e neglect of problems the child may encounter and the abuse of their rights. The first right of a child which needs to be protected is the right to be cared for. This means the parent must give their child shelter, food, health care, and education. If any of these needs are not met, Social Services should intervene. However, this is not always the case. Everyday, thousands of children are neglected and/or abused physically, mentally, and sexually; these cases are most commonly overlooked. This abuse can sometimes be so bad that the child does not survive. Child abuse is the most under reported crime in the world (Reeves, p. 4).New York Social Services defines child abuse as “Any parent or legal guardian inflicting physical injury, committing sexual offences, or endangering the physical, mental or emotional condition of any child,” (Wekeser, p. 15). If a child has unusual bruises or welts, lags in development, suffers from malnutrition or bad hygiene, chronic truancy in school, or consistent lack of supervision, as well as other indicators of neglect, one can suspect child abuse. Due to such abuses, there were 133 fatality cases reported in New York State in 1999. Eighty-nine of those cases were reported to Social Services, yet these children still managed toTures, page 5 fall victim to the evils of child abuse.Families have the biggest impact on the children. Divorce is a tremendous issue which plagues our society today. According to the CRC, over 75% of the marriages today have ended up in a divorce which resulted in the question of who gets custody of the child. Custody is the immediate charge or control by one parent of a child for his/her safekeeping. Adults usually fight over custody. Children are torn between which parent they would like to live with and what everyone else would like them to do; this can cause severe psychological problems for their children.Social Services is responsible for aiding in t...
