Re: What "caretaker" means in CPS practice

[Jennifer.Gleeson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

The following is true for the state of Victoria in Australia:
CPS would become involved with alleged abuse (physical and sexual) by
people in the first two categories but not the third category which comes
under police jurisdiction.

The term "caretaker" is probably not a helpful descriptor of the
relationship. Even when a significant adult is residing in the child's
house or visits regularly, it does not mean that the person is a "carer".

With the first two categories, factors that impact on CPS involvement are
often due to living arrangements, opportunity for access to the child,
primary carer's ability to protect etc.

Jennifer Gleeson
Child Protection and Care
Department of Human Services
Victoria, Australia
ph: 03 9616 7183





                                                                                                                    
                    David Finkelhor                                                                                 
                    <david.finkelhor@unh.edu>                    To:     Child Maltreatment Researchers             
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                    11/01/01 05:34                                                                                  
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We are trying to develop a victimization questionnaire  that would, among
other things, identify the kind of physical abuse that would fall under the
jurisdiction of CPS, i.e. abuse by caretakers.

3 of our current categories of perpetrator are:

--Your parent's boyfriend or girlfriend
--Uncle, aunt, grandparent, or other adult relative
--Grown-up you know, such as a teacher, coach, camp counselor, neighbor, or
babysitter

 We are looking for answers to the following  questions:

1) Would physical abuse by known, adults such as those in the above
categories be handled by CPS in various jurisdictions in most cases just on
the basis of the stated relationship?  Or would it depend on whether these
people were truly "caretakers"  e.g. had some real regular child care
responsibilities for the victims

2) Is the situation the same or different for sexual abuse

3) Ultimately, can we define "caretaker" for this categorization on the
basis of the relationship category, or do we need to ask an additional
question about whether these adults are in an actual caretaking role?

Many thanks for thoughts on any of these questions. We realize there are
likely to be differences across jurisdictions so we are hoping to get
enough responses to get a sense of the most common practices.




David Finkelhor *  Crimes Against Children Research Center * Family
Research Laboratory * Department of Sociology * University of New Hampshire
*
Durham, NH  03824 * 603-862-2761 (phone) * 603-862-1122 (fax)

david.finkelhor@unh.edu  (or)
davidf@hypatia.unh.edu

(603) 862-2761  phone
(603) 862-1122  fax

CCRC website: http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/index.html
FRL website: http://www.unh.edu/frl/index.html