Pictures for a child's case file

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Marina
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Pictures for a child's case file

Postby Marina » Sun May 27, 2007 5:40 am

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Pictures for child's case file

On another thread, there was a discussion about why the Agency needs pictures of the children who are temporarily placed with a relative under a Safety Plan, under the Supervision of the Agency.

I worked in about a dozen daycare centers as a substitute, and having pictures of the children was routine. When I took the children outside to play, I took a "counting sheet" with me to count the children when they went out, while they were outside, and when they came back inside. In well-run Centers, the "counting sheet" would be on a clipboard that had a plastic case underneath for the children's files. Each child's file would have identifying information, such as name, age, family contact information, and emergency contact information. And stapled to the child's file was a picture of that child.

There were many reasons for having a picture with the file. If there was a substitute teacher, it was good for her to have a picture to go with the names of the children. When I was placed alone in a room full of non-verbal 2-yr-olds to care for until another teacher came 1 1/2 hrs later, I was in a panic. In fact, I snapped, and I was affected for many months. I couldn't check the children off the counting sheet because I didn't know their names, because I couldn't find any pictures in the room. Later I realized that the pictures were in the clipboard case. I didn't know who went potty and who had diapers. I couldn't match up the diapers with the children. I couldn't do the daily report on eating, napping and changing. I worked with another substitute in the afternoon and she could barely remember their names. Substitutes from my agency were not allowed to give medications, but in some centers the classroom teacher is authorized to give medications; a mistake in medicating the wrong child could be dangerous.

In that same Center, I was placed with 4-yr-olds. I approached each child and asked them their names. I couldn't understand what one child was saying her name was, so I asked her to show me her locker. She was evasive, so other children had to tell me who she was. A second child gave me a bogus name also. When we went outside and I tried to count the children based on my list, I was missing a child. There were 2 other groups of children on the playground. I asked another teacher to help me. She looked at the list and saw a bogus name on my list. It turns out that a 3rd child had given me a bogus name, but because it was a common name I didn't catch it.

These children's files have to go outside or on field trips with each child in case of emergency, evacuation, or disasters. If a child is hurt on the playground and the paramedics don't have allergy information handy, then that could be serious. Many children were separated from their parents during Hurricane Katrina and placed in foster care, and I don't know if they have all been reunited yet.

Non-custodial parents could pick up children, and bypass a protective order and kidnap them if that parent saw a substitute teacher who may be confused about the names of the children. Without pictures of the children to match the names, a disgruntled father or mother could pull a fast one.

When I was at one Center, the director was absent for the day because of an out-of-town conference. She left a note for the lead teacher to be in charge for the day. This teacher did not know ahead of time. That day there was a huge fire in the urban neighborhood. Some of the staff was keeping up with it on their cell phones. I heard about it when I walked down to the store for my break. Wind was spreading the fire and buildings had to be evacuated downtown in a college neighborhood. Whole blocks had to be evacuated and streets closed off, as the fire went over into a poor neighborhood where the houses were fragile.

The lead teacher did not have a key to the filing cabinet so she could not get the children's emergency contact phone numbers. Children's information is supposed to be confidential, so that is another factor. One teacher who had worked in an accredited facility had the foresight to put that information in her classroom fire-drill notebook. But the babies and other groups had no emergency contact information.

The teacher called someone who had the authority to decide whether to evacuate the building. That lady said not to evacuate unless city, police and fire authorities ordered it. Every Center is supposed to have an evacuation Plan, but in this case, if the fire was spreading it did no good to go next door as planned.

There was a discussion about whether to call the parents. Well, we didn't have most of the parent phone numbers. Some parents heard about the fire and came and picked up the children. I woke all my children from nap and put their shoes on. I didn't show them the smoke out the window so they wouldn't panic. We didn't have to evacuate, but if the fire had spread as far in out direction, then we would have.

When children are napping, licensed Centers are allowed to have fewer teachers in the room, but there must be back-up staff in the building in case of emergencies. I have never seen this happen. Staff and directors alike routinely leave the premises for their break because they are not paid to be there. Religious-exempt Centers are not even legally authorized to raise teacher/child ratios at nap time. That provision is only for "licensed" centers.

In an unlicensed Center, the high ratios start at a younger age. The ration is one staff member to ten children from ages twenty-four months to six years. If that ratio is routinely doubled at nap time, then one teacher could potentially have up to 20 two-year-olds. This would be quite dangerous if she had to evacuate them to an unknown location due to an approaching fire. In such a situation, having children's photos and parent's phone numbers is a good idea.

In Child Protection situations, the Agencies may not have "legal custody" of the children in some cases, but they may have "legal supervision" of the children.

Here in Richmond, we had a child who went missing from a foster home some years ago. The foster parents did not make a report, and the Agency did not make the required frequency of visits, so the child had been missing for many months before it was known. The foster Mom said someone else had been taking care of the child. The child has never been found. Her picture is still on the Missing Child site. The media never indicated that it might have been the parents who took her.

There was another case I read about on the internet where the children were in the process of being sold out of the country, even before the parent's rights were terminated. If I remember correctly, the parents retrieved the children, and they in turn were being punished for parental kidnapping.

This may be a lot of irrelevent information, but I posted it to show the broad range of reasons why it would be common to have a picture of a child with the file.

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layla
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Postby layla » Sun May 27, 2007 7:06 am

Marina

that was a great idea posting this ....

it help me understand a bit more thanks to your very wise and wisdomed self,,, so i wanna say thankyou...

i didn't know much about this and now i understand a bit more

i though there was a 'valid' reason why they NEEDED it.

as they are placed under my mum's care for now..

and have a tempoary interim order and we are fighting cps and have contested the order which is to be heard on july 17th weather we go to trial then or not is up to CPS as they have no evidence they better come up with some quick smart as our lawyer said we are laughing it in at trial cause its charge realting to 'child protection' and we haven't been charged for 5 and half months later for supposily having kiddy porn on dvd's and my computer which there is not!!!

but thankyou for the advice

layla

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Postby Frustrated » Sun May 27, 2007 10:52 am

Ask your Lawyer first to make sure why the need for picture in their files, surely they are not thinking to put them up for Adoptions. but like Marina said, it might be just a procedure.

Make sure Lawyer will okay'ed it first before you give it to your Worker.
It is easy to steal from poor people. But don't do it. And don't take advantage of those poor people in court. The Lord is on their side. He supports them and he will take things away from any person that takes from them.~ Proverbs 22:22


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