Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Introduction
One of the greatest gifts in life is growing up in a stable, safe household. Most people
take this for granted. Unfortunately, for over 400,000 children in the United States, that gift is
has not been given. These 400,000 children are placed in the foster care system (Child Welfare
Information Gateway 2). The United States foster care system is specifically designed to provide
out-of-home placement as well as additional living arrangements for children whose parents are
unable to provide stable care for them (Braxton et al. 47). Although this welfare program is
intended for temporary use, this critical service can be provided until the adolescent is a legal
adult at the age of 18. There are multiple reasons for why children end up in the welfare or foster
care system; however, child abuse/maltreatment is one of the most common causes of ending up
in a foster care situation. Child maltreatment is defined by the Child Abuse Prevention and
Treatment Act (CAPTA) as “serious harm (neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional
The Foster Care system receives and investigates reports of possible child abuse and
neglect, arranges for children to live with kin or foster families when they are not safe at home,
and arrange for reunification, adoption, or other permanent fixtures for children who leave foster
care (Child Welfare Information Gateway 2). According to Patricia A. Schene, Ph.D., associated
with the Graduate School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado, Denver, “Historically,
for over 100 years, there has been governmental conflict over child abuse. The nation’s two
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missions of rescuing children from abusive or neglectful families, and creating efforts to support
and inform the abused children’s families has been prominent” (Schene 23). This governmental
standpoint has created a basis for the many laws and acts to tend to both missions. The child
rescue goal has resulted in the children mainly being placed into other non parental care by the
foster care system, such as group homes. In contrast, the governmental family support mission
focuses on improving the social and environmental effects of the at-risk households, such as
homes with abuse as well as drug influences (Schene 23). The primary responsibility of child
protection is in the hands of the Public Child Protective Services (CPS) agencies. The CPS
agency receives, investigates, and responds to reports of child abuse and neglect. The CPS have
been created and morphed by the federal leadership; however, they are state funded and
The legal basis for efforts to protect the disadvantaged children has been in practice since
colonial times. One of the first signs of forming systems/laws to protect the at-risk youth is The
English Poor Law of 1601, which placed public responsibility for poor children on the local
townspeople. Another doctrine known as the Parens Patriae, “the ruler's power to protect
minors” was viewed as a reason for government intervention into a parent-child relationship,
leading to enforce parental duty or supply substitute care for the child. Mainly, these efforts were
aimed at the children from the poorest families and those who were orphaned, abandoned, or
for the poor, rates of homelessness among children became a prominent issue. A young minister
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in 1853, Charles Loring Brace formed the Children’s Aid Society, which rescued the homeless,
starving youth of New York City. Over 75 years, the success of the program led to 150,000
orphans to safe Christian homes in the rural areas of the Midwest, where they were used for labor
Between the years of 1830 and 1860 orphan asylums, commonly known as orphanages
became the nation's predominant method of caring for dependent children. By the 1880s,
however, orphan asylums were facing heavy criticism, usually accompanied by arguments that
favored placing children with families (Hasci 167). It was only after 1875 that the world’s first
organization, The New York Society for The Prevention of Cruelty to Children, fully committed
to child protection was established. Prior to this organization, many abused children were not
provided with governmental assistance or protection. Criminal prosecution and jail time was the
For example, in 1869, a father in Illinois locked his blind son in a cellar in the middle of
winter. The Defense Council argued that it was up to the father to undertake his own actions to
discipline his own son. This is a prime example of children’s welfare not being prioritized.
Ultimately, a greater force stepped in. The Illinois Supreme Court disagreed, stating “authority
must be exercised within the bounds of reason and humanity. If the parent commits wanton and
needless cruelty upon his child, either by imprisonment of this character or by inhumane beating,
Rural states relied on family placements for the dependent youth. In Ohio, from 1866 to
1899, 50 farmhouses were established. Children were given the opportunity to stay with farm
families who provided shelter and food. For each child, the government was to pay one dollar per
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child per week (Schene 25). As seen in this early example, these homes were the first time in
history that the government had had paid people for the out-of-home care for children.
The Social Security Act was one of the most influential laws that changed the foster care
system and provided the legal framework for the child welfare system. In 1935, as a part of
President Roosevelt’s New Deal to save the nation from economic ruin, Congress passed the
Social Security Act. This act created the aid to Dependent Children, which provided millions of
The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) is another significant act that
has impacted the Child Welfare System. Enacted in 1974, with many amendments, this act
represents the federal government's pledge to protect children from abuse and maltreatment. This
law provides limited funding to states for child neglect prevention, prosecution, identification
and treatment activities, while also developing standards for receiving and responding to child
maltreatment (Courtney 4). “In order to receive CAPTA funds, states must meet a certain
number of requirements such as: enacting statutes that define and prohibit child maltreatment,
establishing a child maltreatment reporting system, and designating an agency responsible for
investigating child maltreatment” (Schene 23). These requirements had created a baseline for
states to be able to help the parentless and maltreated youth (Myers 459). Amendments or
changes in the Act, such as the Certain Preventive Services Regarding Children of Homeless
Families or Families at Risk of Homelessness, which was added to the CAPTA Act in 1989
reinforced the Act’s emphasis on child safety. According to the Child Welfare Information
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Gateway, this act was last reauthorized on December 20, 2010, by the CAPTA Reauthorization
Act of 2010.
The Title IV-E Foster Care and Adoption Assistance program provides funding to states
for administrative costs of out-of-home care for children who were removed from families that
were unwilling or unable to care for them. This title also gives subsidy payments to the parents
beginning in the late 1980s, have added funding for independent living services intended to help
Conclusion
Providing youth with resources and out-of-home care is quite complicated and has
required the passage of multiple acts and laws. With the best intentions dating back to colonial
times, there have always been program or guidelines to help parentless or maltreated youth.
However, delivering an unflawed foster care system is difficult as the psychological strains of
constantly changing homes and families can really affect the youth. The governmental approach
has been very technical, but taking in account the mindset of the hapless youth is a tough task.
With the kindness of foster parents, many homes have been found and multiple lives have been
Works Cited
Braxton, Claudette, and Elvia R. Krajewski-Jaime. “Exploration of the American Foster Care
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=73343658&site=ehost-live.
Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2017). About CAPTA: A legislative history. Washington,
Child Welfare Information Gateway. Foster care statistics 2016. Washington, DC: U.S.
Child Welfare Information Gateway. How the child welfare system works. Washington, DC: U.S.
Courtney, Mark E. "Child Welfare: History and Policy Framework." Encyclopedia of Social
Work. June 11, 2013. NASW Press and Oxford University Press,. Accessed on 30 Nov.
2018,
http://oxfordre.com/socialwork/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199975839.001.0001/acrefor
e-9780199975839-e-530.
Hacsi, Tim. “From Indenture to Family Foster Care: A Brief History of Child Placing.” Child
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asm&AN=24227229.
Myers, John E.B. A Short History of Child Protection in America. Family Law Quarterly, vol.
https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publishing/insights_law_society/ChildProt
ectionHistory.authcheckdam.pdf.
Schene, Patricia A. “Past, Present, and Future Roles of Child Protective Services.” The Future of
Children: Protecting Children From Abuse and Neglect, vol. 8, no. 1, Spring 1998, pp.
23-38. http://thesociologycenter.com/GeneralBibliography/vol8no1ART2.pdf
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