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Can
You Be Charged for
Not Reporting Suspected Child Abuse?
By
Catherine M. Pruissen
Every
child care provider knows she/he is obligated, by
law, to report suspected child abuse. But did you
also know you can be charged for not reporting if
you knew about the abuse and a child is injured or
killed? You can.
On
Monday, Oct. 30th, 2005, a Plymouth Michigan Day Care
Director was charged for ignoring the signs of suspected
abuse that might have prevented the untimely death
of 2-year-old Allison Newman in September. Newman's
foster mother, Carol Poole was charged with murder
after the little girl suffered serious injuries at
their Canton home.
Two
former center employees say they raised concerns about
suspicions of abuse to their supervisor, but the abuse
was not reported to the state as is required by law.
State
officials say they received no reports from the center,
leading Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy to file
charges against the director.
"It’s
all the more tragic when there was suspected abuse
and it was not handled properly," the Wayne County
Prosecutor said.
Childtime
day care where the director works, claims they investigated
the situation but found nothing to substantiate the
claims of abuse.
The
state of Michigan has shut down the day care. A judge
will make a recommendationwithin 30 days whether Childtime’s
license should continue to be suspended, be revoked,
or given back. It is up to the state after that to
decide the direction they will take with the center.
Sadly
Prosecutor Worthy said that the center's employees
had not been properly trained to report abuse.
When
was the last time you reviewed your child
abuse policy? How well do your employees understand
your facility's procedure for reporting suspected
cases of child abuse? When was the last time you held
a training session for your employees or invited a
guest speaker from your local child protection agency
in to discuss abuse and neglect with your staff? If
you can't answer that question definitively, now is
a good time to do so. A child's life may depend on
it.
Catherine
Pruissen
CEO/Founder
Childhelp National Child Abuse
Hotline 1-800-4-A-CHILD
Staffed 24 hours daily by professional crisis counselors,
the Hotline is accessible throughout the U.S., its
territories, and Canada. Through interpreters, communication
is possible in 140 languages. The confidential and
anonymous Hotline offers crisis intervention, information,
literature, and referrals to thousands of emergency,
social service, and support resources.
Childabuse.com2
http://www.childabuse.org/
Child
Welfare Information Gateway
childcare.net
Child Protection Policy
Downloadable, MSWord document to help you design your
own Child Protection Policy.
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