Introduction
The effects of child abuse are risk factors for later lifespan development. There are public policies in force about this issue. There are extreme risk factors associated with child abuse that may not be prevented by public policy. Both internalized and externalized problems that can result from child abuse often lead to overall adjustment issues (Leeson, 2011). Victims of child abuse often suffer an inability to accept their abuse, as well as having difficulties with transitioning through other life experience (Leeson, 2011). Intervention can also be harmful to child development. Ill-treatment and neglect is a public issue because children who suffer from abuse will develop into adults in our society. Family policy related to child abuse has the potential to better the outcomes of child development, which can create a healthier adult population.
This statement would be supported by the fact that the child protective services may have some negative impact on the psyche of a child and furthermore, decrease one's ability to become the full-grown member of society.
Child Abuse
Child abuse is a major issue under children protective services that are developed for assisting those children, who fall into the group of children who are at risk regarding neglect or abuse. Child abuse is primary negligence or acting in a way that exposes a child to the risk of death or causes emotional and physical harm; exploitation and sexual abuse are as well resulting elements that depict child abuse.
It is evident that there are cases when the only way of protecting a child from one's rights violation is the traditional response, while there are still the cases when the issues may be resolved more efficiently in a quick and easy way while less disruption is made for the life of a child. In such situations, the alternative approach is applied into the practice (Departments of Job and Family Services, 2016)
History
History of child abuse in the United States of America rotates around two major issues, protection from abusive and neglecting families as well as efforts to support and preserve their families. In the 1700s and 1800s, the colonial times, the responsibility to protect children against abuse basing on English Poor Law of 1601 was in the hands of local townspeople. Developments came later famous as Anticruelty societies from 1877 to 1920 these were private associations; the forerunners of the current child protective service (CPS) agencies. The child in welfare system came in from 1920 to 1950 where the issue of child abuse and protection was taken in eyes of professionals; from law enforcement to rehabilitation through various social services.
Furthermore, from the 1960s to 1980s, Vincent De Francis has claimed that there was no Child Protective Service program on the state of community level for addressing the service needs of the entire set of the child neglect' reported cases. After 1962, the child abuse has become a national issue, and afterward this type of services has become available across the country, and significant monetary funds are currently allocated for this purpose when thousands of professionals work on provision of assistance to the vulnerable children and struggling parents (Blau & Abramovitz, 2010).
The increase in public awareness national wide as reports of child maltreatment grew in number, but few resources were available to support the existing social services. In 1993 the government made an amendment to Social Security Act to establish the family preservation and family support program that funds communities to enhance the social preventive measures against child abuse.
According to 2014 statistics from many Children's Advocacy Centers in the country where 211, 831 children were involved in forensic interviews 116, 940 were of ages 0 to 6 years,115, 959 were 7 to 12 years and 13 to 18 years old children were 81, 025. The statistics are important for the federal government to make decisions on where to maximize its resources against child abuse.
Currently, the existing system of child protection works 24/7. One of the downfalls of this process is that child welfare's successes are rarely represented to the public, as in a majority of cases, only the failings of the system are reported. This trend undermines the confidence in the system. While referring to the history of the network existence, it is possible to see that the entire set of the efforts for children's protection cannot be seen as the story of failure. It is clear that the child welfare system is still not perfect, but a significant number of questions is already addressed in a thriving manner, through the development of related policies and procedure of their practical implementation for each case (Myers, 2009).
As for now, the system works in the following way, as soon as the report regarding the actual or possible child abuse is received by the agency; the assessment is conducted by the caseworker. In the case, if it is determined by one that there are no further options for the child for remaining safely at one's home, then the procedures are conducted by the caseworker with the family members of the child. In the case when there is no solution for the problem, the alternative safe placement is found by the agency. It is evident that the ideal options in the case are the following: placement of the child with one's relatives or another familiar setting, such as a family friend, neighbor, or another family in the same area so the child may attend the same school or kindergarten.
In the case of neither of above listed options is found, the caseworker collaborates with the local court system regarding putting such child into the county's PCSA' protective custody. Furthermore, the child may be placed by the PCSA into the foster family.
Impact of Child abuses on families
Emotional, sexual, and physical abuse in childhood years has lasting effects throughout the life of an individual; it does not end with childhood period where the victims have to deal with effects that relate to the type of abuse. On some occasions, siblings build stronger ties between each other particularly those who were trying to protect each other and offering support in time of injury, however, feelings of betrayal and secrecy are usually problems affecting family ties. Different types of complex develop for instance a girl that was physically abused by the dad might have issues accepting to get married later in life because of the notion she has for men. Child abuse create new struggles in adulthood that affect not only the individual but experiences and family life.
Description of Policy
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) is the primary tool for the federal legislation in addressing the issue of child abuse in the country since the government made efforts to manage child malpractices in 1974 when the Act was enacted. Although the Act has been rewritten and amended several times by the federal government and legislators, defining the types of child abuse and enabling government assistance for preventing, identifying and managing child abuse remains the primary focus (DiNitto, 2012).
According to CAPTA, child abuse is "any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker that results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation." Acting or failing to act that presents the possible risk to a child is also considered child abuse. The current status of this policy basing on the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 2000 there is a provision that allows the federal government to involve in investigations and prosecutions concerning child abuse. According to DiNitto (2012), the provided federal funds are accessible to law enforcement agencies in for prevention programs and law enforcement as well as establishing formal relationships with the media to obtain information that can lead to an arrest of perpetrators of child abuse.
The provision by CAPTA of 2000 that allow the various law enforcing agencies and child abuse agencies to access history records as per the justice department directly addresses this issue. Child abuse agencies to independently use their advocates to obtain this information has been an obstacle to bringing the criminals to justice because there is no much evidence by the prosecution. The policy therefore directly addresses these issues of concern.
Considering the immediate effects that child abuse has on families, addressing the issue helps build up family life which is a foundation of sound and healthy community thus a powerful nation (Bogenschneider, 2014). Almost 94% of U.S. respondents have indicated the family life as an essential component of individual upbringing. In the poll conducted in 2010 and dedicated to future of institute of marriage and other critical aspects of social life, it was indicated that U.S. people had shown the most optimistic attitude towards the family's future. Among the set of the other critical aspects, such as future of economic system of the country, culture, foreign relations and the educational system (Pew Research Center – as cited in Bogenschneider, 2014)
The individualistic paradigm makes the direct impact on the ways of practical implementation of the significant number of programs and policies. For example, in the residential centers, where treatment is provided for the youth, the vital role belongs to the family support regarding the recovery process. At the same time, while according to the data, almost 88% of the personnel of such settings is not familiar with the core principles of the family-centered treatment or at least need to enhance their awareness and advanced practical skills in this area (Bogenschneider, 2014).
In the field of education, there are examples of the reasonable evidence of the role of family engagement. For example, higher success rates are represented by children whose parents are more active in schooling. More than that, such positive impacts are clearer in those families, where children grow up in stress and some other disadvantages.
Currently, less than 10% of federally funded education and childcare programs integrate the comprehensive approach and involve the parental support, family, social services as well as referrals and medical care (Reynolds & Temple- as cited in Bogenschneider, 2014). As soon as a child enters kindergarten, the core characteristic of the parent's engagement into this process are characterized as too impersonal, too late, and too cursory for reaching a significant, long-lasting effect. Throughout the K-12 years, the involvement of the family members into the process of education is usually standard. While referring to this, only three states have developed the requirements for the specialized training of the administrators, teachers or other personnel staff in the case of involvement of the parents into the educational process.
While discussing the core reasons of marginalization of the families in the policymaking process, it is important to refer to the fact that it is the unsuccessful culmination of the set of present forces. The major stakeholders, which are the public, policymakers and professionals and significant changes in social perception of the family life and its social role, and the role of the government in family life, and an insignificant number of the professionals, who can advance the family policy (Bogenschneider, 2014).
Major Players
The CAPTA policy just like any other legislation would attract various opinions from different parties, those in support and opposing parties. The following groups are engaged in the process of the policy development thus support; Family Research Council and Department of Economic Development while Homeschooling Advocates and Department of Job and Family Services have arguments against the policy.
Family Research Council as one of the major player of the policy development claims that the family relations are critical for social life in the US. Also, the related role should belong to the family education in the circumstance of children abuse' management and prevention.
It was claimed by Department of Economic Development that there is one more issue, about the role of the family in childcare, which is its economic aspect, as the real value of the family in the role of a child's protection. It is represented by the following daily activities such as food preparation, childcare, educational activities, and primary healthcare.
There is no clear understanding of the total amount of monetary funds, which is enough for the satisfaction of the child's needs. This aspect is crucial for the mother's employment, for example, women who have the status of being single, usually face the situation of being financially unstable. Because of the shortage of financial resources, children grow up with the compromised mental health and this, in turn, reduces their chances of getting proper education and furthermore, developing into adulthood.
Homeschooling Advocates (HSLDA) focus on protecting families from intimidation of the child abuse agencies and investigations concerning the same. The organization claims that home-schoolers are usually under threat of false accusations of child abuse mostly by the neighbors and extended family through reports made on hotlines of the various agencies, according to HSLDA, this threat to its members which is usually due to malice or ignorance.
The organization of homeschoolers, therefore, argue that there is the need for amendments to Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) to protect parents and caretakers against false accusations of the child welfare administration. HSLDA proposes that every individual reporting a case of child abuse should give their names and addresses to stop false accusation and thus decrease cases of punishing by anonymous tips.
Departments of Job and Family Services as well claim that in the process of development the policies and their implementation through the related programs, there is a need to take into account the fact that the timing means everything. It is essential to view the aspects of the policies from the perspective of the family impact lens (DiNitto and Johnson, 2016). Among the other factors, contributing the families' marginalization in the process of development and implementation, we have to consider the following. Skepticism regarding the governmental role in the household, changes in the definition of family, as well as the lack of training of the policy makers in the implementation and maintenance of the family system, which is based on the scientific evidence provided.
The core purpose of development and practical application of the policy is to integrate the social life of an individual with the family life together to minimize the frequency of child abuse cases. Preventing the occurrence of these cases, and promoting active engagement of the family members in the life and education of their child to provide healthy family relations.
Policies should have a positive impact on both the family order and social life in the US, as it's major purpose is to educate the further generation, which, in turn, would set the new social norms to follow.
Conclusion
Basing statistics of 2013, 2014, and 2015, child abuse is on the increase more particularly children in the ages of o to 8 years who spend most of their time home with parents or caretakers (DiNitto, 2011). In as much as arguments against the CAPTA policy, for instance, HSLDA's proposition makes some sense, restrictions should not be done on calling the child abuse agencies for reporting, this might add an advantage to the abusers. The gates should be wide at the beginning but made narrower as it proceeds by competency and efficiency of the CPS workers with regards to high standards of evaluating evidence.
Among the major contributing forces of the social changes and increased rates of child abuse and neglect, it is impossible to define the rapid shifts in the philosophy and practice of the family life, which has taken place in the last 30 years. Also, currently the social and economic life have divided the families into haves and the have-nots. This trend within the household policy has challenged the policymakers in making the correct decisions regarding the support to the families and its different types. There are still some uncertainties among the US population relating to the role of the government in family life as well as the policies, which may contribute to how we regard families.
It is possible to state that the primary emphasis of CPS is put on the maximization of the available resources for children such as maternal age, employment, and involvement of fathers into the process of education, which are more available for the more educated mothers. The second focuses in on the minimization of the negative impact, made by such social phenomenon as divorce and single motherhood, which are more frequent among the less educated mothers and create a background for the child neglect or abuse.
References
Blau, J., Abramovitz, M.(2010) The Dynamics of Social Welfare Policy. Oxford University Press
Bogenschneider, K. (2014) Family Policy Matters: How Policymaking Affects Families and What Professionals Can Do. Routlege
DiNitto, D. M. (2011). Social Welfare: Politics and public policy. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Education.
DiNitto, D. M., & Johnson, D. H. (2012). Essentials of Social Welfare: Politics and public policy. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Education.
Departments of Job and Family Services (2016) Child Protective Services. Retrieved from: http://jfs.ohio.gov/factsheets/CPS_factSheet.pdf
DiNitto, D.M., and Johnson, D.H. (2016) Social Welfare: Politics and Public Policy. Pearson Education
Leeson, F. J., & Nixon, R. D. (2011). The Role of Children's Appraisals on Adjustment Following
Psychological Maltreatment: A Pilot Study. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 39(5), 759- 771
Myers. J.R (2009) A Short History of Child Protection in America. Retrieved from:
https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publishing/insights_law_society/ChildProtectionH istory.authcheckdam.pdf
