Utilize a different perspective and take the point of view from involved individuals such as the child, the mother, the father, the child welfare professional, the judge or judicial official, criminal justice, medical professional, or treatment professional. Add to the case with your insights and discuss the case

THE CASE:

The Cox Family Marvin Cox is a 31-year-old White male who was raised in foster care. While Marvin was growing up, his parents were in and out of the home, and he spent quite a bit of time on the streets. Marvin made some decisions as an adolescent that he probably regrets and ended up serving time in prison. However, he is an adult now, and he and his girlfriend, Amy, have two young daughters. Amy grew up in California and is much younger than Marvin and relies on his support. They are not married but have been together for a number of years. However, Amy is becoming increasingly fed up with Marvin's inability to provide for the family. He is having a difficult time finding work in his rural community, and there are concerns that this frustration may lead to his relapse. Although desperate to find a stable place to live, Marvin and his family have been living a transient lifestyle. They stay with people they meet or sleep on a friend's floor, but they never stay in the same place for very long. Most recently, they broke into an abandoned house by the lake that had been taken over by the bank for foreclosure. Marvin recognized that "squatting" in this home isn't a long-term solution, but he decided to risk it since they had nowhere else to go. Last night, the local fish and game officer passed by, and Officer Smith noticed a light on inside the house that had been empty for quite some time. Smith and his partner crept up to the house to take a look, concerned that some type of criminal behavior may be taking place. Upon arriving, Smith noticed a unique odor that he was all too familiar with from prior encounters in his patrol area. He was immediately aware that the occupants of the house were cooking "meth" (methamphetamine). Looking through the broken side window, Smith and his partner could see Marvin and Amy in the kitchen wearing plastic gloves and standing next to a mound of overflowing trash bags, metal containers, and several 2-liter bottles. Realizing the production of meth produces potentially explosive materials and toxic gasses, Smith called for backup from the state police and local fire department to deal with the extremely dangerous situation. Thinking they might save the lives of the two adults, police officers kicked down the back door and entered the home. Marvin and Amy were handcuffed, and as they attempted to spin a fanciful series of lies to explain what they were doing, two young girls with curly brown hair appeared in the hallway. They were dirty, wearing sagging diapers, and began crying when they saw the officers confronting their parents. Realizing the immediate safety concerns for the children, the first responders escorted the family outside, where they awaited the arriving fire department to detoxify the family and prevent an explosion in the vacant home. It was a chilly night, and one of the police officers wrapped the children in a blanket and held them until the child protection workers drove up. The children were taken to an emergency foster home, where Mrs. Bell comforted them with soothing words as she changed their diapers and gave them each a teddy bear. She scrambled some eggs for the girls as they greedily ate a banana and pulled on her apron to hurry up her cooking. After they wolfed down the eggs and drank their milk, Mrs. Bell exclaimed "Goodness!" Wiping their mouths with a napkin, she said, "You girls were starved to death!" She held them in her lap and rocked them while singing softly. Soon they were fast asleep.