PROTECTING INNOCENCE

Cherokee County officials are observing Child Abuse Prevention Month throughout the month of April with a series of programs aimed at raising awareness of Child abuse. Child Protective Services investigated 433 child abuse allegations in Cherokee County during 2007, resulting in 18 children being placed in foster care. The Child Protective Services (CPS) of Cherokee County investigated 433 child abuse allegations during 2007, resulting in 18 children being placed in foster care, said Suzan Ellis, investigations supervisor for Child Protective Services. Ms. Ellis said removing a child from a home is the last thing CPS will resort to when it comes to child abuse prevention.

While the causes of child abuse vary, Ms. Ellis said CPS has a broad scope of services to prevent child abuse. Such services include family based safety services, homemaking services, referral to substance abuse counselors and foster care. Ms. Ellis said before any of those methods are employed, a call is made to the CPS toll-free hot line, (800) 252-5400.

"The process starts when someone calls our 800-number hot line to Austin," she explained. "The call may be anonymous. The info from the call is put in a report and sent to the county where the family lives."

Ms. Ellis said the reason for the Austin hot line is that CPS cases are kept in a central database in Austin so CPS can track cases of families who move across county lines. She said the case is then assigned a priority number and sent to the county offices.

"Response time depends on the allegation," Ms. Ellis said. "A priority-one is a situation where the child is in danger, such as sexual abuse. A priority-two is a situation where there is no immediate threat, such as the child jumped off the bed and hurt himself."

Ms. Ellis said case workers answer priority-two allegations within 72 hours.

"Priority numbers are determined based on the immediate threat to the child," she said.

Once the case has been referred to the local office, CPS workers begin the process by making contact with the alleged victim.

"We make contact with the child first," Ms. Ellis said. "We talk generally first, then ask about the specific allegations. We then talk to the parents and the alleged perpetrator. The parents are not always the ones who have been turned in."

Ms. Ellis said those who commit or are accused of child abuse are often family members who live in the same house as the child, such as aunts, uncles, etc.

"Normally, if there is no real threat to the child, we just refer them to family services," she said. "If the situation is drugs, we may refer them to inpatient services."

In cases where the child has to be removed from the home, Ms. Ellis said CPS tries to place the child with a relative.

"In our family-based safety services, we place the child with a family member who passes the CPS background check," she said. "Removing the child from the family is a last-ditch effort. We exhaust every resource before taking a child."

Ms. Ellis encouraged those who suspect abuse to report it by contacting the CPS hot line, (800) 252-5400.

"You can be anonymous," she said, explaining the families investigated are not told who placed the call. "There are no legal consequences for reporting in good faith.

"Sometimes the reportee comes up with a pretty good idea of who reported them, but the reportee can never be prosecuted."

Ms. Ellis said signs of abuse include unexplained injuries, or situations where the child's injury does not match the story they tell. She also said changes in behavior could be a sign of abuse, or a sign of typical stress.

"A lot of times, it is a gut feeling," she said. "You have an outgoing happy girl who all of a sudden won't look you in the eye and wears a jacket in July, you might have a problem."

Child abuse and neglect is illegal in Texas, as is the failure to report the abuse, according to a report from CPS.

Reporting abuse can save the child's life and help him to grow to be a happy, healthy adult.