Substance Abuse Prevention And Treatment Act

“ 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

The 1874 case of Mary Ellen, was the first criminal case to be tried in the courts regarding abuse of a child (Traux, 2013). The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) of 1974, was a major turning point in the fight to help protect children. The enactment of CAPTA helped provide federal funding to states in an effort to help with the identification, prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect (National Low Income Housing Coalition (2014). There have been several amendments to CAPTA over the years to help with how the CPS organization operates.

The use of heroin, cocaine, and other illicit drugs has become a public health concern especially during pregnancy. Maternal substance abuse has become an issue during the crack epidemic in the 1980’s; however, there is an alarm rate of infants born addicted to heroin. More than 3.7% women have indicated the uses some form of illicit drugs during their pregnancy, as well as 1.9 % reports binge drinking (Bhuvaneswar el at., 2008; Grant el at., 2009). With this in mind, more than 375,000 infants are born to maternal substance abusers each year costing over $100,000 in medical expenses covered by the state (Reitman, 2002).

Substance abuse during pregnancy can have a negative force on the health and wellness of not only the fetus, but that of the mother. The harmful effects of medications, alcohol and illegal drugs on an unborn child can be devastating and can have significant consequences to its use. Sometimes the effects can be faced and treated, and other times the outcome is a lifelong challenge. During the prenatal period, it is important that new mothers are informed of the different types of abuse, how they may affect the fetus, and the adverse conditions their child may be faced with before and after birth.

Addiction is has been around for a long time. The fear of people becoming addicted to certain substances has lead to policies changes. However, there has not been a major federal law passed that dealt with addiction in over forty years. In 2016, President Obama signed a law that covered all the major points of addiction and recovery. This topic this important to me because some of my loved ones are addicts. I may also have clients that are addicts.This paper will take a look at that law. First, we have to define a few key terms.

On June 17th 1971, President Richard Nixon stood in front of congress and announced his widely criticized War on Drugs. The President claimed that drugs were the “Public Enemy Number One” among Americans. Fast-forward to 1986, Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. This act placed mandatory minimum sentences on minor drug infractions. The war on drugs not only incarcerated a very high number of Blacks, but also tore families apart in an effort to clean up neighborhoods which still affect many African American families almost a half-century later.

There are federal, state, county, and even tribal laws that have been put into place to protect both the client and the human service worker. Some are more of a guiding tool for human service workers, while some laws are designed to protect the client in a wide variety of ways. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) was originally enacted in January 1974 to require agencies to assess, investigate, and provide treatment, and prosecution in order to receive federal funding.

In the United States, we have a culture that accepts the use of some substances over others, regardless of the negative affects of the “acceptable” drugs. For instance, it is socially acceptable to drink alcohol, eat sugar, and, while no longer as in vogue, smoke cigarettes. From a public health standpoint, these substances are also dangerous and can have debilitating affects on both children and adults. What is more, while narcotics use during pregnancy can lead to NAS at birth, there has been no conclusive evidence of lasting negative effects across the lifespan (Goldensohn & Levy, 2014; Miller, 2015). However, the use of other substances, such as alcohol, can be devastating and carry much more risk, leading some reporters to believe that the law has more to do with the people using these substances than the substances themselves (Todd, 2014). In any case, the punishment of mothers who suffer from addiction when they should be receiving support and treatment is a large moral failing on the part of policymakers. Arguments around whether the woman should be held responsible for her addiction overlook possible systemic barriers that led to her substance use as well as the fact that drug addiction is a treatable illness (Todd, 2014). In creating and invoking this law, policymakers are essentially turning their backs on some of the most vulnerable people in our society, expectant mothers, and using their resulting arrests as evidence of corrupt principles, deserving of punishment and

The use of illicit drugs and abuse of alcohol exact a steep price from our society. Substance abuse is a factor in many serious ills such as crime. More upsetting, however, is the affects that it has on children born affected from their dependent mothers. The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that 60 percent of women of childbearing age consume alcoholic beverages despite the fact that alcohol consumption during pregnancy is implicated in a wide range of birth defects and developmental disabilities, including mental retardation, physical abnormalities, and visual and auditory impairments. (Nevitt, 1996)

“Every 25 minutes, 1 baby is born suffering from opiate withdrawal. Newborns with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) are more likely than other babies to also have low birth weight and respiratory complications” (Dramatic Increases in Maternal Opioid Use and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, 2015, Paragraph 2). To insure a better life for these babies, people are trying to create an Act called the Plan of Safe Care Improvement or otherwise known as the Infant Plan of Safe Care Improvement. This Act is meant to protect future babies from not only being born drug dependent because of their mothers, but also ensuring them a drug-free environment after birth. It will also “get help for the mothers and any other guardians involved in drug addiction”

In 2010, the Obama Administration passed into law The Fair Sentencing Act, which directly targeted the harshly different punishments for people caught in possession of crack versus people caught in possession of cocaine and effectively overruled the punishments of each drug outlined in the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. Immediately, there was discussion regarding the purpose and effectiveness of this act versus the 1986 act. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, although it was eagerly pursued and supported by black communities, has ultimately been accused of being indirectly, or purposefully, discriminatory towards African Americans. This law established shockingly different punishments for users of crack versus users of cocaine. As is commonly known and has been proven statistically, African Americans are more likely to consume crack than cocaine and are more likely to consume crack than any other race would.

Over the past years, drugs have been taking over more lives than we could have imagined. It seems that drugs have become more “popular”, even though they have been around us our whole lives. Kids starting at age 11 are now doing drugs, which is pretty upsetting knowing your little brother could be doing drugs without you even knowing. A more upsetting topic is babies being born addicted to drugs. A study has shown in 2004 seven babies in every 1000 were born addicted to drugs, by 2013 27 in every 1000 babies have been born addicted (Staufenberg, J. (2015, September 7). Huge increase in babies born addicted to drugs in US. Retrieved October 1, 2015.). I know it’s hard, thinking how such precious little humans can be born suffering from withdrawal. Poor babies have to suffer due to their mother’s mistake, ever wonder how baby withdrawal can stop? A topic that has a lot of controversy around it is, should all pregnant women be drug tested? My opinion before I survey 100 people is, I believe they should be drug tested in order to protect the baby. In fact Tennessee has made a law to arrest mother who give birth to drug addicted babies. The legislation gives moms of babies who are born dependent on drugs two choices: Face a misdemeanor charge or go to drug court where they will be put through an 18-month treatment program. (Tenn. Moms Can Now Be Arrested for 'drug Babies ' | HLNtv.com." HLNtv.com. 1 May 2014. Web. 12 Oct. 2015.) The effects of babies born to drugs could be

In the early 1980s, with the rising abuse of “crack-cocaine” and major concerns about it’s effect on children exposed in utero, there was a big push to put legislation in place regarding reporting of illegal drug use during pregnancy, considering it as a form of child abuse (Behnke et al., 2013). The Keeping Children and Families Safe Act was passed in 2003, requiring health care providers to notify Child Protective Services of any infant experiencing drug withdrawal or recognized to be affected by illegal drugs at birth. The effects of maternal alcohol and tobacco use on

Perinatal Care is generally defined as the period between the decision to conceive and a year after birth; in this critical time families involved are more likely to encounter physical, psychological and social difficulties (Rodriguez and Rivieres-Pigeon, 2007). High frequency of substance abuse before and during pregnancy shows there is a clear benefit to understanding the characteristics of those who are prone to substance abuse, and the potential risks to their unborn baby. However, there has been limited research into interventions and this can therefore be difficult to implement. The nine journal articles selected to be included in this review were chosen according to the following criteria: (1) articles to be published from 2005 onwards; (2) journals looking into similar substance abuse drugs and (3) journals using similar designs, for example experimental and retrospective studies; allowing for contrasts and comparisons on the perinatal outcomes.

Children can be subjected to the negative effects of parental substance use in a variety of different ways. For example, substance use during pregancy can cause detrimental outcomes for newborn infants by placing them at a higher risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), being born with birth defects, developing behavioral and developmental delays, being born premature, etc. Children with addicted parents, are placed at a higher risk of: lacking appropriate supervision; lacking basic needs such as: food, clothing, housing, and medical care; exposure to violence; developing substance abuse issues themselves.