CPS Worker: Case Study

As the CPS worker on the case, in order to determine that the children were safe in the care of the mother I would want to interview the 9 year old. According to Virginia Department of Social Service’s CPS publications, Virginia law does not determine a set age in which a child is able to legally stay home alone. Furthermore, according to Child Welfare Information Gateway (2013), only three states have laws that indicate a specific age that children can stay home alone: Illinois, age 14, Maryland, age 8, and Oregon, age 10. With some many factors to consider, pinpointing a specific appropriate age almost seems impossible. Therefore, determining the safety of the child will depend mostly on the assessment of the CPS worker.
Assessment Questions
The first question that I would want to ask the 9 year old in order assess if the child is safe is “how many times has mommy left you home alone”. In addition, I might also ask him how many times his mother has left him home to care for his little sister. This question will assess to see if this lack of supervision was a one-time occurrence or if it has occurred multiple times, which then would be considered neglect. If the 9 year old reports that his mother leaves him home multiple times during the day or week, then this may cause rise for concern.
Another question that I would
If it was assessed that the children were unsafe in the mother’s home then there are probably some other risk factors in the home. I think that through the use of family systems theory I could get insight to where the mother inherited her parenting practices from. Furthermore, by utilizing this theory I could get more data concerning the mother’s family or origin and personal history. By having this information I would be able to determine if the mother had any past trauma and if this trauma was impacting the way that she parents her children