Daniel Pollack, a frequent guest author on this Blog and a professor at Wurzweiler School of Social Work, has recently co-authored an article titled “The role of law enforcement in child welfare checks” with Carly Sanchez.1 The article appears in the January issue of Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine.
The authors conclude, after analyzing the tensions between the requirements of law enforcement and child safety, that balancing the privacy interests provided in the Fourth Amendment 2 and the necessary protection of children from abuse and neglect is challenging. The Fourth Amendment provides for security and privacy within the parent(s)' dwelling--a place in which a child has no property interest. Thus, a predicament arises where a court issues an Order for a welfare check, which means that law enforcement officials routinely conduct warrantless searches with the goal of preventing child abuse.
The authors recognize that there is a need to ensure that children are safe in their homes, and that need should be a paramount concern. While courts must address these two conflicting needs--privacy regarding the parents' guaranteed constitutional right--against the community caretaking exception to the Fourth Amendment. The conclusion of the authors is that both social services and law enforcement need nuanced instruction on exactly when child welfare checks are necessary to save children from extreme harm.”
fn 1. Sanchez is a personal injury attorney in the Law Offices of Booth & Koskoff in Torrance, California. A focus of her practice is the representation of child abuse victims in civil lawsuits.
fn 2. Amendment IV to the Constitution of the United States: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
