The Foster Care System And Impacting Legislation Like The Social Security Act

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Most people are familiar with the foster care system and impacting legislation like the Social Security Act. This policy was created and reformed in part by the United States Children’s Bureau. The Children’s Bureau is a United States government agency created to serve the needs of families, women and children who are underprivileged. The United States Children’s Bureau was signed into law by President William Taft on April 9, 1912. The agency was built on traditional values. Men were to bring home the money to provide for their families, while the women would focus on being the caretaker for the children and family. This proved to be an obstacle sometimes because people who were not in line with the Bureau’s ‘traditional values’ were…show more content…
They also drafted other forms of legislation to induce change which will be discussed later. Since the formation of the Children’s Bureau, there has been much improvement in the social issues they have addressed.
Julia Lathrop is a well-known contributor to the creation of the children’s bureau. Her journey with social justice started with the Hull House. Paul Theerman (2010) stated that Lathrop’s journey began in 1890 with Jane Addams. The two worked together to improve the conditions that the underprivileged had to live in (para.2). After Lathrop worked with Hull House, she was elected to the Illinois State Board of Charities in 1892 (Theerman). Jane Addams states in her bibliography that during Julia’s time serving on the board, she reviewed one-hundred-two state institutions that housed elderly, disabled, and mentally ill patients. She would evaluate them and their ability to operate effectively, and focused on implementing change on the institutions that needed it (1935 p. xiii).
The Children’s Bureau has worked hard over the years to instill change in the way people can receive assistance and which individuals qualify to receive assistance. It has also impacted various legislations that have been put into place. Some of the better known pieces of legislation that the Children’s
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