The two California-based news articles appraised include The Los Angeles Times and the Mercury News. The subject under scrutiny in both instances is child abuse. The Los Angeles Times focuses on the story of a deceased boy called Noah Cuatro (Stiles, 2019). Before his death, he had a history of abuse and neglect by his parents. The Mercury News, on its part, focuses on a story of priest from East Bay area prosecuted for a sexual offense after molesting a 14-year-old child. Enough information is given about the two incidents sufficient enough for the reader to understand the nature of the abuse and any criminal justice procedures that followed.
The newspapers also remain keen to mention the scope of family representation. For Noah Cuatro’s case, the child died under suspicious circumstances under the care of his parents. The social work department had initially questioned them regarding the incident. For the molested child, the parents represented him in the course of the trial in a quest to get justice. Also, the parents were unaware of the incident despite it allegedly happening for over 25 times. In both cases, the child’s interaction with the system has also been discussed.
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In the Los Angeles Times story, the social work has received part of the blame for the untimely death of the children. The department was aware of the parents’ abuse and neglect. They received permission from the judge to remove the child from the parents but did not live up to the requirement. The Mercury Times story highlights the child’s relationship with the criminal justice system as a victim. At 14-years-old, he is referred to as “John Doe” to protect his identity in the eye of the public (Ruggiero, 2019). However, only the Los Angeles Times narrates the relationship of the child with the system in question.
As earlier pointed out, the social welfare department was aware of the family problems facing Noah Cuatro. On the contrary, the story of the “John Doe” molested child was unknown until it was reported to the law enforcement agencies. In both cases, the child welfare system’s position has been identified. In the Los Angeles Times story, the child’s welfare is following the tragic death of the child including allegations of negligence on the part of the social workers. On the other story, child welfare played a crucial role in the prosecution and sentencing of the priest alleged to have molested the child.
The media plays an essential role as an activist and advocate of child welfare issues. As shown in the two stories, the media highlights the problems facing the children and potentially uncovers the hidden secrets especially in the case of an atrocity against the child. It is through the media that the child's family systems access necessary knowledge and statistics about potential violations of children’s rights. In the articles, the Child Welfare has been depicted as a fundamental aspect of the family service agency. It plays an integral part in ensuring that children are kept aware of harm even emanating from their parents.
As a social worker working with the family, my first task will be to sit down with all the members of this entity. Through counseling, I will purpose to understand and appreciate any problem, concern, deficiency, or misunderstanding. The next step is to have private meetings with each family member, including each child on their own. I believe that this should allow me to gain valuable information regarding the possibility of abuse or any child-related offense. If the family has no problems, then I would encourage them to continue that way. However, any problems identified should be solved using social work standards and concepts.
References
Ruggiero, A. (2019). East Bay priest gets prison time for child sex assault. The Mercury News https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/09/27/judge-sentences-east-bay-priest-to-prison-time-for-child-sex-assault/
Stiles, M. (2019). Boy’s death seemed like a failure of L.A.'s child-welfare system. It wasn’t so simple. Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-09-15/child-death-dcfs-noah-cuatro-investigation
