Vignette #1
The Child Abuse and Neglect reporting line received a call about Paul (age 5) and Rosie (age 9 months). The referring party (RP), a mandated reporter from Paul’s school, is concerned for the children because Paul came to school with a bruise on his cheek. He would not tell the RP how it happened, but did say his mom and dad were fighting. He has mentioned this “fighting” a few times since the beginning of the school year and seems frightened when talking about it. He has also said his dad is “mean.” Paul is sometimes physically aggressive with other children in his Kindergarten class.
The RP spoke to the mother, Thanh, when the mother came to pick Paul up today, and
Thanh revealed that the father hit Paul when Paul attempted to protect the mother. She admitted that the children’s father, Joe, frequently hits her. Thanh also expressed concern because Paul has recently started to get in the middle of the fights in an attempt to protect her. She is worried he will get seriously hurt, and has tried to placate the father so this won’t happen. The parents are married and are from Vietnam. They have lived in the United Stated for ten years and both speak English, although the mother states she prefers to speak in Vietnamese. thanh started crying and stated she sometimes would like to leave, but doesn’t know where she would go with two small children, and feels it is her obligation to keep the family together. Besides, she loves Joe and he often promises to change. She has no family in the area and relies on his family for support.
The children appear well cared for and clean. The school noted no other concerns for the family.
There are 2 prior referrals regarding this family.
One was two years ago after the father was arrested for domestic violence against the mother. Paul was reported to be sleeping during the incident. Since the father was out of the home, it was evaluated out and no Social Worker responded. The father was convicted of misdemeanor spousal abuse and completed a 52-week program.
The second was from Paul’s preschool last year when he had an unexplained bruise on his forehead. The child did not disclose any abuse and the mother said he fell while running through the home. No other concerns were noted, and the referral was closed as unfounded.