Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 31, 1995 TAG: 9505310077
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The panel, headed by Del. Alan Mayer, D-Fairfax, expects to make recommendations to the 1996 General Assembly.
Among the problems the subcommittee will address is what, if anything, can be done about false child-abuse allegations in divorce and child custody cases.
``In Northern Virginia, this is becoming the tool du jour in custody cases,'' said Sen. Jane Woods, R-Fairfax, a member of the subcommittee.
The subcommittee was created by a General Assembly resolution sponsored by Mayer. A separate resolution by Del. Steve Newman asked the panel to study how false child-abuse allegations are used in custody disputes.
Carol Brunty, commissioner of the state Department of Social Services, said about one in 10 child-abuse complaints are made as part of divorce or custody battles.
Newman, R-Lynchburg, introduced his resolution on behalf of a constituent who was accused by his ex-wife of sexually molesting their child. The man said in a letter to the subcommittee that Child Protective Services assumed he was guilty and sharply curtailed his visitation rights with the child until the ex-wife was found to be mentally ill.
The man questioned the need for Child Protective Services and suggested that child-abuse complaints be handled by police.
The subcommittee, while acknowledging that some reforms are needed, made it clear that Child Protective Services would not be abolished.
``It has long been felt by social services experts that leaving child abuse solely as a criminal matter is a policy mistake,'' said Sen. Joseph Gartlan Jr., D-Fairfax County. ``If we do that, we never get around to providing services to the family and the child.''
Barbara Bryan of Roanoke, spokeswoman for the National Child Abuse Defense and Resource Center, said after the meeting that nothing short of dissolving Child Protective Services would solve the problems.
``The news here is that after 20 years they're still grappling with it,'' she said. Child Protective Services was created by the General Assembly in 1975.
Bryan has been trying to change the state's system of handling child-abuse complaints since the mid-1980s, when she was accused of neglect because her three teen-age sons suffered from chronic exhaustion. Child Protective Services took her sons and refused to allow her to contact them until 76 days later, when it was proven that their condition was caused by a virus.
Brunty said the Board of Social Services already has begun considering ways to reform Child Protective Services. One possible change that has been discussed, she said, is easing the ``burden of proof'' now imposed on the accused in abuse findings that are appealed.
In appeals, the accused is required to prove that Child Protective Services erred in finding that abuse occurred.
``Some feel the system is stacked against them,'' Brunty said. ``Sometimes in protecting the children, we might not give every benefit to the adults involved.''
She said the accused still should have to prove the initial findings were in error, but perhaps should be given more tools - more information from the investigative record, for example - to build a case. Now, huge chunks of the written record might be ``whited out'' to protect the accuser's identity, Brunty said.
The subcommittee scheduled public hearings June 27 in Fairfax, July 25 in Norfolk and Aug. 21 in Richmond.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1995
by CNB