Partner Article

Donaldson Adoption Institute

Although some individuals and organizations have expressed apprehension about the adoption process being jeopardized because of a lack of medical history and concern about the law condones irresponsible behavior by allowing parents to dispose of their children. In a report from the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute suggest these laws may exacerbate infant abandonment by encouraging women who may have otherwise chosen an adoption ok kinship plan.

The report also argues that safe haven laws enable individuals with no legal rights to abandon babies without the mother’s consent and deprive biological fathers of their legal right to care for their children. Society may view these women as being heartless, brainless, mental challenged or even criminals. But contrary, these women are brave, caring, unselfish, smart, loving and responsible. It can by no way be easier for them to face someone by handing the infant over than to just leave them and hope they are found or may never to be found.

This policy supports social work values, ethics, and social justice concerns because in this professional arena, it is “In the best interest of the child” and if the mother does not feel she is capable of providing or wanting the child; it is indeed in the best interest of the child to leave the it in this manner than to abandon it in any other unsafe environment. Common social work values include promotion of client well being and individual dignity, self-determination, the right to have basic needs met, and client empowerment.

Ethics involve principles that specify what is good and bad. It’s all about choices either way and if it’s what the mother feels is best for the present time, than that is her values and ethics and according to the NASW, the six core values includes 1. Services and this policy offer help and resources. 2. Social justice in where every member of society has the same basic rights, protection, opportunities, obligations, and social benefits. 3. Dignity and worth of the person, it holds the mother in high esteem to feel she made the best choice.

4. Importance of human relationships, 5. Integrity, and 6. Competence. Social workers always have an ethical responsibility to their clients and to the broader society. 1. 01 is about commitment to clients, 1. 02 self determination states that each individual has the right to make their own decisions, 1. 03 informed consent is stated clearly in “Daniel’s law” and is reinforced upon the receiving of the infant, 1. 07 privacy and confidentiality is strictly stated and applied, and 4. 02 discrimination is never condone.

Social workers are to promote 6. 01 social welfare of society; from local to global levels. There is two things needed to be changed about this good majors for law school and that is the age requirements of the infant and the location that the infant may be left. The policy need to increase the age because yes just as abandonment occurs in infants it also is very prevalent in toddlers. Let’s take for example the Susan Smith case, if she had the same opportunity and protection of the law then she may have taken them to a safe haven instead of drowning them.

Maybe a lot of the past and present child abuse and neglect cases would not be as prevalent and children could be saved from the hands of their abusers. The person should also be allowed to take the infant anywhere safe not just a hospital or hospital outpatient facility. Since this is a policy of DSS, I don’t see why the infant could not be a least allow to be left there. If someone brings their baby to the office or take it to a church, they would have to be turned away or should I say redirected to a hospital; who’s to say they would go and what might happen to the infant.

As long as the infant is left in a safe environment the same protection of the law should apply. From researching which policy I wanted to do my paper on as well as familiarizing myself with the policies and procedures of my placement. I learned that the effects of policies on families and service delivery are very important because it is not the government who implement policies it is everyday people like the nurses who cared for Daniel, parents who have lost their child to a drunk drivers (MADD), and most importantly Social Workers; by the way that is soon to be me.

Individuals and families needs someone to seek justice for their equality and rights. As a generalist practitioner one has to advocate for clients to prove the need for some service and to succeed in making that service available to people who really needs it. The GIM emphasizes that the potential to make improvements in agencies, organizations, and systems should never be forgotten as one means of effecting positive change for clients and non clients alike. A difference could be made available to American families if policies geared towards family were improved.

It is my duty to seek the social justice of all my clients by using all available resources including lobbying and taking advantage of any opportunities to implement, enforce, and change policy for the empowerment of all who can benefit from the change. Daniel’s law is a policy that provides clients the opportunity to give infants under 30 days old a safe haven and keeps the mother from being prosecuted by the law. This is in hope of saving the lives of abandoned, abuse, and/or neglected babies. It would be to the advantage of the intended population if the age statue and drop off points could be broadened.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Wales Victoria .