Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act

702 Words2 Pages

Child abuse and neglect incidence rates are approximately ten times higher than the incidence rates for cancer. The incident rates for child abuse and neglect are 40 children per 1,000 children every year. The incidence rates for cancer patients are 3.9 people per 1,000 people every year. According to Frank Putnam (2005), “We find an incidence rate for child abuse and neglect that is about ten times as high as the incidence rate for all forms of cancer…There is a multi-billion-dollar research base reliably renewed on an annual basis for cancer treatment and prevention. Nothing remotely similar to this exists for child abuse and neglect” (p. 1). The 2001 federal fiscal year budget was $3.74 billion for the National Cancer Institution. Between all of CAPTA’s grants combined, the total of monetary governmental support comes to approximately $72 million. While cancer research is an incredible thing, child abuse and neglect programs should be well funded in order to help more children. In addition to more children being helped, if funding for abuse awareness increased, there would possibly be more jobs open for social workers and other types of advocates. (The Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence, 2005).
According to the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information (2005), “…few in-depth and rigorous financial analyses have been conducted to give us a solid understanding of the total costs of maltreatment.” (p. 11). The reason that we do not know the extent of the effects is that it is hard to prove a causal relationship between the maltreatment and the costs. Costs of maltreatment include Child Protective Services, foster care, law enforcement, medical bills, and more. Studies show that car...

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... Child Maltreatment: A Comparison of Communities With and Without Child Advocacy Centers. Tuscaloosa, AL. Retrieved from Website: http://www.nationalcac.org/professionals/images/stories/pdfs/cba-finalreport.pdf
S. 3817--111th Congress: CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010. (2010). In www.GovTrack.us.
Stoltzfus, Emilie. (2009). The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA): Background, Programs, and Funding. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved from Website: http://www.napcwa.org/Legislative/docs/CAPTACongressionalResearchReport.pdf
The Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence. (2005). The Economic Cost of Child Abuse to Society. Retrieved from Website: http://www.leadershipcouncil.org/1/res/costs.html
The Office of Child Abuse Prevention. (2011). Child Abuse and Prevention Treatment Act (CAPTA). California Department of Social Services.

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