CPS & APS
Laura Davis
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Patricia Kneabe
06-06-2012

CPS & APS
Is CPS & APS too involved in minor situations of abuse? How do we know when abuse is minor? Is there any abuse that is considered minor? These questions and more have come to my attention recently and I have been doing my research to gain a better understanding of what these organizations are all about and how they are run. I believe that there are certain times when these organizations did not do what they should have done to prevent or protect those being abused. I also feel that there are too many restrictions on parents today and these organizations are being too harsh in certain situations and not harsh enough in others. Both of these organizations run along the same lines when it comes to abuse of individuals. They are just broken down into child and adult departments. The Child Protective Services department handles any case of abuse with an individual under the age of 18. After reading several CPS websites from different states, the general guideline is that anyone who notices abuse of a child has the obligation to report it to the authorities so they can investigate. The same goes for the APS, the general guideline is about the same when it comes to abuse of adults. With the adults, the criteria is that the individual must be at least 18 years of age and mentally or physically incapable of defending themselves against the abuser. These are just the basics of both departments and I feel that there are situations that are brushed under the rug, so to speak. There are times when someone has been abuse or neglected and there was no reporting on the issue. I also feel that the adult can suffer even more because people may not know about the Adult Protective Service and also may not know what to classify as abuse of an adult, because of the fact