State Law Needs To Be Reworked
For Child Protective Services to be effective in protecting children from persons convicted of sex crimes or violent offenses against children, there need to be changes in the law.
Currently, some groups of professionals, known in law as “mandated reporters,” are required to make CPS referrals when they have “reasonable cause to believe” that abuse or neglect of a child has occurred. However, some agencies and professionals who are part of the criminal justice system (for example, judges and the Department of Corrections) are not mandated reporters. This needs to be corrected.
In addition, the reporting law needs to require CPS referrals when individuals with a history of criminal offenses against children are living with or have easy access to a child, regardless of whether there is reason to believe that abuse or neglect has already occurred.
The dependency statute which addresses involuntary out-of-home placement needs to be more explicit. Currently, the law permits outof-home placement based on risk of harm only but is not clear as to when such placements are justified. As a consequence, juvenile courts and CPS social workers vary widely in their placement practices regarding situations in which a child has not yet been abused or neglected but is living in a highly risky situation.
The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. The dependency statute should clearly allow removal of a child from parents who permit persons with convictions of crimes against children to live in the home or have easy access to the child.
The law should describe the steps which persons convicted of sexual offenses or violent acts against children must take, following conviction and/or incarceration, to demonstrate that they are safe to be around children. This process might include successful treatment by a licensed therapist and/or a psychological evaluation and an arrest-free trial period.
xxxx
This sidebar appeared with the story: Wilson is director of Child Protective Services in Spokane.