Case Study In Policy Analysis: CAPA

“ The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) … defines child abuse and neglect as, at minimum: "Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation"; or
 "An act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm."” (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and Administration for Children & Families, "Definitions of Child Abuse

Many of the children who are placed into the care of Child Protective Services are situated into hellish foster homes with people who only care about the money they receive from the government for each child that is placed under their roof; and not for the welfare of the children. Numerous amounts of children that are caught up in the system, especially

It is a reasonable argument that child welfare service entities are necessary as it is all too frequent that child abuse/neglect cases are heard all over the nation and is ultimately a world health issues.  Increasing social issues such as unstable families, poverty, crime, poor education, lack of access to health care and mental health services are some of the factors that contribute to this continuous epidemic that affects many people from various socio-economic classes. Many nations have taken steps to enhance and improve efforts in the fight against the mistreatment of children.

The National Children 's Alliance reported that the number of unique cases of abused and neglected children in the United States stands at an annual rate of 700,000 and rising (as cited in ?U.S. Department of Health & Human Services,? 2016, p. ii). Sadly, this means that more than 1,900 new children become victims of abuse and neglect with each passing day. Neglect was the type of

Child Protective Services (CPS) is a complex system of assessments, investigations, and conclusions. CPS is the central agency in each communities child abuse and neglect service system. It is responsible for ensuring that preventative, investigative, and treatment services are available to children and families endangered by child abuse and neglect. As a result, CPS workers must perform a variety of functions when responding to situations of child maltreatment and play a variety of roles throughout their involvement with child protective clients. Reporting a suspective case of child maltreatment to the local CPS agency (or a family member’s own request for help with the problem) initiates

For 30 years, advocates, program administrators, and politicians have joined to encourage even more reports of suspected child abuse and neglect. Their efforts have been successful, with about three million cases of suspected child abuse having been reported in 1993. Large numbers of endangered children still go unreported, but a serious problem had developed: Upon investigation, as many as 65 percent or the reports now being made are determined to be "unsubstantiated", raising serious civil liberties concerns and placing a huge burden on investigative staffs.

in a number of ways. It has changed the way that society views child abuse and neglect, which has, in turn, benefited the psychological, emotional, and developmental health of children throughout the country. When the act was developed, congress estimated that approximately 60,000 children throughout the United States were victims of abuse or neglect, yet there was no certain way to measure or calculate the extent of the problem (CAPTA, 2014). As a result of this act, policies were put into place to define and measure child abuse and neglect, therefore making it easier to attack. Throughout the years, CAPTA has evolved and each amendment or revision has strengthened the protection that the act offers to children. Some of these revisions included protections for the homeless or those at risk of becoming homeless, foster youth, and created community based resources for families with a high risk of experiencing abuse and neglect (CAPTA, 2014). The effects of this policy; however, do not lie strictly within the lines of personal

According to our textbook, Public Law 93-247 which is the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), came into effect on January 31, 1974. This law is regards to childhood maltreatment. The law implemented the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect. Central agencies needed to be created in each individual state. The central agencies had to have legal authority to investigate and be able to prosecute cases that involved abuse and neglect. The States also had to develop their own definitions, policies, procedures, and laws dealing with child abuse and neglect. With the amendment of 2003, states needed to include foster care, adoption, abandoned infants and family violence protection into their services.

The intended consequence of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) is to provide federal financial assistance to all states. The funding is for the establishment of effective programs that support the prevention, assessment, investigation, prosecution and treatment proceedings (Jeff, 2012). In other words, it is for the well-being and safeguarding of all children. However, there are unintended consequence too. For example, some children who suffer the effects of child abuse and neglect will still fall within the cracks of the system. According to the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council, (2014, p. 351) policy-affiliated research continues to be severely underdeveloped such as, mandatory reporting, child abuse record keeping, issues relating to constitutional rights and the use of family foster care as an alternative to traditional foster care. Due to these cracks thousands of children are affected annually.

CAPTA continued the efforts to rid child abuse through funding programs that not only assisted in providing knowledge with identifying and reporting cases of abuse, but also providing aid and helpful resources to the child victims. “The Promoting Safe and Stable Families Programs, Title IV-B subpart 2 of the Social Security Act, is a significant source of federal funds to help states keep children safe from maltreatment, allow children to remain safely with their families, and ensure safe and timely permanency for children in foster care.” (Program, 2011). These programs receive funding and the costs vary depending on the demands, “In the most recent years, Congress has provided between $7.6 billion and $9.7 billion in federal support dedicated

By the year 1967, all U.S. states had child abuse reporting laws. “Child abuse reporting laws and enhanced awareness of child abuse produced an increase in intervention” (Myers, 2013). As reporting laws came into affect, more and more cases of child abuse and neglect were shown. By the mid 1970s, over 60,000 child abuse cases were reported and the extremely high rate of children in foster care alarmed government officials. In 1980, the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act (AACWA) was passed. This act required every state to make reasonable efforts in keeping children with their families, and when removing the child was not avoidable, the child was required to have a plan to be placed back in the home or have their parents’ rights revoked. For the children whom returning home was not an option, Congress offered financial incentives for adoption. This effort to preserve the families was a main objective of AACWA. An influential investigation pertaining to this was done by Henry S. Mass and Richard E. Engler, as explained by Sribnick (2011). They concluded that many children were living a majority of their childhood years in foster care and institutions. Their findings showed that if a child stayed in foster care for more than a year and a half, it was not likely that he or she would ever be reunited with his or her family or be adopted. In response to this, the Child Welfare League of America lobbied for child welfare workers to consider

The ultimate long-term mission for Prevent Child Abuse New Jersey is to prevent the abuse and neglect of the nation’s children. For completing the mission, two objectives are placed so that the goal can be obtained. Services; such as counseling, human services, home visiting and education are provided to children and families, and are one of the two objectives that is expected to change. The purpose of the services is to lower the potential chance of neglect or child abuse, and lower childhood trauma because of neglect or abuse. The second objective is to have more banners, displays, and brochures sent out for families and people. Information is sent out, so that people would be more aware of child abuse and/or neglect.

Moreover, according to the evidence found by Congress about 37% of the victims of child abuse and neglect have not received post-investigation services on 2008. When discussing this matter it is important to remember that one of the main purposes of this law was to provide a feeling of security and safety to those who have been victims of child abuse and neglect. When CAPTA was established it was required for each state to provide programs that would help the

In his article, Jim Hmurovich discusses the need for a uniform, national policy for the prevention of child abuse. He covers what we need policy wise, as well as financially. He state that “The focus should be on each state implementing comprehensive, evidence based, community-driven child abuse and neglect prevention strategies based upon the state's needs. With an emphasis on healthy children, family and community development, a state could develop benchmarks and measures to assess progress and demonstrate to the public what is being accomplished (Hmurovich, 2009).” This is completely true. Without the proper plans, and funding in place it is virtually impossible for proper education to be put in place, with the exception of private organizations.

It breaks my heart to know that child abuse has a history and throughout history children have been subjected to extensive physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, and neglect. However, doing most of the history of child abuse was accepted and in some cases it was encouraged. As time progressed child abuse has grown to receive more attention and is being recognized as a severe epidemic that has to be stopped. I believe that the views of child abuse has changed over the years for it has left the home from being a private issue to a public issue where different agencies are involved in order to resolve the child abuse and neglect issue. Agencies that take part in investigating and preventing child abuse in today’s time are the Family and Protective Services, SCAN, and several more agencies that are committed to stopping child abuse and