THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 21, 1995 TAG: 9503210284
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH SIMPSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 117 lines
Child Protective Services workers are purging hundreds of names from their files this month after a state court ruling that struck down an entire category of child-abuse cases.
The category, called ``reason to suspect,'' included incidents in which a caseworker suspected a child had been abused or neglected but lacked strong evidence to prove it.
More than 3,000 cases fell into the reason-to-suspect category statewide during the fiscal year that ended in June 1993, the most recent year for which statistics are available.
The elimination of the category is being called a victory for the civil rights of adults but a blow to the protection of children.
``It's devastating for children,'' said Betty Wade Coyle, executive director for the Hampton Roads Committee to Prevent Child Abuse. ``It's going to make it harder to prevent abuse in subsequent cases.''
The reason-to-suspect designation was enough to land anyone suspected of child abuse on the Central Registry for a year. The registry is used by schools and day-care centers to screen people who work with children.
CPS workers also would visit the family of the suspected abuse victim at least four times during the next year, sometimes more, to make sure the child was safe. The child's family was required to follow a plan that could include parenting classes, therapy or whatever else a CPS worker thought would benefit the child.
The reason-to-suspect category, however, has come under attack in recent years as unconstitutional. Critics contend that state law makes provision only for ``founded'' cases, in which there is evidence the abuse occurred, or ``unfounded'' cases, in which there is no evidence.
State Del. William P. Robinson Jr. of Norfolk tried to get rid of the reason-to-suspect category legislatively in 1993.
``The reason-to-suspect category was nothing more than a witch-hunt conclusion about a person's innocence or guilt that was based on nothing more than surmise and conjecture,'' he said last week after hearing about the state's decision to ax the category.
He said people who were listed in the registry under ``reason to suspect'' had to live under a dark cloud for a year, even if they were cleared through the court system.
Some schoolteachers also protested the category, saying it could unfairly harm innocent teachers targeted by angry students.
``It was a very argumentative, subjective concept,'' said John Medas of the Norfolk Education Association. ``You couldn't prove anyone did anything wrong, but you couldn't leave them alone, either.''
CPS workers, however, say that the reason-to-suspect designation allowed them to intercede in families that needed help and also helped them pick up on patterns of abuse.
``It gave the agency an opportunity to interact with the family for a short period of time and make sure the children were safe,'' said Gail Heath, regional director of the state's Child Protective Services.
The reason-to-suspect finding, which was first called ``at risk,'' had been around since the beginning of child-protection laws in the state 20 years ago. It was often used when a child was suspected of being abused but was too young to be a credible witness in court. The child might show signs of being abused and might even say who committed the abuse. But if the suspect denied the abuse and there was no physical evidence, the case might be listed as ``reason to suspect.''
The case that led the department to eliminate the category originated in Fairfax County, where a drug and alcohol counselor was accused of sexually molesting a 17-year-old girl about a year ago.
John A. Keats, the lawyer who represented the counselor, said a CPS worker first called the case founded. But when Keats' client appealed the ruling, a Department of Social Services hearing officer said there wasn't enough evidence to call it a founded case. So he changed the ruling to ``reason to suspect.''
Keats appealed that ruling, saying there was nothing in the law to support the category.
The case made it to the state Court of Appeals in February, where a judge struck down the reason-to-suspect finding. The Department of Social Services last week decided not to appeal the decision. It ordered case workers to start purging their files. People listed in the Central Registry under ``reason to suspect'' will be notified that their names will be dropped.
What worries case workers most is that Virginia has one of the toughest standards in the country by which child-abuse cases are judged.
Most states use a standard called ``preponderance of evidence'' or ``professional judgment.'' Under this standard, if a case worker has a greater belief than not that a child has been abused, the case is classified as founded.
Virginia and Georgia are the only two states in the country with a much tougher standard under which caseworkers must find ``clear and convincing'' evidence of abuse before classifying a case as founded. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
CHILD ABUSE COMPLAINTS IN HAMPTON ROADS
Fiscal year 1992-93
CHILD-ABUSE DISPOSITIONS BY COMPLAINT:
Reason to
Founded suspect Unfounded:
State: 6,563 3,137 25,143
Chesapeake: 267 23 565
Isle of Wight: 17 22 61
Norfolk: 494 149 1,585
Portsmouth: 215 76 751
Suffolk: 58 16 207
Virginia Beach: 504 272 1,615
CHILD-ABUSE DISPOSITIONS BY CHILD:
State: 10,108 4,555 39,138
Chesapeake: 481 42 894
Isle of Wight: 30 36 80
Norfolk: 785 217 2,666
Portsmouth: 297 109 1,189
Suffolk: 81 28 338
Virginia Beach: 762 391 2,598
by CNB