Ethics Q

[zeevee]

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Q) mom is an addict , high drug levels in a neonate are found after she brings the child for check up .

- inform child care services
-detain the baby in the nursery and stop mom from meeting the baby
- educate the mom and let them go


Is this a form of child abuse ?
Do we detain first and then inform agencies ?

 

[teehees]

Not detain.

Could be just from breastfeeding in which case she probably doesn't know about it and needs to be educated...but in practice I would escalte it to child service's and have them figure it out. So not sure about those two

 

[zhopv10]

Agreed with teehees I wouldn't detain, but unsure on which one between inform child services and educate... Seems to me that you would need more info.


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[dempty]

I think you would want to inform child services. Confronting the mother (situation 2) seems risky and could lead to a bad and immediate outcome. Merely educating and allowing them to leave doesn't seem like the best idea as this might be an even worse situation than we already saw (unsafe home, neglect at home...), and you would have failed to report something that you (probably) should have reported. So, my thinking is that you avoid confrontation if possible, and immediately contact the people who can best look into and act on the situation.

Is there an answer key?

 

[tvelocity514]

Inform child services. She is still harming the child (you don't know if breast milk or if she is giving the child drugs to put him to sleep and stop crying )


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[Blue Flame]

Inform child services even if only because the child is pretty clearly not in a good or safe home environment with an addict mother.