1. 1. Child Welfare DivisionFresno County, California
2. 2. Phone:(559) 600-2300Address:Fax:2135 Fresno(559) 600-2395StreetFresno, CA 93721Child ProtectiveServices Hotline:(559) 255-8320Childrens MentalHealth CrisisServices Hotline:(559) 453-3860
3. 3. Disproportionality amongAfrican Americans, as wellas other minorities Poverty Issues Physical neglect & abuseof children
4. 4. Physical Abuse: A physical injury that is inflicted by otherthan accidental means on a child by another person. Sexual Abuse: includes rape, incest, sodomy, lewd orlascivious acts, oral copulation, penetration of genital oranal opening by a foreign object and child molestation. Emotional Abuse: willfully causing harm or permits achild to suffer mental harm Physical Neglect: the negligent treatment or themaltreatment of a child by a person responsible for thechilds welfare.
5. 5. Abused Children (physical, sexual, emotional) Neglect of Children Parents Domestic Abuse issues Substance Abuse Issues Povertycontains scenes of mom being held to thefloor & punched repeatedly
6. 6. The Child: Shows sudden changes in behavior or school performance Has not received help for physical or medical problems brought to the parents attention Has learning problems (or difficulty concentrating) that cannot be attributed to specific physicalor psychological causes Is always watchful, as though preparing for something bad to happen Lacks adult supervision Is overly compliant, passive, or withdrawn Comes to school or other activities early, stays late, and does not want to go home The Parent: Shows little concern for the child Denies the existence ofor blames the child forthe childs problems in school or at home Asks teachers or other caregivers to use harsh physical discipline if the child misbehaves Sees the child as entirely bad, worthless, or burdensome Demands a level of physical or academic performance the child cannot achieve Looks primarily to the child for care, attention, and satisfaction of emotional needs The Parent and Child: Rarely touch or look at each other Consider their relationship entirely negative State that they do not like each otherhttp://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/signs.cfm
7. 7. How many deaths per year? Estimated 1,1700 child fatalities in 2009 Who are the perpetrators Individuals responsible for the care of the victims in 2009, 75% of infant fatalities were caused by parents How do these deaths occur? Fatal child abuse may involve repeated abuse over a period oftime (e.g., battered child syndrome), or it may involve a single,impulsive incident (e.g., drowning, suffocating, or shaking ababy). Fatal neglect, the childs death results not fromanything the caregiver does, but from a caregivers failure to act. http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/fatality.cfm
8. 8. Vision To lead an integrated network of community partners thatsupports, protects, & strengthens children & families. Mission To promote a system of best practice in partnership with thecommunity, committed to prevention & early intervention, thatensures child safety, permanence & stability, family well-being, thatis proactive, strategic, outcomes based, & fiscally responsible tothe children & families served.My goal as a social worker is to provide best practice in all myactions with my clients, (Eva Torres, SWIII)
9. 9. County of Fresno employees and community partnersprovide assessment, intervention, prevention, placementand mental health treatment services for infants, children,youth and families of Fresno County. http://www.co.fresno.ca.us/DepartmentPage.aspx?id=23095
10. 10. Practice? Always strive for the best for the clients no matter the situation Policy & Procedure? The work of Child Welfare is directed by State and Federal Lawwhich then guides Regulations and Policies in place at all levels,from the Federal level all the way down to the Local Agency level. Views of clients? Treated with respect & dignity Viewed as able to make change How SW make contact with clients & what that portrays? Home calls Most clients do not have transportation, SW make the effort to make contact where the client is located
11. 11. Negative stigma Bad reputationwe (child welfare) are presented in the media as a result ofa child death or if anything else major and negative thathappens, (Eva Torres, SWIII)
12. 12. Social Work: The social work profession promotes social change, problemsolving in human relationships and the empowerment & liberationof people to enhance well-being. Utilizing theories of humanbehavior & social systems, social work intervenes at the pointwhere people interact with their environments. Principles ofhuman rights and social justice are fundamental to social work.
13. 13. Values: 1. Service 2. Social Justice 3. Dignity & worth of the person Importance of human rights Integrity CompetenceI think that the social workers in my agency at the Department of Social Servicesespecially promote social work values when working with the children. Socialworkers serve the children in taking them out of abusive situations, providingresources for their family & parents to better care for their children, provide justiceto abused children, provide them with the knowledge that they are worthy, protecttheir rights as children and do all of the above with competence.
14. 14. Social Justice: Social workers have a responsibility to promote social justice, in relation to society generally, and in relation to the people whom they work with. This means: Challenging negative discrimination Recognizing Diversity Distributing resources equitably Challenging unjust policies a practices Professional conductUniversal and lasting peace can be established only if it is based upon social justice.Social justice is described as the right and opportunity of all people to benefit equally fromthe resources afforded us by society and the environment."
15. 15. Human Rights: Social work is based on respect for the inherent worth & dignity ofpeople, & the rights that follow from this. Social workers should uphold &defend each persons physical, psychological, emotional & spiritualintegrity & well-being. This Means: 1. Respecting the right to self-determination 2.Promoting the right to participation 3. Treating each person as a whole 4. Identifying & developing strengthsThe social workers at my agency (DSS) often ask the client what their needsare, provide them with referrals & resources, help them identify strengthsunknown to the client & then let the client take the action themselves. Thesocial workers are never disrespectful & continually look at the client as acomplete individual that needs a helping hand. When the client has thanked thesocial worker for their success, the social workers at DSS often remind the clientthat it was their strengths & determination that brought them to where they now.Social workers in my agency also protect the rights of children daily by removingthem from abusive homes, or daily checking on children in the at-risk homes.
16. 16. INTERIM DIRECTOR: Judy Lemos Administrative Secretary: Terry Reyna DEPUTY DIRECTORS: Christine Balbas, CalWORKs & Welfare to Work Services Howard Himes, Child Welfare Judy Lemos, Administrative Support Services Marlene Pascua, Adult Services Steve Rodriguez, Medi-Cal & CalFresh, Regional Services
17. 17. PROGRAM MANAGERS: Maria Aguirre, Program Manager West Fresno Regional Center-Voluntary Family Maintenance- Family Reunification- Permanency Planning Vivian Aldridge, Program Manager Cal Works-Sanction Unit-Ongoing Metro-Refugee Services-West Fresno Regional Barbara Boswell, Program Manager Staff Development David Cannon, Program Manager Medi-Cal & CalFresh Ongoing Rapid Services Unit Supportive Services Call Center Joy Cronin, Program Manager Child Focus & Teen Parenting Teams School Based Independent Living Program Court Ordered Supervised Visitation Linda DuChene, Program ManagerCalWIN Project Manager CalWIN Help Desk IEVS (Integrated Earnings Verification System) John Dufresne, Program Manager Court Services Care Line Central Desk Linda Espinosa, Program Manager Program Integrity Appeals QA/QC (Quality AssuranceQuality Control)
18. 18. Program Specialists Henry Flores, Program Manager General Relief Homeless CalFresh Oralia Gomez, Program Manager Welfare to Work Services Employment Resource Center Special Needs- Work Experience Fresno City College Adolescent Services AFLP JoseLuis Gonzalez, Program Manager Welfare to Work Services Refugee Coordinator Ongoing Metro West Fresno Regional Employment Services Joel Gurss, Program Manager In-Home Supportive Services Adult Protective Services Katherine Martindale, Program Manager Child Welfare Metro Division Deborah Martinez, Program Manager Foster Care Eligibility Foster Parent Resources Relative Foster Parent HomeApproval Enrique Medina, Program Manager Regional Centers (Reedley, Selma, Coalinga, & Kerman)
19. 19. Lauri Moore, Program ManagerEmergency Response Family to Family Sylvia Mota, Program ManagerMedi-Cal & CalFresh Ongoing Wendy Osikafo, Program ManagerCA Partners for Permanency Michael Reiser, Program ManagerAged, Blind & Disabled Medi-Cal CalFresh Public Authority Harkiran (Kiran) Sandhu, Program ManagerCalWORKs Intake Homeless Assistance Rapid Service Unit Tina Torres, Program ManagerChild Care Welfare to Work Services Maria Villapudua-Herrera, Program ManagerMedi-Cal CalFresh Intake Peter Vue, Program ManagerMedi-Cal & CalFresh Ongoing Outreach Edwards Medi-Cal
20. 20. Child Abuse and Neglectwww.childwelfare.govIdentifying Child Abuse and Neglectwww.childwelfare.gov/can/identifyingPreventing Child Abuse and Neglectwww.childwelfare.gov/preventingReporting Child Abuse and Neglectwww.childwelfare.gov/responding/reporting.cfm