused or neglected children, but who have banded together to help each other. While there is no organization or-ganization of this type in Davis County, the team can act as a catalyst and establish es-tablish relationships with parents of this organization in other cities. "THE ONLY thing we know about being parents, is what we have learned in our own homes," Mr. Mullen said. If our parents were abusive or used corporal punishment, we tend to do the same. We probably will have the same attitudes and skill levels in keeping house that they had." Sometimes the team will recommend recom-mend additional training such as Parent Effectiveness Training Classes, which may be available through the adult education classes in the schools. These are the kinds of classes that the team would know about and could recommend to the protective service workers. Mr. Mullen said DFS learns about child abuse cases through calls received from hospitals, police departments, schools, relatives, friends and neighbors. When they leam of istances of child abuse, they investigate immediately on cases that are reported as emergencies. All cases are investigated within 48 hours, he said. AT LEAST one and one-half to two cases of possible child abuse are investigated every day in Davis County, according to Mr. Mullen. "The problem is on the increase, but we're not sure how much since some of the reasons for the increase are that people are more aware of the problem and are reporting it." He said that of all the child abuse cases that are investigated, two or three a week result in instances of substantial abuse. These are the cases that are considered by the team. The protection service workers present the circumstances to the team. The team formulates a treatment plan. Sometimes this requires suggestions for parenting education or counseling through the schools or mental health organization. or-ganization. SOMETIMES the police may be called to investigate or police authority may be needed to place the children outside of the home. Mr. Mullen said, "If you can establish child abuse and neglect through evidence and the parents refuse to make the changes, we have the option to take the case to the county attorney. This serves as a basis to petition the juvenile court." IF THE judge feels the situation warrants the action, he has unlimited power to correct the problem by placing the child in a foster home, putting him under the direction of the DFS, or terminate ter-minate the parental right altogether and put the child up for adoption. Any child from one day old up to 18 years of age can be placed under the jurisdiction of the - juvenile court if that child is being abused or neglected. According to Mr. Mullen, child abuse and neglect know no economic boundaries. boun-daries. "We tend to see more abuse in low economic families, but these families are more exposed to the social service agencies agen-cies so we would be more aware of their problems." He said a new system of keeping track of child abuse cases was inaugurated in September. THIS SYSTEM requires that nature of the complaint against the abuser, ai well as the source of the initial report, must be documented. Types of abuse vary from brain damage or skull fracture to malnutrition malnu-trition or failure to thrive. Emotional, medical and educational neglect are also included as forms of child abuse. According to Mr. Mullen the purposes of the child protection team is to increase the ability to improve child care and reduce the abuse of children in the community. com-munity. IN ADDITION, the team hopes to make the community more aware of the ways of reporting child abuse. This can be done anonymously by calling the DFS offices between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at 867-2224. After hours from Layton south, the reporter must call the operator and ask for Zenith 1371. From Clearfield to Clinton, Clin-ton, the after hours number is 399-1371. In addition to the present members of the child protection team, Melvin Wilson, Davis County Attorney's office, serves as a member of the team when needed. Mr. Mullen said other professional people . such as a consultant, a pediatrician and some psychologists will be added to the team as they are needed. |