Children's Defense Fund Summary

Child abuse in America is an ongoing problem and something needs to be done. There are approximately one million children abused annually in the United States. (Table 339) Cases of child abuse and neglect are reported every ten seconds, and researchers believe that there’s three times that amount that goes unnoticed. (Child Abuse: Know the Signs and Stop the Violence Against Children.) Something needs to be done for these children who are too weak and too powerless to help themselves.

Child abuse has been a big issue in the world for a long time. There has not always been child protective services like there is now. Children would be abused and neglected and nothing was being done because it was not being reported. The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was the world’s first organization in the late 1800s which was dedicated totally to child protection (Myers, 2008).

When people hear the words “child poverty” some assume that this term may refer to homeless children who are living on the streets. This isn’t necessarily true, in fact some children who go to bed every night with a roof above their head still suffer from some form poverty. According to National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP), 21% of children throughout the United States live in families who are considered poor. It is crucial for society to be more aware of this issue and to take part in contributing to help reduce child poverty within our country.

Awareness and recognition of child maltreatment issues has had a positive impact upon many families who have benefited from the interventions being offered.  In the United States, billions of dollars are

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

My field placement will be at Child protective services in El Paso TX. The department of child Protective Services withholds a wide range of services and responsibilities that include, investigating reports of abuse and neglect of children, provide services to children and families in their homes, providing services to help youth in foster care successfully transition to adulthood and helping children find adoption. There are many subdivisions within the department itself which offers different amenities during an open case with CPS, although these services solely justify the department, there is a unit known as Family Based Services or also FBSS which focuses on resources that will strengthen the family’s privation in order to ensure child safety and wellbeing. The Department predominantly benefits from task groups rather than treatment groups, because the department is on deadlines with each individual case, a treatment group would not benefit for the departments ultimate value which is Family Reunification. If the department is involved with a family for too long this may cause emotional distress on the children as well as the family. Every year in the United States, more than one out of every hundred children are victims of substantiated child abuse and neglect. For instance, in 2006, 3.6 million cases of child maltreatment were investigated, which is a rate of 47.8 per 1,000 children. In that year, nearly 1 million maltreatment claims were substantiated

Today I begin documentation of my journey to be come a lawyer who specializing in protecting families from the corruption which has taken hold of the very agencies created to protect children and the families who love them. Approximately four (4) years ago, a close female friend of mine was the victim of domestic violence, which not only targeted her but also her daughter and the child’s maternal grandmother. The only way that I knew to help was to open my home to all three of these women and arrange for them to be picked up by another taxi driver as I would not make it back to the bus station in time to meet them myself. This one act began a chain of events that would open my world and my awareness to corruption

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

Due to the lack of adequate training for Children’s Division workers, in addition to a lack of qualified workers to complete paperwork in a timely manner and the legal structure being hard to follow in all 50 states, the CAPTA bill received fast support (40 Years, 2014). It was recognized that in society there were many cases of child abuse and neglect happening and yet these cases seemed to be slipping through the cracks (40 Years, 2014). The large amount of support given was due to the media attention and general humanity. In life it is common for people to ignore issues that light has not been shined on, however, when forced to recognize a problem one would hope that individuals in power would act quickly; just as was done with the passing

Benekos, P. J., Merlo, A. V., & Puzzanchera, C. M. (2013). In defense of children and youth:

The Industrialization of America brought about improved transportation, manufacturing systems, and new job opportunities. The prospect of fortune led to an influx of immigrants, which in 1907 alone saw 1.2 million immigrants enter the United States and settle along the major cities on the East Coast (Chiodo & Meliza, 2014). The growing number of immigrants coming to America led to over crowdedness, and poor living conditions. The unhygienic living conditions and meager health care led to early deaths of working parents, leaving a growing number of orphaned or abandoned children behind.

As child neglect, abuse, or maltreatment occurs among all populations, the agency serves all families with children, including pregnant females, single mothers, single fathers, two-parent families, and legal guardians of children. There are also many other diverse factors within the families such as race, religion, age, gender, culture, lifestyle, and income. Much of the population served are victims of domestic violence and receive government assistance in the form of Medicaid, food stamps, and WIC (E. Thompson, personal communication, September 18, 2017).

It is known that the children are unable to determine their life circumstances, their families, and care solely for themselves without supervision. With this being said, children have little to no jurisdiction in determining the situations that they are confronted with. Most of the time when we ponder child poverty we think of low-income families or lack of food in the household, but it extends beyond that to “an environment that is damaging to their mental, physical, emotional and spiritual development” (“Children Under Threat,” 2005). Unfortunately, the prevalence of youth poverty in the United States may seem uncommon to those who are personally unaffected by the crisis; however, statistics show that 15 million children (21% of all children) live in families with incomes below the federal poverty threshold (Child Poverty, 2017). Moreover, when considering the demographics of impoverished children the following are true: a child in the U.S. has a 1 in 5 chance of being poor and the younger they are the poorer they are likely to be, and a child of color is more than twice as likely to be poor than a White child (Child Poverty, 2017). Research proves that poverty is the single greatest threat to a child’s well-being as it decreases the likelihood of a child graduating from high school, and it increases the chances of them becoming involved with the criminal justice system (Ending Child Poverty Now, 2017).

Each year, the Henrico Court Appointed Special Advocates (Henrico CASA) program harnesses the power of over 100 volunteers, supervised by three staff members, to provide a complete investigation and reports to the Court during up to 400 cases with allegations of abuse and neglect of a child. Our program’s focused and intense training program empowers these everyday citizens to play a powerful role in these abused and neglected children’s lives. Our volunteer advocates investigate the children’s situations and make recommendations for ameliorating services and appropriate permanent homes. The program’s lean and efficient staff provides consistent support and continuing education to help ensure the best outcomes for each child at the minimal

Having previously been a foster parent here in Nebraska, I knew immediately where I wanted get my information for this Victim's Advocate Project. Having worked directly with the Child Advocacy Center in Lincoln with some of my former foster children, I was happy to get into contact with its executive director, Lynn Ayers. Lynn has been working in victim's advocacy, particularly as a children and family advocate for over 36 years, and has a wealth of knowledge on the subject. In her time in this field, she has seen a variety of cases and was more than happy to respond to my request for an interview via e-mail correspondence.