Comment by jrochkind1
2 years ago
There's also a pretty big risk to assuming abuse when it isn't present, removing a child from their parents is an action causing great trauma to the child. Even just putting the family through an adversarial process where removal is threatened can be very traumatic to all involved. If there is a challenging health issue going on too, adding all that on top is actually adding barriers to addressing the challenging health issue, and is harmful.
The solution to reducing risk and harm is not to always err on the side of assuming abuse and making families prove otherwise.
There's no perfect answer; there will always be judgement calls that turn out to be wrong, even when made in good faith. You're correct that false accusations of abuse can be devastating to families; missing real abuse is similiarly devastating.
As I've said elsewhere in this thread, I'm glad I don't have to make these calls.