Many sleepless nights

[Tonks]

No: HPFGUIDX 124685


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Elizabeth G" 
<Bazile2OO3 at h...> wrote:
> 
 And according to my mother the social worker who used to work Child 
Protective Service, she would have removed both Harry and Dudley 
from the home if this had been an actual situation. 


Tonks here:
I worked as a psychotherapist in the Children and Family section of 
a Community Mental Health agency and I was required by law to report 
any case of suspected abuse or neglect.  I reported many cases and I 
can tell you that no one would have taken Dudley out of this home  
(or even reported him as abused for that matter).  In fact I don't 
know what part of the country your mother works in, but where I 
worked they would not have taken Harry out either.  They would have 
investigated and talked with the Dursleys.  They would have told 
them to move Harry's bedroom to the upstairs.  They would have 
looked Harry over, talked to him and decided that things were not 
that bad and closed the case.  If he came to their attention a 
second time and even if he had been put back in the cupboard, all PS 
would have done would be to require the Dursleys to go to a 
parenting class.  The third time they would be sent to family 
counseling.  That would be it.  And I hear you all screaming
 NO.  
Well, YES.  And do you know why???  Because there are too many 
seriously *abused* children in this country (U.S.), and PS can not 
help them all.  They have to investigate every report with 24 hours, 
but only the worst cases get any serious intervention.  There are 
cases where the child is physically abused, even sexually abused and 
depending on the age of the child and the chances of it happening 
again they may or may not take the child out of the home.  Sometimes 
the foster homes are just as bad as the home the child came out of.  
Some foster families take kids in just for the money.  Even in some 
of the most serious cases of abuse the child is not removed from the 
home, or if they are it is temporary. The goal of the PS system is 
to protect the child while keeping families together as much as 
possible.  In the very worst cases they send a team of therapist out 
to the home. The team is a short term treatment. The therapists are 
on call 24 hours a day and see the family at least 3 times a week 
for maybe 6 weeks. And we are talking *very severe* abuse cases 
here.  So I do get very up set with people on this list that equate 
the treatment of Harry with the type of abuse that some of these 
children receive at the hands of their own biological parents.  Most 
of these kids would thing Harry had it really good and would willing 
trade places with him!!

Tonks_op