HumanServices Agency and Abuse Scenario
Legaland ethical considerations
Thereare several legal and ethical considerations that apply to both thefather and the girl in this case. The first consideration is privacysince the case is sensitive and should be handled with the privacy itrequires. In as much as the girl has been sexually abused, herprivacy as well as that of her father should be kept away from thepublic domain. In addition to this, the information obtained from theexamination and the investigation is supposed to be kept private andconfidential no unauthorized person is expected to get thisinformation apart from the intended parties only (Carroll, 2009).
Anotherlegal consideration is the safety concerns of the two the girlshould be kept safe from further sexual abuse from the father. Therelevant authorities should ensure that the decision made is in favorof the child to ensure that no further assault will take place. Butthe decision of the court, in this case, did not consider the rightsof the girl, and there is a possibility that she might be furtherabused sexually, by her father, after she is released from theresidential.
Thehealth of the girl is also an issue to consider in this case. She wasplaced under the diagnostic services, and after the agency hadconducted the assessment, there was a proof of sexual abuse thisputs the health of the girl in danger, and the appropriate actionsshould be taken to alleviate the situation.
Onthe other hand, there are ethical considerations in this case thefrequent visits of the father were unethical given that he wasresponsible for the sexual abuse of the girl. There was solidevidence that the girl was sexually abused by the father, but thecase was dismissed. This is highly unethical for the institutionslike the court that are supposed to defend the rights of people andin this case a minor was sexually abused.
Levelsof system failure
Thisscenario presents multiple layers of system failure and inefficiencyof the services given by the legal institutions and other bodies thatare given distinguished authorities to fulfill in any country. Thecourt system is the greatest failure in this scenario. There is nojustifiable reason as to why they dismissed the case and yet therewas supporting evidence that indicated that the father sexuallyabused his daughter. The human agency conducted its assessmentdiligently to ascertain the sexual assault committed by the father.Undeniably, the agency found enough evidence that the court wouldhave used to hold the parent liable but due to the negligence of thejudges, the case was dismissed. Regardless of the efforts made by thefather made to visit the daughter and whatever the responsibilitieshe was taking in the residential placement, he was a criminal andsupposed to be convicted. In other words, the court did notdiligently execute its duties. Similarly, I feel that the fatherwould have been remanded as soon as the girl was confirmed to besexually abused following the assessment that was done by the agency.Both the agency and the court had an obligation to ensure that thefather was remanded and no visits to the girl since this might haveinterfered with the investigations.
Likewise,the agency failed to execute part of its duties effectively it hadthe evidence that the girl was sexually abused by her father but didnot appeal the court’s decision. It blindly accepted the decisionof the court and yet there was tangible evidence. It would haveappealed the case so that proper and accurate judgments could be madeinstead of ignorantly accepting the decision of the court. Mostprobably, the appeal would have ensured that they retain the fundingof the residential placement and provide accommodation for the girl.The human services agency, therefore, failed to undertake adequatelythe services it was supposed to so that the girl could get justice.
Legaljustification and ethical problems
Thelegal justification for the release was made on grounds of theassessment that was carried by the professional of the agency as wellas the responsibilities the father had in the residential placement.The professional from the human services is the one who conducted thechild assessment that indicated the girl had signs of sexual abuse. Ido not understand how the court used the results of the examinationthat were taken. Most probably, the court never considered theresults but gave weight to the visits and the responsibilities thefather had in the residential placement. The court did not considerthe legal wrong that was possibly carried by the father but examinedthe legal activities he was involved in while in the residentialplacement. The decision was made on baseless grounds and could resultin ethical problems. Such a decision may create a loophole for thelaw breakers to continue with their unethical activities because thelegal system does not seem to be efficient enough to handle suchissues. The society will be full of immoral activities, and the lawbreakers will hibernate in doing well to the society so that theywill not be held liable for their personal wrongs. The integrity ofthe legal system will be in question following the decisions that areinaccurately made.
Theindividual human services providers have the duty to ensure thatthere is fair treatment in the cases they present to the courtsystem. In this case, there was no fair treatment and the agencystill has a lot to do with granting the girl justice. The agency hasan option of appealing the case in the court of law. But personally,I believe that there is still a chance for the agency to solve theconflict and ensure justice for the girl. I propose that the agencycan address the matter by inviting both parties together and givingthem the necessary counseling that will ensure that morality isobserved between the father and her daughter. The father can beadvised on the moral issues he should watch while staying with herdaughter. The daughter will as well be taught the best ethicalconduct that should be observed while staying with her father.
Culturalconsiderations
Itshould be remembered that the Italian culture required that the girlswere to be close to their mothers when they were in need of advicewhile the boys were to be close to their fathers. The girls wererequired to observe due respect to their parents in allcircumstances. It will be considered unethical for the issue to besolved while the father and the daughter are present at the sametime. It will be better if the two are counseled separately. The maleadvisers should talk to the father while the female counselors shouldhandle the girl so that they can keep that respect that must beobserved between the two as per the Italian culture.
Likein many other countries, the sexual relationship between the fatherand daughter is considered as incest. Apart from being considered asincest, such a relationship is a taboo among the Italians, and thisshould be kept in mind while handling the matter. Even though thecase can be considered as a sexual abuse one, there was arelationship between the father and the daughter however, therelationship was against her wish. The repercussion of such an actshould be disclosed to the father to avoid further abuse to the girl.These cultural considerations will ensure that there is moral conductbetween the father and his daughter having known the culturalconsequences of what had earlier on happened between the two of them.
Childwelfare system
Sincethe development of child welfare systems, they had the aim ofpolicing, practicing and coming up with the program initiatives thatensured that the delivery of services to children was improved. Theseprograms provided the necessary funds and arranged for other servicesto aid the children who were victims of child abuse and neglect. Theill-treatment and neglect cases were rising, and there was the needto come up with these projects because the children were in need ofhelp in every manner. However, in coming up with such practices,these systems had to consider all the legal implications of all theactivities that they were handling. The interventions were madeaccording to the policy reforms and any other practice carried outwas evidence-based. The proper understanding was needed to assess therisk the children were exposed to after the ill-treatment andneglect. While the system was intended to help these children, suchknowledge was mandatory to ensure efficient delivery of the services(NCBI, 2014).
Thechild welfare agencies provided services, like the child protectioninvestigation where the safety of the kid is guaranteed in the courseof the assessment, which is related to abuse and neglect. Theyprovided the family-centered services and supports to the families ofthe children to be in a position to conduct their parental dutiesdiligently. In other cases, these systems were responsible for thefoster care and adoption services in cases where the children werecompletely neglected or were in danger of continued abuse. Thechildren were required to be in their homes, but if their safety wasan issue, then they were taken to these systems. When the childrenwere retained in these facilities, it gave their parents andcaretakers an opportunity to change before reuniting with thechildren. These services were available 24 hours and seven days aweek to respond to any case of child abuse and neglect as soon as itwas reported to them.
Extentto which the child welfare systems have fulfilled theirresponsibilities
Fromthe time these child welfare systems were developed, the delivery oftheir services has transformed over time, and currently they areoffering the child protective services to the victims of abuse andneglect. Presently, the system is providing protection services tothe children who are sexually abused and neglected by their familiesor guardians. In the cases involving child abuse in extreme andsevere capacities, these welfares act as the last resort to thechildren and can make the necessary follow-ups and steps to ensurethat the victims are secure, and their safety is taken care of tostop further abuses. By transforming these facilities to childprotective services, it was expected that the cases of child abuseand neglect were to reduce, but the outcome was different. Thesituation has not changed, however, and the cases of child abuse andneglect are still witnessed in various families in the US. Thesystems have done their best to attend to the services of childrenwho are abused, but the extent of their efforts is not satisfactoryto cater for the social and family changes. Therefore, much should bedone to address the issue of child neglect and abuse.
Theextent of the delivery of services is challenged by the way the legalsystems handle some of the cases that are presented to them. Thechild welfare systems do their best to investigate abuse and neglectsituations in different families only for the courts to turn down allthe efforts made. As a result, the children abused do not get theintended justice from the legal facilities due to poor judgment ofthe cases that ends up making inaccurate decisions. In othersituations, the institutions lack the funds to execute their servicesand support the children fully in the situations where theirassistance is required in full capacity. These are some of thechallenges that have interfered with the effectiveness of the childwelfare systems.
Culturaland legal strategies to the girl
Toaddress human services needs to the girl, some social and legalprocedures are necessary. There are some cultural strategies that mayhinder the girl from reporting the case in order to receive theservices that she requires. The girl should be aware of the rolesthat modesty plays in her culture (Murray, Nguyen and Cohen, 2014).Such cultural issues may involve taboos, shame and honor that thegirl is supposed to observe. Despite these cultural issues, the girlshould be educated on her cultural rights and the need to berespected despite her gender. Therefore, reporting and giving anyinformation regarding the case of sexual abuse to the relevantauthorities is not subject to any cultural issues.
Onthe other hand, the girl should be made aware that she has a legalright to be respected by any person and not be subjected to sexualassault. She will be briefed on the possible steps to take as soon asshe has been sexually assaulted. Regardless of the decision of thecourt, she should be well informed of her rights to ensure thatjustice is done to avoid further abuse. In the case of another abuseafter the court ruling, the girl is at liberty to secure the servicesof the court or any other human services agency.
Similarly,the girl has the legal right to be secured from any situation thatwill be a threat to her life. Her safety is of equal importance, andshe has the right to protest any action that she feels that it isagainst her wish. If she feels that her release from the childprotection welfare will amount to further threats and assault, sheshould protest such an action.
Thecultural and legal strategies will ensure that the girl is briefed onwhat she is supposed to do at the appropriate time. This will makesure that all the cases of sexual assault are reported, and thevictims are given the attention needed to provide the fullinformation regarding the abuse.
References
Carroll,C.A. (2009). TeenSexual Assault Survivors,Retrieved fromhttp://www.ccasa.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/teensurvivorslegalimpacts2009.pdfon May 23, 2016.
Murray,L.K., Nguyen, A & Cohen, J.A. (2014). ChildSexual Abuse,Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4413451/on May 23, 2016.
NCBI.(2014). NewDirections in Child Abuse and Neglect Research,Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK195980/ on May23, 2016.