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Current policies and procedures in relation to child protection
Current policies and procedures in relation to child protection
Laws relating to safeguarding children
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From everyday experiences to recent news stories, I have come across many issues that large families face in America. Poverty and child abuse are top issues in the United States. For this reason, I believe the government should start regulating the number of children people can have based on financial stability, place of residence, criminal history, and other qualifications. The ideal American family image is one that provides parents that gracefully accommodate and nurture their children with open arms, financial cohesion, warm meals, and a roof over their heads. Although one might think these characteristics are a given, they are not as common as the general population widely assumes. There are many individuals deemed “unfit parents” who, despite complaints and adequate resources, continue to reproduce, putting children’s lives at stake. This brings up the question at hand: should up and coming parents be required to obtain a license to start a family?
As a brief history, Child Protective Services (CPS) agencies were founded after the 1974 CAPTA was passed, which mandated that all states establish procedures to investigate suspected incidents of child maltreatment. In the 1940s and 1950s, due to advancements in the medical field, the medical profession began to take notice of what they thought to be the abuse of children. In 1961, C. Henry Kempe began to further research this issue, eventually discovering battered child syndrome. Data collected from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states that in 2011, over 676,000 children were determined to be victims of abuse or neglect. Previously, neglect was the most common form of child abuse, but victims also suffered from physical abuse, sexual abuse and psy...
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...edia. Wikimedia Foundation, 10 Oct. 2013. Web. 24 Oct. 2013. .
2. "Trends in Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing." U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Office of Adolescent Health, 20 Sept. 2013. Web. 03 Dec. 2013. .
3. LaFollette, Hugh. "Licensing Parents." Licensing Parents. Philosophy and Public Affairs, n.d. Web. .
4. Westman, Jack C. "The Rationale and Feasibility of Licensing Parents." Frontline. PBS, n.d. Web. .
5. Unknown. "Should We Need A License To Be A Parent?" Mibba. N.p., 2009. Web. .
CAPTA focuses on the issue of child abuse and neglect within the U.S. CAPTA was one of the first major federal policies put into effect to address the issue of child abuse and neglect in the U.S. Prior to the development of this act, information is very limited on how child abuse really affected the children in the U.S. Within the first year of CAPTA 60,000 reports of child abuse and neglect were made and within a few years, these numbers had made a large jump to over a million reports in 1980. In 1990, 2 million reports were made, and in 2000, reports were somewhere around 3 million (CAPTA Reauthorization, 2016). In 2005 alone out of every 1000 children 12 children from birth to 18 had experienced some abuse and neglect. The 2005 report stated that 62.8 percent were cases of neglect, 16.6 percent were cases of physical abuse, 9.3 percent were cases of sexual abuse, 7.1 percent were cases of emotional, 2 percent were cases of medical neglect or abuse, and 14.3 percent were other situations of neglect or abuse. Overall that year 1,460 deaths were reported from child abuse and neglect (Goldman & Salus, 2003). But in 2010, 698,000 reports were confirmed of abuse and neglect, which is a dramatic decrease due to the policies
Turner, Janice. "Should We Need a License to Be a Parent?" Respond in Writing. Ed.
All the benefits provided by CAPTA are important, but one highly important benefit CAPTA provides for infants and children is that all allegations of child abuse and neglect must be investigated to ensure the well-being and safety of every infant and child. After allegations of child abuse and neglect are reported an investigation is the next step in protecting every child. Another benefit of CAPTA for infants and children is that if the heart wrenching experience of child abuse or neglect occur the state CPS systems and private organizations are trained and prepared to provide treatment for the child. In a like manner, CAPTA provides benefits for women and families by providing support and services that address domestic violence. CAPTA also promotes family involvement in all aspects of a CPS case involving child abuse and neglect. The states benefit by the foundation that CAPTA sets regarding the functioning of CPS systems and in a financial aspect. CAPTA provides funding to “Support child abuse and prevention activities by funding discretionary grants to states and/or public or private agencies or organizations” (California Department of Child Services, 2011). Everyone benefits when CPS systems according to CAPTA policies, “The act’s sponsors meant to feature three important themes of CPS reform in these amendments, including encouraging the involvement of family members in a child welfare agency’s decisions process; promoting and enhancing COS collaboration with domestic violence services and substance abuse treatment programs, and increasing the use of differential response by states through the use of noninvestigative/nonaccusatory approach to responding to reports of child maltreatment” (American Bar Association,
The controversial issue of whether or not Child Protective Services are doing their jobs properly, has grabbed nationwide attention. Child Protective Services is the name of a government agency in many states of the United States whose mission is to respond to reports of child abuse and neglect. Some of these cases may include physical abuse, sexual abuse, and mental abuse (Wikipedia). The child welfare system is corrupted. The parents and guardians who are accused of abuse are automatically labeled as guilty and will have to prove their innocence; instead of being innocent until proven guilty.
When children are hurt physically, emotionally, or sexually it is known to be child abuse. Children are known to be neglected when they are not getting the proper attention needed for children. When children are neglected or abused in any way it is the responsibility of others to report such acts to the authorities as to what they have witnessed first-hand or signs of abuse or neglect seen after the fact, these people who reports such acts are known as third parties. The proper authorities to report child abuse or neglect is called Child Protected Services also known as Child Welfare. After the abuse or neglect is reported the proper authorities will then investigate to see if the abuse or neglect is legit or fraudulent (Sedlak, 2001).
Kathryn Lofton examines the history of religions and its association with the authority in American parenting. She demonstrates this through her analysis of the evolution of parenting from Colonial America to the 21st Century, parents as religious agents, the politics, science and service of parenting, and the market, or child-rearing manuals, for parenting. Lofton seeks to argue that “there has been a persistent relationship between religious ideation and parental religious practice in the twentieth century” (23). She makes the conclusion that the expectations of the meaning of parenthood have actually become more orthodox in the sense that more people treat parenting very religiously. The subject matter of this essay argues that the belief
Parenting is not easy. Especially when society offers so many different types of approaches to childbearing. Some specific ways include an authoritative style, a neglectful style, a permissive style, and a strict style, however, the list goes on and on. As a parent, it is often hard to tell which method is the most effective and beneficial to a child. Nowadays, and more than ever, people are finding that some parents may be getting too involved. Too much parent involvement may seem harmless but, in reality, has many negative impacts on a child’s life.
Warshak, R. A. (2007). Parenting by the clock: The best interest of the child standard, judicial discretion, and the American Law Institutes “approximation rule”. Child Development Perspectives, 1, 119-125.
Although LaFollette responds to many objections in his argument, his rationale for licensing is still flawed. As he explains, our objection that “since people have a right to have children, any attempt to license parents would be unjust” (LaFollette) is dismissible because our right is given under the circumstance that we are capable of raising them. While I agree with LaFollette that we need minimum competency to raise children, his argument is established from invalidly comparing parenting and adopting. Adopting is distinctive from parenting. By adopting children, we are claiming ownership over them, so necessary steps are crucial to ensure adoptive parents are able to raise children without
In the essay Licensing Parents, LaFollette argues that the state should require all parents to be licensed (182). Though LaFollette considers some theoretical and practical objections to his claim, he gives no particular attention to how parenting could be precisely defined as potentially harmful to children, what specific competence would be required for parenting to be done safely, and how reliably such competence could be determined. In this paper, I maintain that, since LaFollette’s argument does not provide an adequate clarification of the definition of harm and the attributes of competence, his argument needs serious revision. After describing LaFollette’s basic rationale for licensing parents, I will indicate that LaFollette’s ambiguous explanations for harm and attributes for competence are problematic. In addition, I will show that even if parenting satisfies LaFollette’s criteria, there are special reasons why it should not be licensed. Though this does not prove LaFollette’s idea to be false, I will suggest that if LaFollette offers a better definition of harm and an adequate explanation for competence, his argument will be stronger with a greater feasibility.
Couples, who for some reason are unable to have babies on their own; should consider adoption before began investigated other option to become a parents. But I am not talking just for traditional couples, I am talking for people who are not married, or a couple of the same sex as well. In one article of The New York Times, we can read, that Arkansas is one of the first states if is not the only one, to allow an unmarried couple or a gay couple to be eligible to adopt or be foster parents “Children need loving ...
Child Protective Services For 30 years, advocates, program administrators, and politicians have joined forces 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 has developed: Upon investigation, as many as 65 percent of the reports now being made are determined to be "unsubstantiated", raising serious civil liberties concerns and placing a huge burden on investigative staff. Unreported Cases Most experts agree that reports have increased over the past 30 years because professionals have become more likely to report apparently abusive and neglectful situations. But the question remains: How many more cases still go unreported?
Rosen, Christine. "The Parents Who Don't Want To Be Adults." Commentary 127.7 (2009): 31. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 13 Dec. 2013.
Child abuse is a social problem in America that has many contributed factors. Factors that contribute to child abuse and neglect includes poverty, divorce, substance use, lack of education, stress due to unemployment, mental health issues, teenage parent, and a history of child abuse in the family. It took decades for physicians to conclude that parents have been violently assaulting their children. Child abuse, child labor, juvenile delinquency, and similar social questions historically were ethical and moral problems, not strictly medical ones. (Helfer, Kempe, & Krugman, 1997). In 1962, the Journal of American Medical Association published “The Battered-Child Syndrome.” The article transformed society’s views and dates the rediscovery of child abuse as a social problem. Following this article, the U.S. Children’s Bureau adopted the first laws mandating physicians to report any suspicions of abuse and neglect to the police or child welfare. By 1974, some 60,000 cases were reported. In 1980, the number exceeded one million (Myers J. E., 2004).
When applying for any job, a few things they ask for is a resume, job experience, and training. Some jobs also have restrictions such as one’s age. Others may require certain educational levels, reliable transportation, or even a license of some sort. Being a full-time mother or father is considered a job by many yet, unlike regular jobs, there are no restrictions, no training, or any experience necessary to become a parent. Being a proper parent is the most valuable job yet the easiest to obtain. This leads to many adults being unfit parents with a lack of knowledge or will to raise children. A few areas people should be required to be approved or trained in before becoming parents are: