(to the reviewers- I just fixed a couple spelling errors and changed the end summary section. )
Hi. I’m a child protection worker in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. The information I am about to share will be much the same in other provinces and countries, but specific
laws, policies, and job titles will be different. I’ve read a number of the articles on this site, and I hope to add some slightly different information. There are a lot of myths and miss understandings about exactly what it is we do. I find one of the main reasons people don’t report is the fear of the unknown. So, I’d like to shed a little light into the dark unknown of reporting a child protection concern.
What to expect when you make the call
You’ll be asked to give the name of the children, their ages if known and current location. You’ll also be asked for the names of their parents, and where the home is. I strongly suggest people share everything they know, and leave their name and number in case there are more questions. We keep your information private, and it can only be disclosed in court (which in my experience rarely happens). Often the person who follows up on the situation is not the person your talking to, and the person going out may want to talk to you. Also, if it is not an immediate risk situation, it may be a few days later and we may want an update on the situation.
What to expect after you call
Once we have your information, we assess it to determine how serious the situation is, and the risk to the child. Depending on the situation we may go out to the home immediately, or we may check with collaterals (schools, community resources, extended family) to get a clearer picture. We have a duty to investigate all reports, so even when we’re over worked, we eventually get to every report that is within our mandate.
As stated above, I like to call back the caller before I go to the home. This way, I get a clear narrative of what is going on in the home, I can ask you any questions I have, and I get an update if it’s been a little while since you called. I usually then do a home visit with the family, although some situations differ.
I explain to the family that there has been a concern. Most families want to know who called, and are initially angry about the report. I tell them that that information is confidential. Some parents will guess who it was. Sometimes they guess right, sometimes they don’t. all I state is that I can’t tell them if they’ve guessed right or not. If the caller is really concerned about their safety, or if I’m concerned about the caller’s safety, I can notify the caller that the person guessed right or contact the police and advise them of the potential risk. Once, I got a call from someone that they were beaten up because someone accused them of calling me, and they were calling me to tell me they didn’t call. I told them that I knew it wasn’t them that called, and explained to them what I’ve just explained here. They were still disturbed from the beating, but at least they understood what had happened. This is an extreme example and only occurred once in my six years, and that was a very unusual situation. The matter was reported to the police as well if I recall. Most families settle down once I talk to them, and we focus on what’s best for their children. From there, we come up with a plan to address the situation. As you can see, we do our best to protect your identity while still addressing the problem with the family. It’s not always easy, I’ll say that.
How and When to Call
When it leaves you lying awake at night, call. When it grosses you out, call. When you’d be devastated if it was your child, call. When you wouldn’t want your dog to lvie like that, call. When it will mess up the rest of the child’s life, call. When a child is suffering, call. When a child is yelled at, insulted, sworn at, degraded, told to shut up and called a whore at three years old, call. When a young child is home alone, or with younger siblings, call. When it just won’t leave you alone, call.
If you think that further harm could occur before the next business day, contact the after hours emergency services. These vary greatly. Here, the emergency numbers are on the message at the office. Some offices are call forwarded. Other areas have a 24 hour reporting line. Here, the numbers are on a special emergency contact page in the front of the phone book. Everywhere, you can contact your local police. If it is an emergency they will respond or contact us on your behalf. You can also ask them for the emergency numbers.
Sometimes we’re a little hard to get a hold of. Don’t give up, that child depends on YOU until you can pass it to me or my colleagues. Leave messages, request a call back. Call the police, call the emergency numbers. Call mobile crisis or your local equivalent. Keep calling to you get the right number. For us, it’s a cell number and we have inconsistent cell coverage. I tell people to wait half an hour and try again. Sometimes I’m in the bathroom and forgot to take the phone in with me… The important thing is that at this point, that child is relying on YOU to get them help. Once you talk to us, it’s then our job.
It may sound strange, but I believe you’ll sleep better once you call. People think the worst part of my job is taking people’s kids. That’s nasty, but there’s something worse… Not knowing if a kid’s safe or not. Wondering and worrying but not being able to prove it. For me, that’s a lot worse. At least if I’ve apprehended a child, I know their safe.
But it’s not that serious… But I’m not quite sure…
If in doubt, call. If you don’t know if you should call or not, you should call. Let the professionals decide if it’s serious or not. We can check it out and see what’s really going on. Sometimes problems are serious when they look minor and minor when they look serious.
I once had a case that looked like nothing, and we didn’t even have the kids name. We were just told where the child was and the parents first name. It appeared to just be kids biting. I passed it on to our after hours person. She went out at five and didn’t get home until after midnight. Turns out it wasn’t kids being kids, it was a sick adult, and it was the worst case of abuse I’ve had to deal with in my six years here. Mom’s boyfriend (now ex-boyfriend) is still in jail. All from a single call with not much to go on…
So, let us sort out what is serious and what’s not. That’s our job.
But I don’t want their children to be taken away!
We don’t automatically take kids. I don’t like taking kids, and I don’t believe my colleagues do either. I find every other reasonable option, and try that first. We arrange for supports, connect people with services, make referrals, give suggestions, and even get creative in places where services and other options are limited. There are a wide variety of situations which can be addressed with out removing the kids. Many times parents just need an ear, a referral, or some other support. We work to preserve the family unit as much as possible. If we do remove the children when you didn’t think they should be taken, the chances are that it was more serious than you were aware of.
If we do take children, we immediately start working to reunite those families, and we only keep the children for the shortest period of time for safety to be ensured. If extended family are a healthy option, we are always eager to place children with them. But that’s a topic for another night.
What not to report.
There are many different ways to parent, and many different ways parents keep their kids safe. Some things are beyond our mandate. We are not the dirty house patrol, although we are concerned about used needles, drug paraphernalia where kids could get it, homelessness, slum housing, and physically unsafe homes. We are not truancy officers, but if kids are chronically falling asleep in class, are hungry, and the parents are avoiding calls from the school, we would be a little concerned. I won’t apprehend your kids if you spank your four year old with your open hand on his bum in the grocery store, but I would come visit you if you spanked him with a wooden spoon (this one varies a lot from country to country- in Canada, a child over 2 and under 12 can currently be spanked on the bum with an open hand by a parent if it is not done in anger). I hope this clarifies things a little.
Summary.
So, if the situation is bothering you, report it. Check your phone book for emergencies, or call the police. If it can wait until morning, call your local office. Tell them everything you know about the situation and the family, but don’t be concerned if you don’t know much. Don’t be concerned if it doesn’t look like we’re doing anything- often we are and we’re doing a good job of protecting people’s privacy! Until you pass the call on to us, your that child’s only hope. We can’t act on something we don’t know about.
Next addition:
Look for my upcoming article for parents who have just had a worker show up on their doorstep. I just need to have the time to write it ! If you have any specific questions or want to discuss a specific situation with me, feel free to message me.
(September 9th) (
