Kentucky social worker fears for job after helping child no longer assigned to her

This is absolutely despicable IMO. The child was a former case of hers, and the family of the child contacted her for help (since the current case worker CLOSED the case as deemed no action needed).

Karey Cooper told FoxNews.com she received calls and emails in April from the relatives of a 7-year-old girl alerting her that the girl was being abused at home. Cooper, who had previously worked on the case, went to check on the girl at school, and found her hungry and disheveled. The girl told Cooper she often was not fed meals and did not see her therapist required by a court mandate.

Full News Story

SO she visited the school to find her hungry and unkempt. Got her some food, and tried to get her cleaned up a bit. And for this action, she has been reprimanded and put on administrative duty pending a decision on her continued employment. Are you flipping kidding me here?? I am without words to describe miy feelings toward this particular branch of CPS. Child Protection Services, what a joke, more like "Child Probably Sick" and dying.

Does anyone in that area know more details of this situation that are ATS members? Perhaps there is missing info in the story, or more details that might explain this better.

a reply to: Krakatoa

As a Social Worker, shouldn't she be able to open a new case?

a reply to: Krakatoa

I do not know any details of this case but i do know that CPS anywhere in the world is pretty bad,at least they are all consistent .....

I have dealt with them,my boy was in foster care and i got him out...the red tape involved in these kinda things is incredible......for the most part they are understaffed and underfunded,i know that here is Australia they are literally juggling the kids in the most need,their ability to act is hindered and that is partially why so many kids fall through the cracks....the whole department needs to be redesigned

originally posted by: tinker9917
a reply to: Krakatoa

As a Social Worker, shouldn't she be able to open a new case?

I don't know myself, I am not familiar with the particulars. But, the fact that she was disciplined for actually caring is what gets to me. We are talking about the welfare of a child...which, IMO, should be held at a higher level than procedure, especially given the history of her home life. She could be dead by the time the paperwork goes through.

a reply to: Krakatoa

Agencies have rules. It looks like she used her official role to contact the school and kid and without given that being her assigned case, she broke agency rules. Had she worked outside of her official capacity to help the child and to re-ingage the agency, that would have been a somewhat different matter. The question is, who is the boss here? The kid's situation, while important, is not the issue. My late wife worked in this exact same area. Most such systems that deal in human values are faulty because "human values" are not easily quantified.

a reply to: Krakatoa

This is absolutely sad. So many interventions and problems when not needed, yet cases such as this are overlooked.

CPS is ass backwards. They hassle parents for allowing their kids to walk on their own, then get in trouble when there is a situation they should actually be helping with. Gotta love government ineptitude.....

originally posted by: TKDRL
CPS is ass backwards. They hassle parents for allowing their kids to walk on their own, then get in trouble when there is a situation they should actually be helping with. Gotta love government ineptitude.....

You obviously don't know what CPS does. You've seen a few publicized cases where CPS was called in in a borderline matter that resulted in a bad call and you've drawn a conclusion. But if you knew anyone who worked at CPS you would know that thats the 1%. The rest can't be publicized. Most of the time they're keeping kids form being raped by their relatives. They're saving kids from homes where drug abuse is rampant. They're finding kids living in filth and starving. That's what CPS does and you're not going to hear about it because the privacy of children is protected by the law.

Don't assume you know what goes on because you see a couple scandalous headlines. The bulk of what CPS does is truly saving children from hell and the few cases you read about are only publicized because legal rules prevent you from knowing about what really happens to children.

a reply to: okachobi
I know exactly what "CPS does". My second girlfriend's mother was a social worker in NY. For almost 3 years I got to hear all about it. I don't base anything off a few headlines, but those headlines do seem to put a spotlight on many of the problems, don't they? If those few headlines were the only problems, that would be great. They aren't, and they only scratch the surface.

a reply to: Krakatoa

That is rather muddy.
There may be a difficult
case history involved.

This type of sensationalized
bureaucracy can interfere
with the fundamental directive.

Which is, the safe welfare of
those who are unable defend
for themselves.

Honor and Fellowship
is a class act unto itself.

Without knowing all the facts its very hard to make a judgement. Why was the case taken from her in the first place. If the family contacted her then she should of talked to the case worker, if the case was closed then reported the phone call to her boss. There is much more going on here than has been reported.

a reply to: Krakatoa

Typical of CPS - punish someone for helping a child that actually needs help, while no doubt causing problems for children and families that don't have any real problems. How many kids die because they weren't removed from truly abusive situations, while kids are removed that were never abused? It's more about control and politics than actually protecting children, for those in charge.

originally posted by: LadyGreenEyes
a reply to: Krakatoa

Typical of CPS - punish someone for helping a child that actually needs help, while no doubt causing problems for children and families that don't have any real problems. How many kids die because they weren't removed from truly abusive situations, while kids are removed that were never abused? It's more about control and politics than actually protecting children, for those in charge.

I like that as a new acronym, CPS, The Control & Politics Syndicate.

Thanks!

a reply to: Krakatoa

Ah... Bureaucracy at its finest...

originally posted by: Krakatoa

originally posted by: LadyGreenEyes
a reply to: Krakatoa

Typical of CPS - punish someone for helping a child that actually needs help, while no doubt causing problems for children and families that don't have any real problems. How many kids die because they weren't removed from truly abusive situations, while kids are removed that were never abused? It's more about control and politics than actually protecting children, for those in charge.

I like that as a new acronym, CPS, The Control & Politics Syndicate.

Thanks!

Oh, I like that myself! Will have to remember that one.

Watch, too, as their power increases to go after those that disagree with the government.