Opinion ID: 476704
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Warrant or Probable Cause Requirement

Text: 51 In determining whether an investigative search in the child abuse context must meet the warrant or probable cause requirement, we must follow the methodology established by the Supreme Court of balancing the need to search against the invasion which the search entails. T.L.O., 105 S.Ct. at 741 (quoting Camara, 387 U.S. at 537, 87 S.Ct. at 1735). The individual interests are easily identified. There can be little debate that the nude physical examination is a significant intrusion into the child's privacy. The caseworker not only questions the child about allegations against his parents but also disrobes the child and examines him, often in the presence of others and despite his parent's objection. Aside from the obvious embarrassment associated with the examination, the parties have submitted some evidence that this search can have a long-term negative impact on the child. The fact that other methods of investigation may be more intrusive does not reduce the substantial invasion associated with the examination. A child of very tender years may not exhibit a subjective expectation of privacy in the same sense as an older child. He is, however, a human being, entitled to be treated by the state in a manner compatible with that human dignity. Also at stake, of course, are the closely related legitimate expectations of the parents or other caretakers, protected by the fourteenth amendment, that their familial relationship will not be subject to unwarranted state intrusion. Santosky v. Kramer, 455 U.S. 745, 753, 102 S.Ct. 1388, 1394, 71 L.Ed.2d 599 (1982); Stanley v. Illinois, 405 U.S. 645, 651, 92 S.Ct. 1208, 1212, 31 L.Ed.2d 551 (1972); see also Bell v. City of Milwaukee, 746 F.2d 1205, 1243 (7th Cir.1984). The fundamental liberty interest of natural parents in the care, custody, and management of their child does not evaporate simply because they have not been model parents.... Santosky, 455 U.S. at 753, 102 S.Ct. at 1395. 7 52 On the other hand, the state's interests are also extraordinarily weighty. Its obligations are multifaceted. The state has an obligation to prevent loss of life and serious injury to those members of the community to whom it has a very special responsibility, the young. As the Supreme Court remarked in Wyman v. James, 400 U.S. 309, 318, 91 S.Ct. 381, 386, 27 L.Ed.2d 408 (1971), There is no more worthy object of the public's concern. We must also remember that the government must fulfill these responsibilities under difficult circumstances. Once a complaint is received, time can be an important factor, especially if the child is still in a situation where repetition of the alleged abuse is a possibility. A visual inspection provides quick and objective information. It can alleviate the need for any further inquiry or make plain the need for additional investigation. In 1982, seventy-one children in Illinois died as a result of child abuse. Def.Ex. 21 at 9. A child's life may be at stake in any of the thousands of reported cases each year. The state caseworker also has an important responsibility not to disrupt salutary familial relationships through extensive interrogations. The DCFS also recognizes that, because over sixty percent of the reported cases of child abuse are subsequently labeled unfounded, [i]n a number of instances, ... the only family crisis which exists is that created by Department intervention. Handbook at 10. Nor are widespread inquiries of extra-familial sources, a technique bound to leave some stigma even when the subject of the investigation is entirely exonerated, always advisable. Moreover, we must also remember that, in undertaking this delicate inquiry, the state caseworker is dealing with a problem about which relatively little was known until recent times and where present-day knowledge is perhaps best described as developmental. Precision in the identification of the child abuse situation--no less than in the treatment of the perpetrator and the victim--is not yet, unfortunately, an achievement of our society. 53 Moreover, while the visual inspection of the child's body may eventually result in a criminal prosecution against a child abuser, that contingency is certainly of secondary importance to the DCFS at the time the search is conducted. Of prime importance is the safety of the child, and the stabilization of the home environment. Under these circumstances, we cannot say that the Constitution requires that a visual inspection of the body of a child who may have been the victim of child abuse can only be undertaken when the standards of probable cause or a warrant are met. On this point, we believe the district court was correct. 54