Keep Your Kids!

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This page is under construction. Its goal is to educate the Hispanic community (specifically in Northern Virginia) in an effort to help families avoid mistakes that can lead to having their children removed by social services. There will be a translation of this page into Spanish. Suggestions are welcome.

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20% of children in U.S. foster care in 2008 were Hispanic. This is a 5% increase from 2000.(http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/foster.cfm#key)

Children are removed from their homes if it is suspected that they are being abused.

Types of abuse include:

- physical abuse.... causing physical injury to a child on purpose, including spanking.

- neglect.... failure to provide necessary food, medical care, shelter, clothing, education, or supervision; abandonment.

- sexual abuse... including sexual exploitation of child.

- emotional abuse...injury to the child's psychological stability or emotional well-being, such as belittling a child or making fun of them.

- parental substance abuse...includes prenatal exposure when a pregnant woman uses illegal substances or alcohol; allowing a child to be present near drugs or any drug paraphanelia; involving a child in the distribution of drugs, including giving the child drugs; use of drugs by a caregiver, which compromises their ability to properly care for the child.

(http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws_policies/statutes/define.cfm)

Possible Factors Contributing to the Risk that Your Child May be Removed:

If you…

don’t know there’s a problem
know there’s a problem but fear reaching out
know there’s a problem but your limited English proficiency limits your access to resources

Possible result… CPS (Child Protective Services) is called, your child is removed from your home.

1. You may not know there's a problem if you expect U.S. laws to be the same as those in your native country. Things like spanking, leaving children unattended at home, or leaving an older sibling in charge of younger siblings may be accepted practices in your native country, but in the U.S. they can be seen as abuse.

2. You may know there's a problem (for instance, there is domestic violence in the home), but you fear reaching out for help because of your undocumented immigration status.

3. You may know there's a problem, but you do not have sufficient English proficiency to seek out and access community resources that may help you.

Unfortunately, none of these are excuses, and your child can be removed from your home if someone thinks there is a problem of abuse in your home and calls CPS to report it. There are some community members that are what is called "mandatory reporters", which means that they are obligated by law to report any situation they suspect may be abusive to a child. These people include teachers.

Below is a list of different areas of life where children's health, safety, and overall well-being can be observed. I will discuss each in detail at a later time.

housing
1. # people living in your house, adult/child, female/male
2. # rooms, size, windows in each bedroom
3. Criminal background of anyone in home
education
1. public schools, charter, private [ages mandated attendance]
2. ESL (English as a Second Language) students and parents
3. Special needs (stats for learning & behavior disabilities in Hispanic population, mainstream)
transportation
1. to medical appointments
2. to school/work
3. public transportation
communication
1. with teachers
2. with doctors
3. leaving POC (point of contact) information with childcare workers, including name and phone number [*Not doing this was a contributing factor to our former foster daughter being removed from her home and kept in foster care for almost a year!]
supervision
1. age when it’s OK to leave a child home alone (depends on maturity), child should be at least 16 to be left home alone overnight
2. age when it’s OK to leave a child in charge of younger siblings (13), overnight babysitters should be at least 18. (http://www.nspcc.org.uk/help-and-advice/for-parents-and-carers/positive-parenting/leaving-children-home-alone/leaving-children-home-alone_wda72908.html)(http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dfs/factsheets/guidelinesselectbabysitter.htm)
discipline
1. corporeal punishment
2. positive reinforcement
3. fear versus respect
4. natural consequences
5. outside intervention
income
1. WIC, food stamps (nutrition) (https://www.vafood.org/vnan/)
2. Medicaid (healthcare) (http://www.dmas.virginia.gov/rcp-medicaid_hand_book.htm)
3. Unemployment benefits (http://www.vec.virginia.gov/vecportal/unins/insunemp.cfm)
4. Continuing Education classes, ESL (some schools/programs, even some community colleges, enroll students regardless of their immigration status, just ask what the application/enrollment requirements are!)
medical
1. nutrition (see above, WIC, food stamps)
2. 1^st aid classes (http://www.pwhs.org/events_community_safety.asp)
3. Shots/Vaccines (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/child-schedule.htm)
4. Safety & prevention

They CAN take your kids! Cultural Ignorance is NO Excuse! Educate yourself to protect your children, your family, and your community. Once a child is removed from the home, it is very difficult and time-consuming to get the child back. At times parents are held to much stricter standards than usual, and some are unable to get their children back. These children are then either adopted or remain in foster care indefinitely, frequently being moved from home to home until they reach adulthood. Protect your children from such a turbulent childhood!