Terrebonne school board revises child abuse policy

The language may have changed, but the Terrebonne Parish School Board’s commitment to fight child abuse and neglect in the school system is unfaltering.

School board members approved refining the wording of its Child Welfare and Attendance Policy last Wednesday.

This year, Louisiana Department of Social Services and the Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) representatives reported an increase in abuse and child neglect cases throughout the state.

CASA of Terrebonne, which serves abuse and neglected children from Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes, reported 160 cases of child abuse, neglect or abandonment in 2007.

With the policy changes, the school board insured that suspected cases of abuse and neglect will go through the proper channels as mandated by state law.

“The school board directs that all personnel be informed of their responsibilities as a mandatory reporter to ensure that our students are safe,” said Education and Policy Chair Roosevelt Thomas.

A mandatory reporter, according to the state DSS Office of Community Services, is a person who provides training and supervision of a child, including teachers, teacher’s aides, instructional aides, principals and school staff.

“We are all responsible for students’ well being,’ Thomas said.

The Louisiana Children’s Code and Louisiana criminal law provide substantial penalties for mandatory reporters who fail to report facts that would support an alleged case of abuse or neglect, he noted.

The committee has defined abuse as being acts that seriously endanger the physical, mental or emotional health of a child, and neglect as the outright refusal of a parent or caretaker to supply a child with food, clothing, shelter, medical treatment and all other things necessary for survival.

The committee also added child exploitation, where a child is being overworked as a form of abuse.

The procedure for reporting child abuse in Terrebonne Parish has also changed. When school officials suspect that parents or caretakers are responsible for the neglect or abuse of a child, they are instructed to call the state Social Service sector.

However, when the abuser is an outsider, someone not solely responsible for the child, is accused then school officials are instructed to notify local law enforcement agency.

“We [school officials] have to confirm the reports and then we take it to the proper authorities,” Thomas said.