This week had a case where I had to notify the authorities about child maltreatment. This is the first time that I notified the authorities and pushed for them to step in because an assessment of the case showed that unless authorities step in, children's risk of harm will keep increasing (and it certainly has, already). The authorities are going to take the case up for investigations.
Through this process, I couldn't help but to feel scared and even guilty for reporting. Once a report is made, the authorities have every right to remove children. I don't know what's going to happen to the parents and the children who would be traumatized if they were to be separated. I'm not sure what my therapeutic relationship with the parents be like anymore. Will I still have their trust? And if not, then how will the broken relationship with them work out for the family and therefore, the children?
But the reporting had to be done. Objectively, I assessed that the children's needs were very neglected and risk of harm again was very high.
Praying that things will work out for this family and that positive changes would occur as a result of the authorities stepping in. I suppose we can only do what we had processed was best at the point in time, and leave the rest to God. God who is righteous, God who is close to the oppressed.
“Safe?”.... Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.- The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe
