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IOWA
Item 2.2: "Other" includes friends, neighbors, and other reporters. Item 3.3: These services either were provided directly by Department of Human Services (DHS) workers or were funded by DHS. Services are opened or continued, based on perceived need, not on the abuse disposition. The child or family may be receiving services from local support groups or community service agencies in addition to the services from DHS. Item 3.4: DHS services are provided either on a voluntary basis or through juvenile court order. In some substantiated cases in which services were recommended, parents did not accept services voluntarily nor were services ordered by the court. Also, in some substantiated cases, there may not have been a need for DHS services. For example, a child may have been abused by a babysitter, and the parents, appropriately, no longer use that sitter. Also, CPS workers refer many families to community service agencies, such as substance abuse treatment agencies, community mental health centers, local support groups (such as Parents Anonymous), and other information and assistance agencies. Many children in this section may have received local services, but did not receive services provided or funded by DHS and, thus, could not be counted here. Item 5.1: Six deaths were caused by physical abuse, and four were caused by failure to provide proper supervision. Item 6.1: In all cases in which abuse is substantiated, the person responsible for the abuse must be a caretaker of the child. Abuse by a noncaretaker cannot be substantiated. Items 7.1 and 7.2: The primary duty of these CPS workers is to respond to reports of suspected child abuse. Iowa does not have a centralized or specialized intake unit. Those who conduct child abuse assessments also perform most of the intake duties. |