Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

f gOB > H K .^rA-gg^rr-ii _jj^c.T.ir_;:ri I I ^_gl-g? g| ^^r|g HBy ^BHT |B rfrjjf ^3b fly ^Ml msST 55 t.i Bs BH 9 m HB Wj? 39 KrS^ Volume LXIX, No. "73 University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C. Oct. 13.1 978 Chile ?o vlilr ^ w * Local < By Jim Phillips N?w? Editor A young boy, approximately three to six months old, was found choking on his own vomit recently in university-owned apartments ufter his parents had been away for several hours, neighbors said. a resident of the apartment# sa.id he and his wife entered the apartment after an older child, "a girl approximately three or fouryears-old," informed them she had 1 abuse S|i Reports of chil County Protects children of USC git According to VI jjjpillr ' Unit, a division . DSS, "Child abi Thev're found in 8 "BEING a sti pfjv abusing his or h "It is not uncoi U- ::f parents to leave ; shopping. But it t :v them. It's kind ol g But many peo They say it's non ^ very THE FUSS1BI |K a weak excuse jgj?ll making a repor ?ljg|f He admits, lur ' l;H because they doi To solve this llllll and neglect in < ?Physical nej in relation to foe llllp adequate adult ?Educational and support nec lack of which lej rhilH fr been left alone for what the neighbor estimated to be at least an hour. I "I STEPPED in and shouted a | few times and no one answered,' he said. He said his wife went into the apartment to check if anothei child was in the apartment anc came out with a "little babj choking on his own vomit." The child recovered quickly, he said 'not ur eglectand abus not restricted 3 any one class By Peggy Brady Gamecock Staff Writer d abuse and neglect are not uncommon to i re Services Unit these days, not even cas students. Millie Johnson, a caseworker for the Proteci of the South Carolina Department of Soc i<u> anri np^Wt ?rp not rnnfinpd tn nn#? WW w.-w every economic and social class in Rich ident at a university does not exclude a ler children." nmon," says one USC apartment manage: their children unattended when they're al 'c harH tr? iuHop uihpthor fhpu'rp nr>tnnll f a judgment call, so it makes it hard to rep< pie, Johnson insists, "just don't want to | ie of their business, and that gets very depr only job is to protect the ch seldom do they](courts) ecute the parents." W illie Johnson, case Department of Social LITY of legal recriminations from the chil to Johnson, since South Carolina law pre t in good faith from prosecution. wever, that many are hesitant to report sui n't know what constitutes an abuse or neglc Droblem. DSS distributes brochures clasj ?even categories: gleet or the failure to meet the physical ne >d, shelter and clothing, including the failii supervision. i neglect or the failure to make available I red by law. ;lect or the failure to provide necessary dia medical condition when needed. leglect or the failure to provide the emotio :essary for the development of a sound pe ids to perceivable behavior problems in th< See AE ... Jk ? PUilU UII He said he and his wife then i called Rachel Carr, associate director for family housing, to report the problem. WILLIE JOHNSON. a [ ' caseworker for the Protective r Services Unite of the Richland * County Department of Sociai F [ Services, DSS, said when a case of , neglect or abuse is reported, a n ? " ' II icomn the Richland ^Bgjj tive Services . ial Services, Slip social class. person from IBl ^J| t work or out jpf invnlvpd .. essing'" worker, | # % -im: >tects anyone spec ted cases fctcase. sifying abuse 3 ,/ eds of a child ire to provide the necessary gnosis and-or rsonality, the } child. (USE, page 4 3king, worker from DSS is assigned to the rase. The worker has 60 days to nake a report on whether the child s being abused or neglected. {Johnson said if the worker :annon substantiate the alleged abused, the case is closed. "We talk to as many sources as tossible to determine whether or lot the child is being abused or eglected," Johnson said. ion i#iMi?Iy ^ ,m ^^KSSmI^HBHHW alone "In a major case, we would petition the court to have the child removed from the home if we felt the child's health or life were endangered." "If we feel the child is being neglected, we try to work out a plan to put the child in a day-care center, or arrange for a baby sitter, providing it is a minor case of neglect," he said. See Child page 4