CFSP 5 Year Plan - RI Department of Children, Youth & Families

Emotional Abuse 1 (0.2%)
Child Neglect 81 ( 16%)
Medical Neglect 10 ( 2%)
Medical Abuse 1 (0.2%)
Failure to Thrive 1 (0.2%)
Accidental Injury 21 ( 4%)
Reviews typically begin with a presentation by the Child Protection Program staff
members who examined the patient and/or interviewed the patient and his/her
family. Community providers seeking input regarding particularly complex cases
may also present case histories. After the case presentation, representatives
from each relevant discipline involved in the case present additional information
they have obtained during the course of their interactions with the patient and
family. The entire Panel then discusses further material that may be needed to
complete an investigation, assess the degree of safety risk to the child, and/or
determine available resources to help the child and family. At the end of each
case discussion, the Panel makes specific recommendations regarding
disposition, including placement issues, counseling referrals, and possible
prosecutorial follow-up. Information on each case is recorded and maintained as
part of the Citizens Review Panel record. Cases in which there are ongoing
issues of concern are frequently reviewed at subsequent meetings to ensure that
case plans are implemented.
The review team’s process, in which core group members are joined
by relevant community participants on a case-by-case basis, allows
multiple disciplines throughout the state to have input into the DCYF
decision-making process. DCYF personnel have repeatedly stated
that the information they receive from community leaders who were
invited for comment is critically important in helping them exercise
their responsibility to ensure the health and welfare of children at risk.
COORDINATED ASSESSMENT/CASE EXAMPLES: PHYSICAL
ABUSE/PLACEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS
Child abuse statutes in Rhode Island define child physical abuse as the following:
“a child whose physical…health is harmed or threatened with harm when his or
her parent or other person responsible for his or her welfare inflicts or allows to be
inflicted upon the child physical…injury, including excessive corporal punishment”
(RI General Laws 40-11-2). This somewhat broad legal definition can leave
practitioners with a degree of ambiguity regarding appropriate recommendations
for placement in cases involving physical abuse. What constitutes “excessive”
corporal punishment? Is physical punishment “excessive” only if there is
evidence of extensive injury, e.g., bruises, cuts, and welts? Is physical
punishment not “excessive” if a child reports multiple episodes of being hit but
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