Foster Parents; Did you know? Documentation how important is it? 5 of 5

In part 4 of this series, "documentation", we gave you a list of the facts that you should have entered into your documentation journal.

How well did you do? Here is the final step in protecting yourself from a possible allegation, always remember documnentation is your only defense.

To protect yourself from a possible allegation arising from this bruise you to take Joseph to your pediatrician the next morning where he can examine by a physician. If your doctor cannot take you right away, go to the emergency room. Make sure you get a copy of the examination, read it to be sure the doctors opinion is on the form. If not then ask him/her to write his findings on the form, a time frame estimation as to when the incident that caused this severe bruising could have occurred. How old is this bruise? Later this may be vital to proving your innocence.

Remember your doctor or this emergency room doctor is a “mandatory reporter”; he/she is obligated to report any injuries that they may be suspicious of, anything that could be construed as child abuse.

One more thing; anyone can call in an allegation to the CPS hotline. The biological Mother may have caused this bruise, remember how upset Joseph was the night he came to your home? This bruise may been caused by anyone, the parents, a relative, this person may  know that they caused serious injury to this child and will try to cover thier actions up by blaming you for the bruising to this child.

Remember we said that you should assign each child a number. That sounds very heartless does it not? The reason is the Privacy Act. Children have a right to privacy too. If you mention the child’s name to your foster email pal you have just violated the privacy act.

In our scenario there was a statement made by your social worker, do you remember what that was about suspected problems that Joseph may have? Do you have any idea what these mental disorders are? What are the symptoms of these disorders? These are all red flags of which you need to be aware of. The questions I would be asking is; who is she to be saying this, is this social worker a qualified psychologist? Go to nfpcar.org we have a list of these disorders/symptoms of each. Welcome to your educational resource, your journey begins. nfpcar.org

Documentation is your only line of defense.

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