A Historical Analysis of Child Welfare in the United States

1317 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Legislation guidelines policies procedures for safeguarding the welfare of children

Life in the United States has been difficult for many children. Statistically speaking, there are four children who are killed by abuse each day (Allyn & Bacon, 2011). With numbers increasing over the years change is something that is starting to take place. There are many things that will affect the child welfare system in the future, such as the economic policies, political views, and the current policies set in place (child welfare information). The reason for the child welfare system is to help the children who are getting abused. In the past, there was not a policy set in place; however, this is beginning to change. One of the systems that have been set in place is the Children’s Bureau, an organization that does studies on the mental health of abused children (Thomas, 2012). Although this organization has no authority to develop federal regulations, they are one of the largest agency leaders in child welfare (Thomas, 2012). There are many problems with the economy and government that make it hard to maintain the child welfare system.

In the 1900’s the child welfare system is something that didn’t really exist. Although there were people who believed it was not good to abuse children, it was not enforced because of how common it was at the time (Alvord). It was not until the end of the 19th century that the upper class started to see the rights of children and wanted them to be treated with a certain level of care. They then believed it was the responsibility of the government to intervene when a child was treated unfairly. This is also when the Child Rescue Movement was set in place. The purpose of this movement was to protect children and make sure they were not being treated cruelly. The child welfare system originated ...

... middle of paper ...

...tics. Retrieved April 29, 2014, from https://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/statistics/

Mumpower, J., & Gary, M. (2014). Judgment & decision making. A signal detection theory analysis of racial and ethnic disproportionality in the referral and substantiation processes of the U.S. child welfare services system (Mumpower & Gary, 2014)

Popple, P. R., & Leighninger, L. (2011). The policy-based profession: an introduction to social welfare policy analysis for social workers (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Radel, L., Malm, K., & Vandivere, S. (2009, November 8). Adoption USA. Adoption USA:.

Retrieved April 30, 2014, from http://www.aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/09/NSAP/chartbook/chartbook.cfm?id=13

Thomas, M. (2012). Journal of public child welfare. One Hundred Years of Children's Bureau Support to the Child Welfare Workforce, (Thomas, 2012)

Show More
Related

  • Child Welfare Worker

    1722 Words  | 4 Pages

    The job of a child welfare worker appears to be a demanding profession that promotes the child’s safety, but also strengthens the family organization around them in order to successfully raise the children. This child welfare workers work in the system known as the Child Protective Services whose initiative is to protect the overall welfare of the child. The short novel From the Eye of the Storm: the Experiences of a Child Welfare Worker by Cynthia Crosson-Tower demonstrates the skills necessary to deal with the practice of social work along with both its challenges and its happy moments. The novel consists of some of the cases involving Tower’s actual career in social work. In reading the book, I was able to experience some of the actual cases in which children dealt with physical and mental abuse from their families that caused them to end up within the system. Also, some of these children had issues in adapting to foster and adoptive families based on the issues they faced earlier in life. As we have learned earlier in the course, the violence that a child experiences early in life has an overall affect on the person they become as they grow into adulthood. When children deal with adverse childhood experiences, they are at a higher risk for abusing drugs and/or alcohol, increased likelihood of abusing their own child or spouse, higher rates of violent and nonviolent criminal behavior, along with several other issues throughout their lifespan.

    Read More

  • The History and Progression of the Foster Care System

    2496 Words  | 5 Pages

    This paper will contain research done about foster care, including a brief history and progressing along to the system today. This research interested me because it is a professional career option after graduation. I found both positives and negatives about the foster care system that children and foster parents go through on a daily basis. As the paper progresses I will be explaining these positives and negatives in more detail. Throughout the paper I will be referencing different scholarly sources that explain foster care in different ways. Overall, this paper will show different aspects that the general public may never know about foster care.

    Read More

  • Texas Department of Family and Protective Services

    1259 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to the Encyclopedia of Education, the program was first started in 1690. It became a way to deal with criminal court cases involving child abuse. Two years later the states and municipalities identified care for abused and neglected children as the responsibility of local government and private institutions. It was not until 1825, that the states enacted laws that gave social workers the right to remove children that had been neglected from their parents and their homes. The program has had several names since then. In 1835, it was the National Federation of Child Rescue, later in 1853; they founded the Children’s Aid Society which was a response to the problem of orphaned and abandoned children. In 1874, the “case of Mary Ellen” became the first child abuse case to be criminally prosecuted. In 1930, the Social Security addressed issues of abuse and neglect, which provided funding for intervention for “neglected and dependent children in danger of becoming delinquent.” Effective February 1, 2004, the name of the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services was changed to the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (Guthrie, Heyneman & Braxton, 2002). The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, is a state agency that is run by the state government.

    Read More

  • There Is You Mother, A Woman's Fight To Keep Her Child By Rachel Aviv

    1442 Words  | 3 Pages

    The article “WHERE IS YOU MOTHER, A woman’s fight to keep her child”, by Rachel Aviv seeks to address some of the issues faced by child care agencies and the court system. The story takes places on December 5, 2005 a young boy was taken from his apartment in Huntington Beach, California and placed into foster care. His mother, Niveen Ismail, had left him home alone because she didn’t want to miss another day at work. Ms. Ismail stated that “her workload was too heavy, and that on the day she left [her son] alone she had reached a 'breaking point” (Aviv, 2013). With few friends and no relatives in the United States, Ms. Ismail found herself in a difficult situation.

    Read More

  • History and Overview of Foster Care in America

    1511 Words  | 4 Pages

    There is nearly 400,000 children in out-of-home care in the United States right now (Children’s Right). Just about every day children are being shipped in and out of foster homes and group homes. Most people want the best for children in foster care and decide to take care of them until their parents can possibly recover. The foster care system can have both a negative or positive effect on children, foster parents, and biological parents because of the gaps in the system. Foster cannot not be avoided but the some aspects of the foster care system can be avoided if the missing gaps were filled.

    Read More

  • Strengthening The Foster Care and Adoption System

    1330 Words  | 3 Pages

    Despite attempts in the foster care system agencies under the guidelines of the “Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997” (ASFA) to locate suitable homes and families for foster children, many remain in foster care. “Too often, Child Welfare policy and the agencies responsible for it – offices that respond to child abuse and neglect, oversee foster care placements, and seek to reunite children with their parents to find adoptive families- are out of sight and out of mind except for fleeting moments of tragedy, such as a child’s death”.

    Read More

  • Child Abuse in A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer

    1704 Words  | 4 Pages

    Year Published: 2004 -. 3. What is the difference between a'smart The Child Welfare League of America. (1999) The 'Secondary' of State Child Welfare Agency Survey.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Foster Home

    2161 Words  | 5 Pages

    were still being abused. Many children ended up dead at a foster home because the lack of

    Read More

  • The Development of British Children's Services

    2636 Words  | 6 Pages

    The aim of this assignment is to analyse the development of British social policy, in relation to the development of children services. The author will explore the social policy responses to child protection from 1842 to 2011. This topic of social policy was chosen by the author because it is his area of social work he would like to practice in the future. In the beginning of the assignment the word will describe what social policy and child protection means in her/his own words linking it to other definitions. The essay author will analyse how child protection has develop looking at past legislation and how children’s deaths have influenced the way children services work today. Using different research the essay author will evaluate the benefits and challenges offered by inter-agency, inter-professional partnership working with children and families. In the conclusion, the authors will a brief description of what he/she have written.

    Read More

  • The Daniel Pelka Serious Case Review

    1723 Words  | 4 Pages

    Hendrick, H. (2005) Child welfare and social policy: an essential reader. Bristol: The Policy Press.

    Read More

  • Social Issues Presented in Jeannette Wall's Memoir, The Glass Castle

    1075 Words  | 3 Pages

    Downs-Whitelaw, S., Moore, E., &McFadden, E. J. (2009). Child welfare and family services: Policies and practice, USA: Parson Education Inc.

    Read More

  • Mary Ellen Wilson: Child Abuse In America

    1207 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since the case of Mary Ellen Wilson in 1874, child abuse has seen it’s share of light in published news. It is disheartening to read countless stories of future generations being harmed to the extent of psychological damage or even death. Child abuse as a whole has been addressed multiple times in various news blogs, however, nothing has been done to work towards abolishing it at a larger level. The future of America is in jeopardy based on the level of abuse that children endure. Childhelp states that approximately 5 children die every day at the hands of child abuse. America struggles to find equality, and by bystanding the stripping of its youth, continual prolonging is inevitable. Raising this nation’s children in means of nurturing and care is the first step to uplifting America as a whole. In 2012 alone, 1593 of America’s children died at the hands of child abuse, 70.3% of which were younger than the age of three (Safe Horizon). In order to prevent further child abuse, the American government should address stricter child protection laws, psychological stability, and an increase the recognition of those that have released their stories.

    Read More

  • History of Child Custody Arrangements in the U.S.

    594 Words  | 2 Pages

    Children used to be considered to be the property of their fathers. This dates back to the Roman times as well as in English common law. The fathers had the rights to sell the children, had the right to enter them into enforced labor. However, he also had the legal obligation to educate, support and protect his children. Basically fathers had all the rights to the children, and the mothers had none. Thus, in divorce, the father had absolute right to custody.

    Read More

  • The Negative Impact Of Foster Care On Children As A Social Problem

    1098 Words  | 3 Pages

    Early efforts to address child welfare were made when Charles Loring Brace, founder of the Children’s Aid Society established lodging houses and industrial schools, to care for neglected, orphaned and abandoned children and provide these children with shelter and moral education. However many of the children were not actually orphaned or being neglected they were simply poor (Warren, 1998).

    Read More

  • Overview of Child Welfare

    2976 Words  | 6 Pages

    People may wonder which profession in our society is dedicated to the well-being of children: the answer is social work in the field of Child Welfare. Child welfare is a segment of social work that is vital to the health and stability of the children and families in our society. These social workers provide a multitude of different services, some of which include working in the foster care system, child protective services, as caseworkers, and as therapists. They work with children and adults alike, making it their mission to provide the resources and services necessary for children to be in the most safe and healthy environment and situation possible.

    Read More

More about A Historical Analysis of Child Welfare in the United States

Open Document