What are the laws for using corporal punishment on kids you foster or adopt?

proudMomma: What are the laws for using corporal punishment on kids you foster or adopt?
Does anyone know what the law is for spanking kids that you foster? Do the laws change once you adopt them?

Answers and Views:

Answer by Damien
Child abuse is always wrong in the US.

Unless that kid’s not a US citizen.

Answer by Heather
In my state, spanking is considered abuse, regardless of who you are.

Answer by kimberlyd
yes the law changes if you adopt them

Answer by Sam
You cannot use any form of corporal punishment on foster kids. In some states you can’t do it period.

Corporal punishment is not going to work on a kid who has suffered from abuse anyway. To the kids it’s one more adult hurting them.

Answer by Welcome Aiden-Paul
I dont know about the laws of spanking a foster child but I do believe you should by all means refrain from spanking, most kids in foster care have had a rough life and act out because they need attention maybe try some other form of disipline insted of resorting to spanking you might achieve more of a positive response.

Answer by granny 5
Mam, there’s a difference from spanking a child and hitting a childfoster, adopted or your own,does not matter as far as the law goes, a child is a child, you don’t beat on a child, but spanking them, or putting them in time-out, is preferred,(a room where the child can see out, and see everything that is going on, but can not participate in anything for 5 or 10 minutes,this teaches the child whatever he does wrong this will be his punishment, no playing, and that seems to bother kids more than the spanking because the spanking is here and gone(with bottoms) alittle sore, but time-out lasts longer.( As far as discipline mam, I’m from the old school), I got my butt beat more times that I can count, but I never got when I didn’t deserve it,”in the Bible it says”spare the rod,spoil the child”.Good Luck!

Answer by Shady Eagle .357
In the USA if you are the legal guardian, it is legal to spank, but slavery was legal once too.

Answer by Maureen S
Spanking is a choice. There are no laws that say you cannot spank, but there is difference between spanking and abuse.

I have never spanked my children. And I cringe wherever I see or hear of parents that do spank.

All my children are adults now, and they are successful, in their own way, loving, intelligent people. They now have children of their own and they do not spank them.

Why would you want to spank a foster child, and continue to spank an adopted child. Why would you want to spank anyone.

There are other ways of disciplining children, with love and hugs for instance. If you feel you are not going to be able to go without spanking, then I think you should forget about adopting.

Answer by Crusty Curmudgeon
The regulations on using CP on foster children would be stated in the foster parent’s handbook and will vary from region to region. Most don’t allow it because a lot of the kids in foster care come from abusive homes. Of course their are plenty of shady foster parents.

Once you adopt a child there is no legal distinction between them and your biological children so you can use CP if you choose to just like any other parent.

It always amazes me that people like Heather don’t even know the laws in their own state. Spanking is perfectly legal everywhere in the US.

Answer by monda
If you adopt the child, it is different than fostering. The child does become your child once you have adopted them. Spanking is NOT child abuse. Any court room judge will tell you that. I have been in this same situation. The child can not be the victim for his/her entire life. Sometimes they even try to use the “child abuse” trick to gain control of the parents. I don’t believe in beating a child but I do believe in spanking a child. It does work, just as well as time out or any other reasonable form of discipline a parent may choose. Good luck…