Requirements to be a Social Worker
by Hayley Campo
November 13, 2020
If you have never heard of Gabriel Fernandez or the Netflix docuseries “The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez”, then you are completely unaware of both the incapability and lack of response that social workers often have. Gabriel Fernandez was a 9-year-old boy living in California with his siblings, mother, and his mother’s boyfriend when he died. He was tortured over a period of months, locked in a cabinet, deprived of food and water, beaten, burned, and humiliated as they forced him to live in the cabinet for days and use the bathroom in the cabinet.
The worst part is that many people knew and called Child Protective Services (CPS) and CPS sent social workers that responded improperly and cost this boy his life. These social workers were tasked with saving this child from his parents and giving him a good home. They should have interviewed the child as there were times when they did not even see Gabriel when visiting his home. They should have taken the word of the child and the other adults that alerted them rather than the parents that were slowly killing the child. In the trial, the boyfriend of the mother was tried first and given the death penalty. The mother then entered a plea deal and received life in prison instead of death.
What makes this trial extraordinary is that the social workers were put on trial but did not receive any sentence. This is very disappointing as it shows how disturbed our current system is in that they did not properly report findings nor did they properly investigate the issue and their bosses did not properly reprimand them for their actions. In the end, the social workers should have been held accountable for their inaction, but what is worse is that this happens all the time. Children are beaten and even killed by their parents and social workers know but fail to do their job or they do not have the ability to do anything about the situation. I know this because I have seen it first hand.
I was born to young parents. My mother was 19 and my father was 21. They both were still kids and had a lot to learn about life and how to raise a child. Additionally, they both had their own growing up to do because they had many bad habits and didn’t get along well especially after having a child together. My parent’s relationship was rocky and there were times when they broke up and got back together which did not help them in taking care of me. I visited my grandfather every weekend and sometimes me and my mom lived with him. As my grandfather began to see what was happening at home as my parents argued a lot, did not have good habits, and could not adequately take care of me, he decided to ask the police about what would happen if my parents continued as they were and they explained to him that CPS would take me out of my house and I would live in foster care until he claimed me. This would be pretty soon after I was taken out of my home, but my grandfather did not want me to go through this experience.
He spoke to a lawyer and the lawyer said that there was nothing that could legally be done. He happened to have a friend who was going through a divorce and mentioned our situation to his lawyer. The lawyer told my grandfather to come to meet with her because she wanted to see if she could help. She proposed the only idea that might work and that is to try to get temporary custody of me which would possibly turn into permanent custody later. My grandfather was awarded temporary custody of me and I lived with him from ages 4 to 18.
My story was mild but some children aren’t so lucky. Many are in worse circumstances with no way out. My childhood friend was molested by her grandfather at a very young age when she lived with her grandparents and mother. She had to continue living with him and now that she no longer lives with him she still has to see him often. On top of that, her father is an alcoholic and has severe PTSD. This leads him to have very violent drunken outbursts which I have seen first hand and know that they are not limited to just destroying the house. Additionally, my best friend has a similar story to mine in that her parents were young and still growing so when they divorced she went to live with her father. Her father would routinely beat her and CPS was called a few times. He would have her siblings lie and say that she was not being beaten and CPS believed them.
These experiences have made me have less and less belief in social workers and CPS. This was made clear to the public during the trials of Gabriel Hernandez’s murderers but has been evident in my mind forever.
CPS fails to take into account what the child says because of previous laws enacted that require the parent’s voice to be heard, but where did we get this idea that children always lie? The child needs to always be seen and interviewed when CPS investigates a situation and should never be left with a threat and should instead be informed of the severity of what they are accusing and that CPS really wants to help children and can’t do that if they have to investigate false accusations. This should only be said if the case is very clearly not child abuse and should not be said when there is any evidence that child abuse may be present.
In cases where CPS has been called multiple times, there should be a more thorough investigation and the accusations should not be taken lightly by any means. All findings should always be logged and reported to superiors who should then check over those reports knowing that their inaction could kill a child. This may sound self-explanatory, but CPS tries to avoid taking a child out of a home at all costs. This can be traumatizing for the child and was exactly what my grandfather was trying to avoid.
Additionally, there is then the problem of where to put these children as the number of children up for adoption continues to rise and places for these children to live and be adequately taken care of are becoming overfilled which lessens the quality of life for children in these places. However, as a child who was in this circumstance, I believe it is the responsibility of the social worker to become the parent in this situation and take the child out of the home when it is clearly necessary and there are signs of physical abuse.
To make my point clear I leave you with this, remember that your job is to protect the child and make sure every child is safe and adequately taken care of in a home where they are loved.
