SW-822 – Topics in Policy Practices & Advocacy
Question 1
Michigan is among the States with the leading number of children whose parents’ rights have been terminated. While typical termination cases where children suffer medical, sexual, or other forms of abuse are agreeable, some parents lose rights for failing to comply with service plans, not getting a house or failing to secure a job (Dwyer, 2016). Under Michigan law, it is common for parents to lose rights, and the decision is unlikely to be overturned.
Termination of parental rights is an emotionally-laden task. Child protection policies need to acknowledge the fact that separation is not always the best option for a child. According to McLaughlin (2009), social workers play a fundamental role in advocating for equal protection and treatment under the law and challenge injustices against the disadvantaged and vulnerable individuals. Therefore, advocacy gives social workers a chance to connect their work with the profession’s aim of promoting social justice. ‘
Question 2
Catherine was a 27-year-old woman living with her three-year-old son and a boyfriend. Her son was hospitalized with a broken rib and bruised back, injuries sustained during a domestic dispute with her boyfriend. The couples were alcoholics, and Catherine had been through a rehabilitation program. However, she went back to drinking when she lost her job a year after giving birth to her son. The court determined that she was unfit to be a parent and that she failed to protect her son from her violent boyfriend.
Catherine went through another six months of rehabilitation. After rehabilitation, she secured a job in a nursing home and found a good neighborhood to raise a family. After eighteen months of reorganizing her life, she went back to the court to redeem her parental rights. The court declined to give her back parental rights even though her son had not found any adoptive parents. I took over her case and highlighted the steps that she had taken to address the court’s concerns. However, she never got to see her child again. Social workers advocate for expanded choices and pursue injustices against the oppressed (Reamer, 2012; Schneider et al., 2013). Catherine was a single mother who needed protection, and her son had a choice to decide whether to reunite with her parent.
References
Dwyer, D. (2016, January 27). When The Government Steps in to Separate Parents from Children – Permanently. Retrieved May 23, 2020, from https://stateofopportunity.michiganradio.org/post/when-government-steps-separate-parents-children-permanently
McLaughlin, A. M. (2009). Clinical Social Workers: Advocates for Social Justice. Advances in social work, 10(1), 51-68.
Reamer, F. G. (2012). Eye on Ethics: The Moral Imperative of Social Work Advocacy.
Schneider, R. L., Lester, L., & Ochieng, J. (2013). Advocacy. Encyclopedia of Social Work.