Child Abuse Protection Laws

All children have the right to feel safe and be free from harm and abuse. With this in mind there are guidelines and legislation which have been put in place which relate to the safeguarding of children and young people. The Children Act of 1989 and the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child also of 1989 were significant pieces of legislation and guidelines which were introduced nearly 30 years ago. However, it is only over the last 10-15 years where there has been a significant increase in legislation and guidelines which have been introduced to recognise the rights of children as individuals, protect vulnerable children and ensure that multi-agency teams work together. Tragically a lot of these have been introduced since there were a number of high profile cases of serious child neglect leading to the tragic and horrific deaths of children.

The current child protection system is based on the Children Act 1989, which was introduced in an effort to reform and clarify the existing laws affecting children. The Children Act 1989 gave every child the right to protection from abuse and exploitation and the right to inquiries to safeguard their welfare. Its central tenet was that children are usually best looked after within their family. The act came into force in England and Wales in 1991 and - with some differences - in Northern Ireland in 1996. The key principle

There are various different legislation and guidelines to follow for the safeguarding of children and young people as the welfare of the child is paramount. Children are better looked after within their own families and only with the suspicion of neglect or abuse of the child should the relevant people step in. Local authorities should work in partnership with families to ensure child welfare and safety and must be sensitive regarding the family’s cultural background.

Child protection is linked to the welfare and safeguarding of children. Working Together to Safeguard Children (2005:19) suggest that child protection is a subgroup of promoting welfare and safeguarding children. Horwath (2007:247) defines child protection as the intervention to promote welfare and safeguard children who are identified as risk of or suffering substantial harm. Lawrence (2004:14) notes that there are four categories of child abuse which are at the heart of child protection, these are emotional abuse, neglect, sexual abuse and physical abuse. Working Together to Safeguard Children (2013:7) add that child protection is ‘protecting children from maltreatment, preventing impairment of children’s health and development, ensuring that children grow up in…safe and effective care’. Therefore the prevention of child abuse by identifying at risk or suffering children and promoting the health, wellbeing and welfare of children is the underpinning of child protection.

Practitioners and professionals working with children on a daily basis are in a good position to notice changes in a child's or young person’s behaviour which may be a possible sign of abuse. Children or young people may also confide in practitioners or allege that abuse has taken place.

What is child abuse? From the word “abuse” we can understand that it is some sort of a maltreatment of a child, causing harm and damage both to his physical and psychological well-being. At the Federal level, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) describes child abuse and neglect as: “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.” Child abuse is a very substantial and widely spread problem in U.S. affecting children of any age, gender, race, background or income, with more than 1.8 million investigations done every year and on average, killing more than 5 children every day. The main issue of child abuse is that the abuser is usually someone a child loves or depends on (a parent, sibling, coach, neighbor, etc.), who violates child’s trust putting personal interests first, therefore official numbers of how many children suffer maltreatment might be not accurate enough as remarkable amount of these cases go unreported. Each case of child abuse is unique, with a lot of individual factors involved, nevertheless, we can distinguish some of the common causes, such as poverty, lack of education, depression, mental or physical health

This essay examines the legislation, policy and carepractice relevant to the case study of Sebastian and Belle Yanovsky, and theirparents Ms. Jo Butler and Mr. Zalman Yanovsky. The main issues for discussionare: the legislation relevant to the case study, the role of the family courtsystem, the role of the 'looked after' children review system, child protectioncase conferences, the criminal justice system, and the practical issues whicharise from these. The purpose of the essay is to analyze each of these areas tosee how they are intended to contribute to the protection and welfare ofSebastian and Belle Yanovsky. The essay also examines closely how the variousagencies and services involved in the care of Sebastian and Belle

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.

It is important to safeguard because no one deserves to be abused whether it is physical, sexual or emotional abuse. No child deserves to be neglected and as a society we have a duty to protect them from harm. Children and young people are more likely to suffer abuse or neglect from those who are supposed to be looking after them. Children are unable to look after themselves and as a result are vulnerable and open to abuse at the hands of others. Children and young people do not have the knowledge to protect themselves and so as adults we have a duty to do this for them. In our setting, we are aware that many children and young people are victims of different kinds of abuse. We are also aware that many families experience hardship and various

The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974 was originally created to protect a target population of children, under the age of 18, from child abuse and neglect; however, over the years this act has been amended and improved to protect a wider population, with many specific subpopulations, over the past 42 years. In the original text of the act, two specific populations are addressed with different goals: reducing the rate of child abuse in children under the age of eighteen, and improving the treatment of children who had been maltreated or neglected (National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2014). It is easy to see that this act and policies within it are aimed at protecting children specifically, yet looking only at the children,

The alternative policies to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act is the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act and Chapter 261of the Texas Family Code, these laws investigate and prosecute cases of child abuse and neglect. The Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA) purpose is to protect children from child abuse and neglect by implementing mandate reporting. Individuals who witness or have knowledge of child abuse and neglect are mandated to file a report while in their professional capacity or within the scope of employment. However, the law does not require an individual to file a report if they are in their private capacity (Tran-Lien, 2017). The Family Code Chapter 261 also requires professionals and individuals

On January 12, 1974, the federal government enacted its initial Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) in response to the prevention of child abuse and neglect incidents. The Act expanded and refined as it undergone several amendments through time. In 2010 the latest CAPTA was re-authorized incorporating several aspects of child prevention and repose to abuse and neglect. According to this act in 2008 states identified an estimated 772,000 children as survivors of child abuse and neglect. CAPTA provides a grant to the State and local public and private agencies and community-based organizations to carry out various programs. The new CAPTA state grant eligibility requirement mandates healthcare providers making identification and appropriate referral of newborns affected by prenatal drug exposure to CPS. This category encompassed infants diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). The FASD exposure is five and sixteen times more likely to occur among African American

There are many things in our society today that unfortunately go overlooked. One such thing that is overlooked is the number of children who are being abused. Unfortunately these children are going through life not knowing whether or not their parents will loose their temper and perhaps kill them. There are many types of child abuse, such as physical, sexual, and emotional. Physical abuse is physical injury as a result of punching, beating, kicking, biting, shaking, throwing, stabbing, choking, hitting, burning, or otherwise harming a child. Such injury is considered abuse regardless of whether the caretaker intended to hurt the child. Sexual abuse includes activities by a parent or caretaker such as fondling a child's genitals,

“The laws relating to child protection is complex, polices are specific and the guidelines are numerous. (Shulman, 2012, p. 328). Being a student social worker I will need to be aware of the legalisation that will guide my practice. As always the NISCC Code of Conduct is the base for the way I conduct my practice. The Children’s Order (NI) 1995 Article 3 tells us that the welfare of the child is paramount. This piece of legalisation sets out the powers and duties the agency has in relation to Children in Need. A child must be seen within 24 hours of a referral being made, as a social worker I have a duty to investigate, this is set out in Article 66 of The Children’s Order (NI) 1995. It may be beneficial to look at the four parts of the helping cycle which are Assessment, Care Planning, Implementation and Review. (Taylor and Devine 2004) this cycle may provide a firm foundation for the social work process. “Each assessment covers three key areas relating to the development of the child, the capacities of parents and caregivers to respond to needs and the impact of wider family and environmental factors” (Parker & Bradley, 2010) This can be linked to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model of how a child’s environment affects their upbringing. UNOCINI is an assessment tool used to assess children’s needs. The Department of Health hopes that the UNOCINI framework will be used as a tool to help identify the needs of children at an early stage, so they can intervene before

Child abuse, one of the biggest and most sophisticated problems for the whole world. It has many forms and it can destroy the child's life. It can make them an abuser as an adult. In most cases, kids could be sad, lonely, angry, or hopeless. Imagine your children having to cry themselves to sleep because they feel as if they were not loved or needed in this world. Remember that children are very dainty. Children get attached to people very easily, because looks can be deceiving and many people have many beguiling looks. Should the government enact more laws to deal with convicted people of child abuse?