Caught in the Gray Area of a Child-Abuser Database

By EMILY RAMSHAW
Published: February 3, 2011
New York Times

....The Central Registry was created in the mid-1990s as a clearinghouse for reports of child abuse and neglect, to give everyone from child welfare workers to certain job placement offices a central location within the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to run background checks or aid investigations.

It is largely made up of people who are not convicted criminals or registered sex offenders — from the negligent parent whose child died in a hot car to a group-home operator who hit a disabled child — and it includes the names of thousands of juveniles who may have no idea they are even on it and never had a chance to contest the designation. Like James’s son, those on the list will most likely not be eligible to adopt or foster children, and they are unlikely to get approval to work with children.

The confidential database contains anyone 10 or older who child welfare investigators have found “reason to believe” abused a child — a threshold that means there is overwhelming evidence to support the accusation. Of the roughly 54,000 people added to the registry in the 2009 fiscal year, nearly 2,500 were under 18.

“If a child has a history of sexually acting out, sexually abusing other children, physically abusing other children or otherwise engaging in behaviors that create safety concerns,” said Patrick Crimmins, a department spokesman, “staff takes steps to ensure these children and any other children in the placement are safe.” FULL STORY