Policy Analysis: Child Welfare Legislation - Essay Example

? Policy Analysis: Child Welfare Legislation In order to address various things that happen in the environment, organization or institutions come up with frameworks that help to come up with different strategies to help them to solve it. The strategies address the causes and the factors that lead to the problems and ensure that people will avoid the problems in future so that they can have proper life and which is viably possible to come up with methods of curbing future problems. In this issue, an institution can implement the strategies from a legal perspective or a social perspective to address a common problem that will help in reduction of the problems of the people. These strategies are known as policies and can be inform of legal or social policies but aim at causing parity in distributing of resources in the making the conditions of life good for the residents (Dean, 2006). Social policies in a country helps people cope with different situations in the world and ensure that people are in a position. This means that social policies are in the form of guidelines, legislations, principles or activities through which people perform duties that are make their lives bearable in different situations. A social policy is one, which helps the public well-being by initiating practices that create orderliness in living. Social policies in the different countries are cover different sectors of the lives which may include, health, housing, security, justice, inequalities and education (Dean, 2006). In United States of America (USA), there are different policies that help people in country to coordinate their lives in ways that improve the lives of the people in the society. This ensures that people in the country have conducive environment for doing different activities in the society and are in a position to enhance their lives through such. There are policies in US that address health, housing, education, children protection and other areas of life of the citizen. The focus of this work is on the Child Welfare Legislation of the US, which incorporate different things that affect the children as from the effects from the adults. The Legislation came in place because of increased injustices that were happening against children who were underprivileged in different ways and could not have anyone who could support their plight (Theoklitou, Kabitisis & Kabitsi, 2011). The legislation has undergone various amendments to ensure that all the children are well addressed as per the evolving issues of life so that it can prevent any form of these issues in the US (Crosson-Tower, 2008). Child abuse happens when adults especially the parents or caretakers mistreat or neglects a child through the physical, emotional or mental actions, which lead to discomfort of such a child. For this reason, the government makes laws that regulate parents and protect the children from the violence and the violation of the rights of the children in the country of implementation. In US, there were cases of child abuse that went unreported to the federal government and these left children to suffer at the hands of those who tormented them. However, the case of an eight-year-old young girl, Mary Ellen, who suffered at the hands of her foster parents who would whip her daily, marked the end of these unreported cases. When some concerned individuals reported the case, the court charged the foster mother who tortured the child and put her in prison for a term of one year (Findlaw, 2013). In the past, there were various issues, which faced children in the society but there were no ways through which protection for the children could be achieved. To end the various issues that ended up distracting the peace of children and the many abuses that were happening to children who were not covered within the federal legislations. These abuses could happen in the families or at the community or national levels in which the affected would encounter struggles that would not be simple address with the existing laws. With progress in time, the cases increased in number so that there was a need to come up with a plan to curb the issues and reduce the suffering of the children within the society (Finkelhor, 2008). Before any legislation came in place, there were no person would be charged with the violence against children and therefore, those who abused went scot-free and this unfairness led to the need for implementation of a form of legislation to curb the problem. The first case against child abuse in US involved a woman who had tortured a young daughter in her family and it was presented at the hand of an attorney for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), since there existed no other organization that could address the issues (Findlaw, 2013). Over time, there has been shortage in the legislation in its attempt to address the various aspects of child abuse, which had evolved differently in ways that outlived the first form of the legislation. In this respect, there were always amendments that had to be implemented so that the Child Welfare Legislation would be inclusive and be preventive of the concerns of the children in the best way possible. The Child Welfare legislation in US originated from the event of 1874 following the case of a woman that had abused her daughter, which outraged many people and this led to formulation of a form of legislation, to address problem and protect children who suffer at the hands of violators. Over time, since the firm regulations that developed to address the needs of children, there are different other aspects of the legislation that have been introduced by people in the society. Throughout time, various parts of the legislation have been introduced to face out the violation of the rights of children at their different perspectives of the children’s life. This has led to established on new conditions of the protection of the young children as the need came and addressed the various environments that children always occupy including family, school and the issues to do with their use of technological features (Messman-Moore & Long, 2000). Problems that Necessitate the Child Welfare Legislation In US, child abuse takes various natures and experiences through which children go so that they feel underprivileged to live in the environment they are supposed to live. Through the various issues that face the children, various things that cause child abuse, which may be economic, social, or other personal reason that are pre-exposing children to problems that are so common to them. In this respect, child abuse as result of economic issues may include child labor, which leads young children to work against the law. In social deprivation of children, they may be abused by neglecting, sexual abuse, physical abuse through beating and psychological mistreatment of the children. This leads to suffering from the troubles of mental, psychological and physical instability, which have negative impacts in the lives of children in terms of their education and other social activities. However, in some countries, children may be involved in military action even when they are not the age of participating (Herrenkohl, 2005). In America, child abuse is not only a regional problem but affects various areas of the country as long as there are children and potential adults to abuse them in the same environment. In some cases, the child abuse takes the nature of racial perspective on which children have to undergo mistreatment because of the simple facts that they are from a particular minority group within a region or within the whole nation. However, most of child abuse cases are because of family issues where the orphans and other minor children suffer at the hands of their foster parents and their stepbrothers and stepsisters (Gainsborough, 2010). The problems of child abuse affect many people who are living in US who are below the age of eighteen years and who may be having troubles at their family. In this respect, a large group of people suffers from these problems at the hands of their parents who do not care much about the welfare of their children because of financial constraints that may cause a parent to neglect the children he or she has born. Socially violent parents who are burdened by other people’s children are very likely to abuse children they encounter or whom some other people leave under their custody. On the other hand, many children are exposed to the threat of sexual abuse from the old people who can exploit their innocence and misuse them because they do not have much resistance (Herrenkohl, 2005). The effects of child abuse affect directly the children that experience the effect because they their bodies are weakened, or their emotional stability is frustrated and with some cases going through hospitalization for physical and suffering and torture. The family of the affected may suffer indirect impact of the suffering of one of their loved ones and their emotional imbalance may come in as a result. On the other hand, the friends of the child may feel threatened to live in the same environment because of the effects of the abuse of one of their own (Messman-Moore & Long, 2000). Some people result to child abuse because of their different issues that they have, which do not favor their way of life and which promote bias in their treatments of the children. In some cases, traditional beliefs and ethnicity are possible causes of child abuse where the whites views black children as witches in US. Another cause of child abuse is the family strife whereby the strife may result from the tendency of the parent or when the suffering parent transfers the emotions to children. Other causes of child abuse include drug abuse, economic constraints, unintended pregnancies and the issues of religious orientations that cause the literal interpretation of the religions books or in conformity to the majority belief (Hoyano & Keenan 2007). Description of the Child Welfare Legislation Child Welfare Legislation is a national rule that targets improving living of all the children the US by providing a framework for protection of their rights. This is through the various rules that prevent exposition of individuals to the issues of mistreatment from within their environment or away from it. The legislation has provided different ways of protecting the children from the various issues that may interrupt their physical, psychological and emotional stability that could lead to suffering of children within the US (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2012). The Child Welfare Legislation is expected to address the issues that will ensure that children receive care from their parents as well as to ensure that those who have the responsibility to care for the children are held liable to do so. As a policy, the legislation will ensure that all the children have the environment they need for exploitation of the environment for their benefit by offering equal opportunity to the issues that they face. On the other hand, the legislation specifies the punishment through which offenders will have to go according to the kind of abuse they will have cause to a child in the US. This legislation discourages people who would have otherwise engaged in child abuse without caring the issues through which they are exposing the children (Messman-Moore & Long, 2000). The Child Welfare Legislation touches on the different individuals that ought to participate in the protection of the rights of the children in the society, by giving care that it is expected to, to ensure freedom and support. In this respect, there are agencies and groups that are impacted by the legislation and which are controlled to prevent an issue of child abuse in the society. For example, the Child Welfare Legislation affects the children, who ought to receive protection, the families who ought to give care and other groups or agencies that influence the enforcement of the law for the benefit of the people. The legislation has impacts on some state and tribal child welfare systems that ought to come up with programs of protecting children according to the dynamics that are in the society (Appel, 2009). Child Welfare Legislation is a federal law that determines whether an act is right or wrong with respect to the ideals of the laws in which the enforcers will use it to provide security for children. This legislations’ success will be dependent on the effectiveness of the various agencies that investigate, report and engage in decision-making that can lead to a desired outcome to the case. In this way, when a case of child abuse happens, some people will have the responsibility of reporting to the law enforcers who will carry out the investigation on the case and then present the suspects to the magistrate or a judge in a court of law. Through the various processes that may prove that a suspect committed the crime, the jury will decide according to the federal law on the punishment through which a person has to go. These will send the offender to the rightful place according to the offence they have committed and the due punishment will be implemented on them as they proceed to decide on the treatment of the affected child (Laird & Michael, 2006). In implementing the Child Welfare Legislation, there will be short-term goals which include punishing the offenders and focusing on treating the children that undergo the abuses at the hands of those who ought to protect them. This is in addition to ensuring that people are conscious of the issues through which children face in the society when they are faced with troubles in relation to the abuses they may go through. As a long-term result, the Child Welfare Legislation, it will ensure that it has fulfilled the purposes of creating a culture for protection, and care for all children. The legislation will also ensure that there are platform for the children to develop without negative implications of mistreatment and those, which may inhibit their exploitation of the environment. On the other hand, the legislation will create equal opportunity for all the children regardless of the origin, race and other factors that could cause the children lower than the standards (U.S. Department of Human Health and services, 2011). Since the Child Welfare Legislation is, a government policy that is supposed to enhance life of children and therefore, the federal government and other international agencies that campaign against the mistreatment of children will fund it. The funding will go to establishing and sustaining organization that will ensure the plight of the children are considered in US and to ensure that they keep watch at the rights of children as well as sensitizing the public on the need to ensure protection of children (U.S. Department of Human Health and services, 2011). In implementing the Child Welfare Legislation in US, some agencies play the supportive role of evaluating and coordinating the policy in the course of its implementation in the society so that it can realize the most out of the different strategies of implementation. Some of the organizations involved include Title IV-E reviews that assess the eligibility of a child to receive care, SACWIS, which fosters care and adoption of children by keeping the information about children and families. Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs) assist in determining the success of welfare systems in the US to give some recommendation on their relevance in addressing the various things that can be done to attain childcare (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d). Child Welfare Legislation is a long-term law that targets to ensure that children are protected from malicious adults and ensure equal opportunities and freedom to all the children in the society. The effectiveness of the Child Welfare Legislation can be determined by having few reported cases of child abuse as a formal criterion and by observation of change in behavior of various adults in the society towards children as an informal criterion. The Child Welfare Legislation is based on the idea that psychological stability of an individual is important in ensuring he or she can be effective and productive in all the activities that he or she does if other conditions are maintained equal (U.S. Department of Human Health and services , 2011). Analysis of Child Welfare Legislation The Child Welfare Legislation is a government law that can ensure that children have freedom to live in the society without fear of exploitation by other people who have higher privileges. For this reason, the goals of the legislation are legal and any offenders is charged in a federal court of law according to the offense he or she has committed in abusing his or her child or one belonging to someone else. This means that all the goals are just and democratic and contribute to the social equality of all people because no person has any advantage over another in the country as far as they are eligible to the protection from the federal government. The goals of the Child Welfare Legislation are important in determining the social relations that involve the different individuals that occupy the different places in the society. For this reason, children have equal opportunities to develop their lives to become important people in the society and this implies that the legislation is not only important to the children but also to all the people in the society (Turton, 2008). The Child Welfare Legislation goals are important in that it influences the opportunities for all children in the society by ensuring that they have equal opportunities for exploiting their potential for the benefit of their lives. In this respect, the goals improves the quality of life of children because the federal government gives them security and protection from abusive adults on any bases. Through the various processes of amendment of the legislation over time, the chances of it goals affecting the children adversely are minimized and therefore, it is friendly to the children. The goals of Child Welfare Legislation will facilitate the relationships between children and the wider society will be influenced in a positive way because they will result to very motivated children. Through the legislation also, the children will learn to adopt to different ways of life that will enhance their positive contribution to the morality of the children ((Turton, 2008). The Child Welfare Legislations has provisions that promote the wellbeing of the society and that are consistent with the professional social work because it instills respect between different individuals in the society. References Appel, J.M. (2009). Mixed motives, mixed outcomes when accused parents won't agree to withdraw care. Journal of Medical Ethics 35 (10): 635–637. Child Welfare Information Gateway, (2012). Major Federal Legislation Concerned With Child Protection, Child Welfare, and Adoption. Retrieved July 24th, 2013 from Crosson-Tower, C. (2008). Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Dean, H. (2006). Social Policy. Cambridge: Polity Press. Findlaw, (2013). Child Abuse Background and History. Retrieved July 24th, 2013. From Finkelhor, D. (2008). Childhood Victimization: Violence, Crime, and Abuse in the Lives of Young People. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Gainsborough, J. F. (2010). Scandalous politics: Child welfare policy in the States. Washington, D.C: Georgetown University Press. Herrenkohl, R.C., (2005). The definition of child maltreatment: from case study to construct. Child Abuse and Neglect 29 (5): 413–24. Hoyano, L. &Keenan C. (2007). Child Abuse: Law and Policy Across Boundaries. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Laird, D. & Michael, J. (2006). Budgeting Child Welfare: How will millions cut from the federal budget affect the child welfare system? Published in: Child Welfare League of America, Children's Voice, Vol. 15, No. 4 Messman-Moore, T. L. & Long, P. J., (2000). Child Sexual Abuse and Revictimization in the Form of Adult Sexual Abuse, Adult Physical Abuse, and Adult Psychological Maltreatment. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 15 (5): 489–502. Theoklitou, D,. Kabitisis, N. & Kabitsi, A., (2011). Physical and emotional abuse of primary school children by teachers. Child Abuse & Neglect. (36) (1) 64-70 Turton, J., (2008). Child Abuse, Gender, and Society. New York: Routledge. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, (n.d). Children's Bureau: Monitoring. Retrieved July 24th, 2013 from U.S. Department of Human Health and services (2011). Facts About Child Abuse. Retrieved on July 24th, 2013 from Read More