Psychological Assessment, Counselling on Going for Mother of Child on Leash

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman gave instructions for the continued counselling of the parents of the child who was treated like a pet dog, in order to remind them of their responsibilities and of responsible parenting.

This came after the child’s mother admitted that the incident was done in jest.

“That is the reason why we want to give them counselling on responsible parenting. They should know that it is their primary responsibility to protect and uphold the dignity of their child. It is ironic that she did that to her own child,” Sec. Soliman explained.

On Tuesday, upon the instruction of Sec. Soliman, the Local Social Welfare and Development Office of Orani, Bataan rescued the child from the family. The child is presently under the temporary custody of the DSWD-Reception and Study Center for Children (RSCC) in Pampanga.

Healthy

Upon rescue, the child was taken to the district hospital for medical check-up.

Sec. Soliman was pleased to know that despite what happened, the child remained healthy and did not sustain bruises from the incident.

The child will remain at the RSCC until such time that psychologists from the Department establish the capability of the parents to take care of their child.

Psychological assessment

Aside from the continued counselling session, Sec. Soliman also ordered for the conduct of psychological assessment on the child’s parents including the members of the immediate family to determine their state of mental capacity.

“I really want to know if the whole family had any sense of the wrongness of the act and why they participated in it,” Sec. Soliman said.

The result of the psychological assessment will guide the Department’s decisions on the custody of the child and on whether a case should be filed against the mother.

Source: www.dswd.gov.ph