Frontline: Failure to Protect: The Caseworker Files FRONTLINE continues its examination of Maine's Department of Human Services (DHS) with a documentary that takes viewers inside the state agency to witness the day-to-day workings of a system the public rarely sees. With unprecedented access to the workings of Maine's child welfare system, FRONTLINE cameras follow a small set of caseworkers as they interact with families and each other, dealing with the excruciating dilemmas and heartbreaking choices that confront them every day. When's it on? Visit the Site What do you think is the right balance between saving a child and separating a family? Do you think the number of abused/neglected children has really exploded in recent years, or do you think there is simply more awareness of these cases? What are your feelings about caseworkers - in general, and about those portrayed in the documentary? What obligation(s) do you think our states have toward children? How does your home state handle cases like this? Many women defend, and stay with, men who abuse their children. What do you think accounts for this? What are your thoughts about the state's discretion in removing children from the home if someone reports abuse? How do you define neglect? At what point would you intervene or report child abuse? Do you think there is a point when parents forfeit the right to raise their children? If so, what's that point? In the documentary, Shirley makes several points about being "caught in system." What accounts for this "Catch-22?" Do you agree that "not all adults are meant to be parents?" Explain.
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