INTERNET SCAVENGER HUNT

Internet Scavenger Hunt

Internet Scavenger Hunt

Introduction

Nature of Agency Operation

URL

Youth aging out of the child welfare system

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/agingout/resources.html

Foster parents

http://www.adoptuskids.org/for-families/state-adoption-and-foster-care-information/new-mexico

Child welfare reform

http://www.childrensrights.org/issues-resources/adoption/child-welfare-reform-and-advocacy/

Mental health/substance abuse issues and child welfare

http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/cultural/families/indian.cfm

Youth aging out of the child welfare system

Childcare is often substandard and expensive. assistance recipients are normally eligible for childcare assistance, although states are not required to provide it to them. When states face budget deficits, some have chosen to reduce funding for the program, thus removing some families from assistance and placing many others on wait lists. Many states that do provide assistance also require a co-pay from the recipient. In addition, families who leave assistance due to increased earnings have no guarantee of receiving childcare assistance for any amount of time; states have broad discretion here as well, even when childcare is clearly unaffordable for the family.

Foster parents

This leads some families to return to welfare because they cannot afford to work. A mother that cannot find “appropriate” childcare for her child under 6 is exempt from the work requirements, although the definition of “appropriate” varies widely. Only a handful of states will even consider whether the childcare is available during the mother's work schedule. Thus, a very small percentage of families are able to utilize this exemption.

Corresponding with the time period in which increasing numbers of minority women were permitted to receive welfare benefits in the 1960s, the media and the public became ardently concerned with welfare fraud.

Child welfare reform

In 1976, President Reagan coined the term welfare queen, pejoratively used to describe promiscuous women with many children who do not want to work and instead manipulate the system to receive benefits indefinitely. The term has been a catchphrase used in efforts to decry the welfare system ever since. Experts claim, however, that such fraud cases are rare, and the stories presented are often exaggerated. The term has been shown by studies to carry strong race and gender connotations.

Significant amounts of money were set aside under assistance for pregnancy prevention programs, especially targeted at teens and unmarried women. Abstinence-only sex education programs were widely promoted, although research indicates their success was limited.

Mental health/substance abuse issues and child welfare

Marriage-promotion programs were also widespread, but they were not without controversy. Some argued that pushing marriage on poor women increases divorce and domestic violence that poor individuals are likely to remain poor when married, and that poverty leads to instability in marriage. Rules regarding child support were also altered; in addition to being required to cooperate in enforcement, women also were to receive only a small amount of their child support. The states kept the rest to recover costs. Research suggests, however, that allowing families to retain their entire child support leads to a variety of positive results for children and families, including decreased conflict between the parents.

Child Welfare in New Mexico

Studies show that violence often increases when mothers attempt to work or seek education in New Mexico. Most states have adopted the Family Violence Option (FVO), under which assistance caseworkers provide referrals for domestic violence victims in ...