Child Welfare Research Paper

The total population of children in the United States under the age of 18, is 73,645, 111 which makes up 23% of the United States (Kids Count: Data Center). In order to protect these children, there is a system of rules which is known as the child welfare system. This system is supposed to protect the children who are considered to be neglected or abused. Each state has its own services and supply families with with they can at their own level. It depends on how rich or poor the state is. Each child has a different story but yet can relate to one another and the problem is these stories are growing. Majority of the regulations that are made are based on problems that are currently happening in the children’s life. Just like how there is preventative programs in other issues such as smoking, there needs to be more focus on preventing these issues. Children were basically known as property before the 20th century. It took quite some time for policies within the child welfare system became a concern and that children were looked at differently. While there is a number of polices that are protecting children, many people are concerned that they are not as effective as they should be. There are many issues within the child welfare system that need to be worked on.
History
A search for a solution to help children whose parents are unable to provide care for them is a problem that’s been around since Moses, Abraham, Isaac and Jesus (McGowan, 10).
During the seventeenth and eighteenth century, there were no child welfare systems but two groups of children required attention, the orphans and child of indigents. There was a set of provisions that were made during this time and thy included: Outdoor relief, Farming-out, Almshouses and indenture (McGowan, 12). During these centuries, these provisions were at a minimal level and children during that time were basically known as property, they had no
rights.
During the nineteenth century, there was an increase in orphanages. Living conditions for children in almshouses were horrible, slowly there was a shift in the provisions. The first foster care home began in 1853. They were still having problems with foster care home, because like the almshouses, the children were being mistreated. Very much into the nineteenth century was when concerns began to change. If the child’s basic needs were not met, society had the right and obligation to intervene (McGowan, 16). Members of the society were afraid that these children would grow up to be unproductive and grow up to be criminals. There was a turn in funding these institutions. Leaders in the child welfare field begun to realize “the states responsibility for all dependent children and the potential conflict between agencies needs for ongoing funding and support and children’s needs for ongoing finding and support. In 1912, a law was passed, which was the first congressional recognition that the federal government has a responsibility for the welfare of children (McGown, 20). This was meant for not only the children from groups of poor, neglected, disturbed, and delinquent children, but all children. A number of agencies were increasing through the states as well as provisions for child care facilities.
In 1993, congress passed the Family Preservation and Support Services Program, which increased funds available for family preservation. This was put into place to help families prevent maltreatment. Family preservation programs continued to grow during this time, problems were still arising. There was a continuing rise of child abuse and neglect issues and increased numbers in foster care placements. By 1996, MEPA was designed to prevent discrimination of children of different races. By the year 2000, the promoting Safe and Stable Families Amendment was passed to help encourage and expand programs of family preservation services and reduce high risk behavior by children with incarcerated parents (McGowan, 41).

How Does the Issue Impact Members of Vulnerable Populations One population that is effected by child welfare polices is low-income families or single mothers. Having a stable and safe environment is crucial for the well-being of the child. There is a big correlation between child maltreatment and poor housing. Also, it is found that abuse and neglect are more common in low income families (Torrico, 2009) Families that live in poverty face many obstacles to attain the needs of their children. Many parents have more than two jobs and are unable to take care of their child, some may of issues regarding mental health that are unknown. More than thousands of children are at risk for entering the child welfare system due to their living conditions. Parents are having their children taken away from them and sometimes there is no resolution to the matter. Parents can receive assistance which is known as TANF. This is received through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. The problem is, if their child is taken away from them, they will no longer receiver that help. Even though reunification can be good for the child, there is not enough time. Families need time to be able to adjust themselves and futher help to better themselves. But if they are taking away their TANF when the child is removed, how can they save money for the child. The correlation between child neglect with poverty is a strong one. “The poorest of the poor” have the highest rates of children who are neglected (Sedlak & Broadhurst, 1996).
Another population that is effect is the children themselves. “Over the past 10 years, more than 20,000 American children are believed to have been killed in their own homes by family members” (SPCC, 2014). Children need more support than anyone but the problem is there is a growing number of older people that need attention and funds. National estimates of child deaths from abuse and neglect totaled 1,640 for 2012 and 15,80 for 2014. Even though the number declined, people need to see that each number is a human life and that this means more than two kids die everyday from it. Abused children have consequences and lead them to lives that their parents are living. They are more likely to engage in sexual behavior, teen pregnancy and will most later abuse their own children (SPCC, 2014). Approximately 1.3 million children received post response services from a cps agency. About two-thirds of victims and one third of non-victims received post response services. Prevention services needed because only 1.3 million children are receiving prevention services (Child Maltreatment, 2014). The age which is most vulnerable to maltreatment is one. There was an estimate of 27.4 children being younger than three years that were victims (Children Maltreatment, 2014). Children can not protect themselves, they can not feed themselves when they want food. Their future relies on the people taking care of them and if their parents are unable to do that, we need to step in. All of this information shows that the public needs to be more involved with what is going on instead of being enablers.
Overview and Changes of the Issue throughout Time
Before this 1800’s, the only concern was to provide the community with the best care rather than the children. Authorities did not want to have children running around the street so they placed the children poor houses, in which they would stay there until they were about the age of nine and soon after become indentured. Many of the provisions were set from the English Poor Laws since they dealt with orphans and paupers. The first orphanage was located in New Orleans and was opened in 1727 (McGowan, 14). There are some records that indicated children being removed from their homes because as parents, they are supposed to train their child to be proper.
As stated earlier, Child Welfare started during the late 1800’s. During this time, children had no rights and they were, once becoming of age, known to become labor workers to bring money home to the family. Early settlers were more worried about surviving which means everyone can physical work had to work. Almost of the children during this time died before reaching the age of four (McGowan, 12). There are still countries that go by this rule especially in poor countries.
The second era came along when poor houses were seen as being non-resourceful to children because children were placed with other people that were different ages. Not only were the of different age, many of the people in poor houses suffered from mental illnesses. During 1853 in New York, was created to help orphans and families. This somewhat ran as a foster care system at the time since they would remove children and place them in other homes. During this time is when the case of Mary Ellen McCormack , which was one of the first cases. Mary Ellen was an orphanage. Her mother had to place her with another lady, which she paid for, to take care of her. Once she lost her job, she was unable to make the payments and could no longer afford her. A few years later, she was adopted by a couple. The father passed away and the mother became unhappy and took to beat Mary Ellen. In order to receive help, Wheeler, who was an investigator assigned to Mary, went to American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Through them, they were able to draw up paperwork to have Mary removed from the mother. The adopted mother was found guilty on several counts of assault and battery (Markel, 2009). The result of her case helped rescue thousands of more children and help create shelters for them. One of the first protective agencies was founded in New York which was called the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in 1874(Markey, 2009).
Around the early 1920’s, there was bout 300 child protection services with the United States. The issues is, this number was too little because not all areas had access to them. The only way you could really find out was through neighbors and to go out and get the police