There are all forms of innovative ideas the government of a country integrate to make citizens feel safe and comfortable. Example of such idea is a public service known as child services. It is has simple as its sounds, it is an institution created to ensure the safety of children and prevent them from all manner of abuse. It is a kind of public institution that Its goals and objectives seems universal across different countries. Meaning child services is expected to care about the welfarism and protect the rights of endangered children in a country.
The duty of this institution is quite tasking depending on the situation. I mean dealing with children with no form of parenthood also known as orphans, can be a little bit less complex. All they have to do is enrol them in the system and anyone who is interested in adopting them as their own can easily get access to the children, while child care services visit the home of the adopted parents, to supervise and ensure the child is well catered for, until the child comes of age when he/she can easily look after themselves.
But then, this is not the only situation child services deals with, it is not only orphans that are subjected to ill treatment or have access to be catered for by the institution. There are also cases of parents who are abusing their children or parents who are found lacking the necessary morals and character of raising a child, example of such parents are, a drunkard, drug addict or a convicted person. It is believed that for a child to grow up to become a person with capabilities to contribute to the society and do good for themselves, such child needs to be nurtured in a proper, safe and comfortable environment.
If any case of child endangerment is noticed by anyone, it is the duty of such person to report to child service or the police. It definitely sounds good to have such a system around, a system that prioritise children's safety. Despite the noble duty of this institution, some consider it to be a system used to tear family apart. I know there is no institution without its own disadvantages but on this case, this seems like a more sensitive situation, whereby a child can be forcefully taken away from a parent despite their unwillingness to not let go of their child.
Earlier, I stated some few grounds in which child service can take away the legal guardian/custodian right of a parent. It sounds a little bit creepy. I mean for an institution to be capable and empowered with the power to take a way parents natural given rights and authority over their children. Even an animal always put up a good fight when it comes to taking away their children, not talk of humans. Based on the objectives of the institution, it is believed that, the duty is carried out to safeguard a child's right, not just to punish parents.
It might seem like an act of cruelty from a parent if the grounds in which their child is taken away is false. For instance, we have heard of cases of a single parent who are struggling with their livelihood and also try their best to cater for the need of their children. Probably some day, such a parent went to the store and left the child at home and someone saw notice something about the child that feels like he or she is being endangered. The next step they would take is to call child services and they will sweep in to rescue the child.
This is where it becomes an issue, from the child's parent point of view, it is just a mistake that occurred which might have probably occurred before but for child service, they only see a parent endangering a child. In most cases, they don't really consider the events that led to the child being endangered, it is not as if it was intentional on the part of the parent but the moment it is established by child service that the child was indeed endangered based on the available evidence, the livelihood of the parent won't be seen as a case of a regular person struggling with their finances, it will be used as an evidence to find such parent unfit to be in custody of their child.
Since the investigation is done by humans, they might probably just want to get the job done as fast as possible, to wrap up the case but in so doing they deprive a desperate parent the custody of their child. We also have cases of child service getting involved when two parties are fighting for the custody of a child, at that moment the child will be in the custody of child services. Despite the case still being processed in court, any party with the right amount of influence with child service could use it to get the custody of the child while the case is ongoing.
For child service, it is just another case and they believe they are doing their job but for a parent, it would definitely feel like taking it too far or being the reason for the destruction of their family. Though I believe the issue is not with the institution, it is just another case of human error. It is a nightmare for a parent to find themselves in a situation when they have to prove they deserve to be the custodian of their own child.
Is there a better way for them to carry out their duties? It is not that simple. Child service operatives are humans dealing with humans and we humans are emotional beings, especially in cases like this. In the heat if the moment, they still have to perform their duties, no matter how it makes them feel. The only thing I would advise is that, child service cases should be handled with more love and care, it shouldn't just be treated like another case because the stability of the family of the child depends on it.
This write-up was inspired by weekly featured content titled Child services in hive learners community.
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