Texas Department Of Family And Protective Services

Texas Department of Family and Protective Services: How, When to Report Child Abuse?

If their life is in danger, some children cannot cry and ask for help if they need it. There are thousands of children who are abused and neglected when they are too young or confused to tell someone about their sufferings. Their pain might go unnoticed for years. This permanently damages their health and development. 

Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is an agency. They are responsible for investigating various accusations. Those accusations involve child abuse or abusing adults with disabilities. You must know what the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is in detail. Also, it is a must to know when and how to report child abuse, and this post helps you with that:

Role in Child Protection

Texas has criminal and civil laws to protect children from child abuse and neglect. If you doubt any child is abused or neglected, the law needs you to report it immediately. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services is an agency to call if the suspected abuse or neglect includes a person who needs care, custody, or welfare of the child. It can also be a person who lives with the child.

Texas Department of Family and Protective Services has several divisions. Child Protective Service is responsible for civil investigations of suspected abuse or neglect by caretakers or family members. If Child Protective Service finds the Family is not ready or not able to provide a safe environment for the child, then the department will ask a judge to take away that child from the Family.

Often, Child Protective Service will identify a member of the extended Family to take care of the child. If there is no option, then the child may live in adoptive care. Adoptive families are refunded for the costs of caring for the children.

Help Locating a Child

Child Protection Service must be able to locate the child or family to investigate a report. Provide the person taking your report with the names of the children, parents, caretakers, or others who are involved. At least provide them an explanation of the child and the home address of the daycare center or the school the child attends.

The person who is calling to report the abuse or neglect should try to have the child's record accessible to provide names, DOBs, addresses, and other information related to the child.

Reporting Child Abuse

When you are reporting child abuse, you must consider the following things.

• Report Even When You Are in Doubt

If you are unsure whether to report, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services encourages you to call immediately and ask. The worker will have a discussion about the situation and explain what constitutes abuse, neglect, or risk. Also, the worker taking a report will ask you questions.

No issues if you don't know the answers to the questions. The worker just needs to gather information as much as possible. What you have to say is important, and DFPS welcomes your call.

• Report What You Know About the Event

When you are reporting, you must tell who, how, and so on. Also, give as much information as you can regarding the child's condition and well-being. There may be situations where the person reporting only has little information. This is because the incident has happened in a public place.

Try to help Child Protective Service identify who the victim and suspected abusers are by giving a description. This includes the approximate age and description of the victim, license plate number, and so on.

• Report What You Know About the Child

While making a report, give more information about the child's age and condition. If possible, give the child's date of birth. If you don't know, just tell me the child's age or an approximate age. Child Protective Services needs information about the child's condition, such as injuries, physical disabilities, or other medical conditions.

Try to define the location and injuries as much as possible. If there are no visible injuries, try to describe the child's feelings about the situation. It is important to consider the child's age and current condition to determine the level of danger involved.

Final Words

For reporting, call the 24-hour toll-free abuse hotline from anywhere in the United States to report child abuse or neglect that has happened in Texas. The essential thing is to call and report what you doubt. The reporter's identity is confidential and will not be revealed to anyone but law enforcement. This is unless disclosure is ordered by a court.