This chapter examines the evolution of child welfare policy in the United States. Child protective services, foster care, adoption, and Head Start have been the focus of child welfare policy since the 1960s. The devolution of welfare to the states through the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 has introduced questions about the prospects of poor children whose mothers are entering the labor market.

1. Chapter 15
Child Welfare Policy

2. The Case of Mary Ellen
Wilson

3. History of Child Welfare Policy
• No Federal interest in child welfare until 1912 (Mary Ellen happened 1874)
• Children’s Bureau established under Departments of Commerce and Labor
with a budget of $25, 640
• Primary concern is child labor issues – overworking and unhygienic work conditions
• Children’s Bureau Act of 1912 established to bureau to collect information on children

4. History of Child Welfare Policy
• Social Security Act of 1935
• Title IV introduced Aid to Dependent Children
• Title V reinstated Maternal and Child Welfare Services
• Mandated that Children’s Bureau provide for the “protection and care of homeless,
dependent, and neglected children, and children in danger of becoming delinquent.”
• Family relief and child welfare services provided by the states through their public
welfare departments

5. History of Child Welfare Policy
• Child protection is a state matter; federal government lacks a family
protection policy
• Historically, children were considered property and abusive behavior towards
child was seen as discipline

6. Protection Services for Children
• Since the inception of child welfare, policy has made it clear that primary
responsibility for the child rests with the parents
• State government is only a backup plan
• Child abuse discovered by pediatric radiologists who sounded the alarm to
the trend of children with broken bones
• Radiologists did not have patient confidentiality to worry about

7. Protection Services for Children
• Reasons doctors did not report child abuse:
• CA was not a traditional diagnosis
• Doctors could not believe a parent would do that to a child
• Doctors often viewed the family as the patient, so doctor-patient confidentiality
prevented them from speaking out
• Doctors saw involvement in criminal investigation/prosecution as time consuming
• Child abuse was labeled Battered Child Syndrome in 1962 and finally
recognized by doctors

8. Protection Services of Children
• Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act - established the National
Center for Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN), part of DHHS, which
established a model statute for state child protective programs and
• A standard definition of child abuse and neglect
• Methods for reporting and investigating abuse and neglect
• Immunity for those reporting suspected injuries inflicted on children
• Prevention and public education efforts to reduce incidents of abuse and
neglect

9. Protection Services of Children
• Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act and NCCAN allowed for the
reporting of trends in child abuse and the need for protective services.

10. Different types of Child Mistreatment
dfps.texas.state.tx.us
• Physical abuse is deliberate actions resulting in injuries to a child or genuine
threats of such actions, or concerns about physical injuries of an
unexplained or suspicious nature.
• Sexual abuse includes:
• Sexual indecency, sexual assault, or aggravated sexual assault.
• Failing to make a reasonable effort to prevent sexual conduct to a child.
• Using the child for the creation of obscene or pornographic material.

11. • Emotional abuse is an emotional or mental injury caused by the parent or
caregiver that results in an observable effect on the child.
• Psychological state - Concerns about the child's mental stability, as demonstrated by
mood, behavior, and thoughts.
Different types of Child Mistreatment
dfps.texas.state.tx.us

12. • Trafficking
• Labor trafficking - parent or caregiver forcing a child into labor or
services that are unhealthy or harmful to the child.
• Sex trafficking - parent or caregiver receiving compensation for forcing
a child to engage in prostitution or other sex acts.
Different types of Child Mistreatment
dfps.texas.state.tx.us

13. • Child Neglect
• Neglectful supervision means improper supervision of a child left alone
which could have resulted in substantial harm.
• Medical neglect is failure to seek, obtain or administer medical treatment
that could result in substantial harm.
Different types of Child Mistreatment
dfps.texas.state.tx.us

14. • Child Neglect
• Physical neglect is the failure to provide a child with the necessary food,
clothing, and shelter to maintain a healthy life.
• Abandonment and refusal to accept parental responsibility are where
the parent or caregiver left the child in a potentially harmful situation and did
not plan to return for the child.
• Refusal to accept parental responsibility - Child has been out of the home for any
reason, and parent/caregiver refuses to allow the child to return home.
Different types of Child Mistreatment
dfps.texas.state.tx.us

15. • Child Maltreatment – is the combination of abuse and neglect
• Abandonment
• Not providing adequate supervision
• Threats of harm
• Exploitation
• Congenital drug addiction
Protection Services of Children
dfps.texas.state.tx.us

16. TX Child Protection Services
dfps.texas.state.tx.us
• Child Protective Services responsibilities include:
• Providing services to children and families in their own homes.
• Placing children in foster care.
• Providing services to help youth in foster care successfully
transition to adulthood.
• Helping children get adopted.

17. TX Child Protection Services
dfps.texas.state.tx.us
• In Texas, anyone who suspects that a child is being abused or neglected
has a legal obligation to report it.
• Professional reporters are required to report suspicion of abuse or
neglect within 48 hours.
• A Professional Reporter is anyone licensed or certified by the state or works for an
agency or facility licensed or certified by the state and has contact with children as a
result of their normal duties. By law, professionals may not delegate their duty to report
to another person such as a coworker or family member.

18. TX Child Protection Services
dfps.texas.state.tx.us
• Professional reporters include, but are not limited to:
• Teachers
• Doctors, Nurses
• Social Workers
• Daycare employees
• Employees of a clinic or health care facility that provides reproductive
services
• Juvenile probation, detention or correctional officers

19. TX Child Protection Services
dfps.texas.state.tx.us
• Professional reporters include, but are not limited to:
• Teachers
• Doctors, Nurses
• Social Workers
• Daycare employees
• Employees of a clinic or health care facility that provides reproductive
services
• Juvenile probation, detention or correctional officers

20. Foster Care for Children
• Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980.
• Enacted to reduce the length of time children spent in foster care and
reunite them with their families of origin as well as keep proper
accounting of foster care placement
• Permanency planning – a strategy for helping foster children to live in
families that offer continuity of relationships and the opportunity to
establish lifetime relationships

21. Foster Care for Children
• Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions
Act (2008)
• Kinship Care: provides funding to relatives who assist with care of children
who are kin; must notify relatives when familial children are placed in foster
care
• Foster Youth: foster care can be extended to age 21 and caseworkers must
develop a personalized transition plan
• Adoption: additional incentive to increase number of older kid adoptions; tax
credit to adoptive parents
• Healthcare: increased coordination with Medicaid programs to meet care of
children

22. Foster Care for Children
• Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions
Act (2008)
• Tribal government: more autonomy to administer adoptions of tribal children
• Siblings: states must make every effort to place siblings together in the same
household (adopted or foster) unless doing so would harm any of the siblings
• Education: Agencies must do everything possible to secure educational stability
for the child (e.g., stay in the same school, equal access to services even if
moving school)