Abuse and Neglect Response (Essay Sample)

1 What are child abuse and neglect?
Child abuse and neglect entail any act either by commission or omission by the parents, caregivers, or any other person assigned the duty to look after the child that has the potential to cause harm or a threat of harm to a child. However, child abuse and neglect can be prevented. Some examples of acts of the commission include actions or even words that may cause harm. The actions may have the potential of causing harm to a child, which may include physical, sexual abuse, and psychological abuse. On the other hand, acts of omission may include the failure to provide basic needs to the children also lack protection from any harm.
Examples of acts of omission include physical neglect that entails not providing a child with food, clothing, and hygiene. The other one is emotional neglect, whereby the parents fail to respond to the child's emotional needs in the proper manner. Educational neglect entails when n parent fails to take the child to school for training and education (CDC Video, 2018). The other act of omission is medical and dental neglect, which occurs when parents fail to check their children's oral health for them to be free from tooth pain.
Moreover, the other acts of omission are that there is inadequate supervision of parents go for shopping and leave the child at home alone. It can also include exposing children to violent environments until they are harmed. From the report given by the center for Disease Control and Prevention, 1in every 7children experience child abuse and neglect in a year. However, most of these cases go unreported, and therefore, it makes it so crucial for a consistent definition to put measures in place for the purposes of prevention. One sure way to reduce cases of child abuse and neglect is by stopping it even before it starts. Stakeholders including parents, primary caregivers, government, and healthcare professionals can work together to promote and nurture stable environments that support all children. The measures will ensure that children reach their full potential. Some of the efforts include the strengthening of economic support to families, change of social norms that promote positive parenting, and child upbringing. Besides, the provision of quality care and education at an early age and enhancement of crucial parenting skills can be ways to reduce child abuse and neglect. In cases of harm and actual abuse and neglect, there need intervention measures in order to prevent further harm and risks. With the above efforts, the children can grow and thrive on being healthy adults in society.
2 What behaviors have Michael exhibited that would require service intervention?
Michael exhibited various behaviors that required service intervention. These behaviors included falling asleep while he was in class, he lacked the money to purchase food for lunch, he could wear dirty clothes, and sometimes he could appear as though he had not taken a shower. His classwork was also affected, and he was unable to complete his assignments or submit them on time. Besides, his eye was badly bruised, yet he could not explain to the teacher the cause of the injury.
3. Which services would you recommend to address those behaviors?
Various recommendations would be made to address the behaviors exhibited by Michael. First, to treat the bruised eye, Michael needs to be taken to a health facility that specializes in eye treatment, where he will meet an optometrist who will apply a cold compress or ice on the area injured. These actions would rescue the chances of swelling of the eye. The second aspect that the physician would look into is whether there is any appearing of blood on the injured part, and if identified as a major injury, he would be referred to an ophthalmologist who would then determine whether the injured eye required surgical intervention.
To intervene on the problem of falling asleep in class, Michael needs to be put on a sleep schedule that will be followed every day. He should have a constant bedtime and waking time that will be followed to the latter in which he will be sleeping a taste time of the night and wake up at a set time in the morning (Matricciani et al., 2018). Through this, he will be able to get enough sleep as compared to when he sleeps at varied times, which causes him to sleep late and wake up, thus sleeping in class.
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