Abused child?

[NightOwl]

Have you had a child in care that you felt was being abused/neglected in some way? I'm wondering how you guys have handled that kind of situation. Did you speak with the parents? Go straight to cps? Did cps take the child from your home or wait until the child was at their own home? Were you positive the child was being abused or just suspicious? Do you know how it turned out for the child? I'd love to hear your stories.

[Starburst]

This all depends on your state, but for the most part as a family child care provider (or anyone working with kids) you are a mandated reporter. If you SUSPECT there is any type of abuse or neglect, then you need to report it. It is not your job to investigate this, or bombard the child/family with questions, just report it. If it turns out later that the child was being abused and they found out you suspected but didn't report it, you could possibly get charged with child endangerment and could have to pay a fee, serve time, and/or lose your license, if you are licensed (not worth it).

And if you try to talk to child (bad move) or the parents (really bad move), the children may clam up if it does get to the cops and withhold information. The parents will either: just be more careful about how they abuse the child, abuse the child more out of anger that they got caught, or pull out of your child care service to a new place that wont accuse them (whether they are guilty or not). If the cops do find out you did that, you can even be charged with interfering in an investigation and can also serve time, pay a fee, and/or lose your license.

You can even call your licencor, CCR&R, or DHS/ CPS and ask them if they consider that a form of abuse/neglect or even if it is something you should keep an eye on. Even if they say that they don't consider that a type of abuse, I would still document what happened that made you suspect it and keep it in the child's file for future references, just in case.