Scope of the Problem E - tnchildren.org

1 Pre-service Core Training Week One: Overview 1 Tennessee Center for Child Welfare Online Work Rev. 4/2009 Child abuse casts a shadow the length of a lifetime. Herbert Ward INTRODUCTION TO CHILD WELFARE Scope of the Problem very year approximately three million referrals of child maltreatment are made to child welfare agencies across the country. In 2006, an estimated 905,000 children nationwide were found to be victims of maltreatment, amounting to about twelve of every 1,000 children. Approximately 20% of these child victims were removed from their homes, accounting for 312,000 children in foster or relative care. How does Tennessee compare to the national average? In Fiscal Year 2006-2007, the Central Intake Office of DCS received slightly more than 12,000 referrals per month. More than 61,000 were referred for further investigation and/or assessment, of which 11,220 ( ) were indicated, meaning there was sufficient evidence to support a finding of maltreatment.

2 Tennessee served 9,897 children in foster care. And according to Kids Count data, the rate of child abuse and neglect per 1000 children is slightly above the national average. While it is the responsibility of the entire community to ensure the protection of children, child welfare agencies are charged with the responsibility of conducting the initial investigation and providing services to families who have experienced maltreatment, or are at high risk for maltreatment. Community partners may include law enforcement officers, health care providers, mental health professionals, educators, legal and court system personnel, and substitute care providers. Further, it is typically the responsibility of the protective service agency to coordinate services and supports received by families from an array of community organizations. Agencies that are charged with protecting children from maltreatment play a unique role in social services because they must balance the rights of parents to make decisions for their own family, the rights of the child to be protected from harm, and the responsibility of the community to protect both the family and the maltreated child.

3 The balance of the rights and responsibilities in this triad is critical in child welfare work. Child maltreatment can result in both short and long term consequences for children. The assigned reading addresses potential consequences in the areas of health, cognitive development, and emotional and behavioral problems. E Assigned Reading: Foundations for Practice Manual, Chapter 4, pages 23-25, and, Chapter 6, pages 35-39. You may access this book in the following ways: 1. It is on the Pre-service Curriculum CD that you were given 2. It can be found in the Course Contents section of this online course 3. It can be found at: Pre-service Core Training Week One: Overview 2 Tennessee Center for Child Welfare Online Work Rev. 4/2009 Philosophical Tenets of Child Welfare et s begin this section with the two brief readings below. Did you notice the emphasis in this reading on the wide latitude given to parents to make decisions for and about their children? Making determinations about what constitutes good enough parenting (as it is frequently referred to) and what constitutes maltreatment must be guided both by law, and by evidence based practice principles.

4 In fact, the key principles of child protective services are established in federal law by the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974 (CAPTA) and the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 (ASFA). We will discuss the laws more thoroughly shortly. For now, please continue your reading to learn more about the foundation for child welfare practice. As you continue in Pre-service and in your career with DCS, you will see the principles you just read about over and over in various forms. Safety, permanence and well-being are the core of what every child needs and deserves and they are the primary goals for all of the children and youth served by DCS. In providing service to families, we want to ensure that we are always family-centered, strengths-based and culturally responsive. Based on this foundation, DCS has developed its own set of Guiding Principles, that we will discuss a bit later. For now, let s take a look at how we arrived at our current understanding of child welfare.

5 L I believe the best service to the child is the service closest to the child, and children who are victims of neglect, abuse, or abandonment must not also be victims of bureaucracy. They deserve our devoted attention, not our divided attention. Kenny Guinn Assigned Readings: 1. Child Welfare and Family Services Textbook, Chapter 1, pages 1-12 (ending at Historical ) and 2. Foundations of Practice Manual, Chapter 2, pages 9-11 Pre-service Core Training Week One: Overview 3 Tennessee Center for Child Welfare Online Work Rev. 4/2009 CHILD WELFARE HISTORY hild welfare policies today were shaped by historical events, including societal understanding of both the balance of children s vs. parental rights and the role of government in intervening in that balance. Exploring that history provides a better understanding of the policies that shape our work today. It was not until relatively recent times that society began to believe that the community had an obligation to protect children from abuse and maltreatment.

6 The textbook has two sections which address the evolution of thought regarding the welfare of children. Chapter 6 focuses on the evolution of values in child protection and Chapter 8 focuses specifically on developments in the area out-of-home placements. It should be apparent from the reading that community intervention in child maltreatment was quite limited prior to the early 20th Century. Communities had interceded in severe child abuse for centuries, but action was always left to local communities. As is typical for government response to most social problems, intervention began in local communities, progressed to state involvement, and then progressed to the federal level. A notable exception to the policy of nonintervention occurred in the American Indian Community. Federal policy, through the mid-twentieth century was to promote the dissolution of Native American culture in order encourage assimilation into mainstream culture. In adherence to this policy, Native American children were removed from their families and placed in boarding schools where they suffered alienation from their culture and their families.

7 This policy was redressed in 1978 with the Indian Child Welfare Act, discussed below. Coinciding with the historical development of child welfare policies were policies addressing the behavior and treatment of juvenile delinquents. In Tennessee, control of juveniles who commit crimes is managed within the Department of Children s Services in the Juvenile Justice Department. Please read more about the historical development of these services in the textbook. As noted in the Chapter 8 reading, the evolution of federal law has followed both our changing values regarding children and the family and our understanding of child development. We turn next to an exploration of the federal role in shaping child welfare. As you progress through this section, remember to link the goals of the legislation to the evolution of knowledge and C Assigned Reading: Child Welfare Text: Chapter 6, pages 194 196 and Chapter 8, pages 278 284 (Beginning at Historical Development and ending at The Federal Role in Child Welfare ) Assigned Reading: Child Welfare Text: Chapter 11, pages 446 449 (Beginning at Historical and ending at Federal Government Leadership.)

8 Pre-service Core Training Week One: Overview 4 Tennessee Center for Child Welfare Online Work Rev. 4/2009 awareness that we have been learning. Today, in the we have a fundamental belief that government intervention in children s lives should be limited to protecting children from serious maltreatment. The compilation of these laws guides our work with families and an understanding of them is essential for child welfare professionals. I understand that juvenile delinquency is not a matter of bad kids or good kids, but rather a matter of bad conditions and good conditions. Fred Parker If you re interested: You can read more about the History of Child Welfare Values on the Curriculum CD. Pre-service Core Training Week One: Overview 5 Tennessee Center for Child Welfare Online Work Rev. 4/2009 THE FEDERAL ROLE IN CHILD WELFARE The focus of intervention in child welfare has undergone significant changes during the past 100 years. The child welfare field has been given considerable responsibility by society for addressing the many social and environmental problems in an increasingly diverse population of families that contribute to the maltreatment of children.

9 The field continues to be challenged by problems, such as an increase in drug use and abuse, children and parents with HIV infection (AIDS), court ordered services to delinquent youth, and widespread family violence. Success in dealing with the complexities of working with children and families are increasingly dependent on a well-trained force of child welfare professionals. The textbook discusses major child welfare legislation in several separate sections. We begin with a brief description and readings on the first two major laws impacting practice in Tennessee. Modern child welfare legislation has followed the evolution of values and perspectives about child maltreatment. With a solid understanding of that evolution, let s now turn to major Child Welfare Legislation. The Child Abuse Protection and Treatment Act of 1974 (CAPTA), referred to previously, was the first major piece of modern federal child welfare legislation. CAPTA s major provisions included the following: CAPTA Defined child maltreatment and established reporting requirements.

10 Certain public servants or professionals ( teachers, doctors, law enforcement officers) as mandated reporters , or people with a legal responsibility to report suspected abuse. Failure of mandated reporters to report suspected abuse may result in civil and criminal liability. Tennessee requires any citizen with suspicion of child abuse to make a report. Authorized limited government research into child abuse prevention and treatment Created the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCCAN) within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to: Administer grant programs Identify issues and areas needing special focus for new research and demonstration project activities Serve as the focal point for the collection of information, improvement of programs, dissemination of materials, and information on best practices to States and localities Created the National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information (one result of which is the Child Welfare Information Gateway referred to earlier).