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Examining Government Regulations Child Abuse In this paper I will be covering some government regulations concerning child abuse and foster care. More specifically I will be talking about the Child Abuse and Prevention Act (CAPTA), Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) and the Victims of Child Abuse Act (VOCAA). I will also discuss the possible obstacles of these regulations in the health and human services field. ? 2 Child abuse in the United States happens every minute of every day, although there is no way to absolutely prevent child abuse, there are ways to protect the children after they are removed from the abusive situation.
A child that has been abused needs a variety of services (counseling, therapy and etc), a safe home (where they can feel protected and safe) and so much more. The health and human service industry is responsible for ensuring that the child is given the proper care and services that they need. The government puts regulations and standards in place to help protect and serve; in the health and human services field these regulations are mandated and are always followed. In order to help children that have been abused, the government has put several regulations and standards into effect.
Three prominent regulations dealing with child abuse is the Child Abuse and Prevention Act (CAPTA), Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) and Victims of Child Abuse Act (VOCAA). CAPTA deals with setting the guidelines for the reporting of child abuse at a national level, they also provide grants to help with treatment programs. They are also helping to educate and provide demonstrations and research; CAPTA also requires that any attorney representing an abused child must be properly trained in this delicate matter.
They also require that the child have any attorney or litem (who may be an attorney or a court appointed special advocate). Adoption and Safe Families Act stresses on the paramount concern of the time frame in which the children are moved and how long it takes to find them safe and permanent care. ASFA also sets the time limitations on petitioning to terminate parental rights, reunification (if necessary with the biological family or biological parents), case plans and case reviews, and also the development of outcome measures.
The VOCAA provides funding and grant 3 programs and has had influence with the requesting of criminal background checks of the foster care provider and the biological parents or biological family. They also provide training and technical assistance. The problem that occurs when you are trying to follow specific regulations and standards, first and foremost, is funding or the lack of. In order to provide the best possible services and care, funding is vital to the operation.
When funding gets pulled or is not available, the health and human service workers are mandated by the state to keep providing the highest level of care; yet with funding cuts or unavailability that becomes an unreachable task. Workers get over loaded and stressed, their cases fall behind, the case reviews and checks are looked over and so on and so forth. There have been cases of children being placed in unlicensed homes, being lost while in care, being placed in a home just as dangerous as the home they left and so on and so forth.
This is a devastating and eye opening fact; something must be done to ensure the safety and proper care for the children. In the future of the health and human service industry, some drastic changes need to be made to accommodate the needs of the workers, the organizations and most importantly the children. In the future, whether 1 year down the road or 10 years, this problem with funding and the way it affects the care and placement of the children’s needs is only going to increasingly grow out of control.
This matter needs immediate attention before it reaches the point of being out of control and makes the health and human service industry look untrustworthy and just as bad as the people who abuse the children. Technically, this is negligence. In order to help resolve this problem, there will need to be more workers, more funding and a sense of urgency. Workers 4 are going to have to keep on top of their work load and maintain all of their contacts. The agency will have to seek other funding options and possibly work with other agencies when needed. It is not about our pride as workers, t is about doing whatever we have to in order to protect the children. There are more children that come into care everyday and there are fewer and fewer homes to place them in and fewer and fewer workers to help these children. 5 Bibliography Illinois Department of Children & Family Services. Illinois Recognized As National Leader In Child Abuse Prevention. 2007, May 11. Retrieved on 2008, September 20. www. state. il. us/DCFS/docs/pr051107. pdf CASAnet Resources. Major Federal Child Welfare Laws. Welte, Carmela M. 2005, January. Retrieved on 2008, September 20. www. casanet. org/reference/major-child-welfare-laws. htm