Parents who are convicted of child abuse should have their children taken away from them. This is not a matter of punishment but of recognition of the fact that there is a problem society has to address and that the children need to be protected. First, those parents have abrogated their parental responsibilities and shown that they cannot be trusted. Second, the children will benefit by being taken away from an abusive situation and placed into a loving situation.
The alternative would be to work to preserve the family group. Attempts to do this are usually made by social workers, who might be brought in at an early stage, before adjudication becomes necessary. In such cases, the case worker develops a plan and implements it:
This plan ultimately becomes the case plan that outlines treatment services for the child and the family. The plan describes what actions are required of all the parties involved to correct the conditions that caused the maltreatment and, in some cases, the placement outside the home, as well as the time frames for accomplishing them. In addition, the plan must address a child's health and education needs, including arrangements for any specialized treatment by health care providers. The causes of child abuse and neglect are complex, and a case plan can involve referrals to an array of individuals, including caseworkers from other units in the child welfare agency, such as adoption or foster care specialists; private service providers, such as mental health and counseling professionals on contract with CPS to provide treatment services; other public agencies that can assist with nonhealth services, such as housing; and organizations providing transportation or other support services ("Child Protective Services- Complex Challenges Require New Strategies").
Once a case of child abuse reaches the courts and leads to a conviction, though, it should be assumed that other efforts to correct...