CHILD ABUSE & SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY

Child abuse & Social Welfare Policy

Table of Content

Summary3

Child Protective System4

Services4

Federal Role6

Growth in Child Protective Service Caseloads8

Federal Legislation Regarding Child Protective Services10

Foster Care and Adoption Assistance Entitlements10

Child Protection Block Grant12

Child and Family Services Block Grant14

Implications of Federal Reforms on Child Protective Services15

Federal Role Little Changed; Some Funds More Constrained15

Indirect Impact of Welfare Reform on Incidence of Child Maltreatment16

Federal Funding Streams Favor Substitute Care19

Preparing for Welfare Reform Effects on Child Protective Services21

What Effects Can Be Anticipated?21

References30

Summary

Child Abuse Defined Relative to Core and Peripheral Aspects Gil (1988) defines the phenomenon child abuse as any form of maltreatment that is perpetrated by parents, significant others, and/or absolute strangers against victims who are children. Such maltreatment is abusive when it impairs the psychological, social, physical, and spiritual functioning of the child at issue. The core aspects of the issue of childhood abuse are that the child is victimized by parents, significant others, or absolute strangers.

There may be sudden onset of childhood abuse or a gradual building up of abusive behavior. The child victim is generally deceived by the perpetrator/perpetrators into feeling that he or she is responsible for the abuse or that the abuse was provided for his or her good. The peripheral aspects are children(Howe 2001. Such maltreatment is abusive when it impairs the victimized by parents significant others or absolute or she irresponsible for the abuse or that the not attuned to and does not foster the wholeness others and absolute strangers.

Child Protective System

Services

The child protective "system" encompasses a vast and complex array of services, delivered by state or local authorities that are organizationally and programmatically diverse. In spite of much regional diversity, these agencies have similar broad mandates to accept and document reports of child abuse or neglect, to investigate these reports, and to protect and care for children who have been endangered. Most of the services delivered by these agencies fall into the following program areas:

Child Abuse/Neglect Reporting: Reports of child abuse or neglect are generally filed with hotlines operated at state or local levels. Whether filed by a professional who is mandated to do so when evidence is discovered (e.g., a physician, psychologist, teacher, or social worker) or by other individuals, reports are subject to a preliminary screening to determine appropriate responses (Zellman and Antler, 1999). Potential responses include undertaking no further inquiry, referral to another service agency, setting up in-person evaluations of the child and family, or sending immediate emergency response services if the child is deemed to be in imminent danger.

Child protective services: If a report requires further evaluation, a child protective service (CPS) caseworker is dispatched to visit and interview family members and others associated with the case. Workers have three charges: to evaluate whether the allegation of abuse or neglect is substantiated, to determine whether the child is at continued risk, and to decide what additional services are most appropriate given the presenting needs of the child and family(Dutton 2002).

Family maintenance and preplacement preventive services: Ongoing support services ...