Agenda - 04-15-2003-6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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2002 HSAC Forum A~ Establish and promote a community standard. We learn our parenting skills from our parents. It's difficult to stop cycle of whipping with an oak tree branch if that is what your parents did, even if you are educated. Behavioral change is difficult and learning new parenting techniques take time. Behavioral change is a process, doesn't occur overnight, and requires diligently working with others so that they can be different than their own parents. A~ Behavioral change and the recognition of the need to change -make an individual stop and examine his or her behavior. Someone needs to care enough to intervene. We need to be accountable for each other - as individuals, as friends, as a community, as agencies and this requires a supportive and caring environment. This approach should not be discounted as an effective preventative and educational method. Society has changed so that we interact less with neighbors and as such we are losing our sense of community and subsequently helping/supporting each other less often. We need to return to this value. Q: RETURNING TO THE ISSUE OF PROSECUTION: MORE AND MORE PROGRAMS AND JOBS REQUIRE CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS BEFORE WORKING. HOWEVER, IF A PERSON IS NOT PROSECUTED, THE ALLEGATION OF ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR DOESN'T SHOW UP THEIR RECORD. FOR INSTANCE, ABUSE RECORDS THROUGH DSS DO NOT SHOW UP ON CRIMINAL RECORDS. HOW DO WE PROTECT OURSELVES? A~ DSS and APS investigations are not going to be in the court system and the majority of substantiated cases will not be criminally prosecuted. Meghan's law is one attempt to disclose this information but is a logistical nightmare for sheriff's departments to enforce. The law requires that if person is found guilty of sexual abuse, the crime and criminal needs to be listed in a database. But this also provides a false sense of security because most sex abuse crimes are not found out for years. The overarching theme to convey is~ Do not rely on one piece of information when you are making a hiring decision -use all resources available to you and establish a system of checks and balances. It is too easy to become complacent that the criminal justice system will solve everything and that is just not true. Q: DR. HUDSON MENTIONED HOW CULTURAL HERITAGE AFFECTS DEFINITIONS OF ABUSE AND NEGLECT. WHAT IS DR. HUDSON'S VIEWPOINT ABOUT ALL THE ISSUES FACING THE GROWING HISPANIC AND LATINO COMMUNITY AND THEIR PERCEPTIONS ABOUT ACCESS TO SERVICES? A~ Very little research has been done regarding Hispanics and treatment of the elderly. Two surveys were done on a very small scale and found a very big difference in perceptions and the desire for help based on if the person recently emigrated or if they had been in the country a while. So it is too early to draw any conclusions from research. More research is needed. A~ I grew up in Mexico and there is a misperception that violence against children and elders are accepted as a cultural norm. It is not. The society is very patriarchal and problems arise when you go in and investigate a situation without knowledge of the culture. As investigators, you can't separate a spouse from the husband and talk to each separately when conducting an investigation - it is considered disrespectful and the women will never speak against the husband in his absence. I get very upset when it is taught and dismissed that violence against, women, the elderly and children are culturally accepted. A~ The perceptions of the culture can affect investigations of abuse or neglect. For instance in Japanese culture, the most severe form of neglect is ignoring a person ... very painful. Yet other cultures may not view this as neglect at all. .STRATEGIES TO PREVENT ABUSE Forum participants joined in small group sessions to strategize about the four populations at risk for abuse children, teens, elders and partners. Each group was asked to consider the following priorities 9