Child welfare Ch1-5 Questions with complete solutions 2023

Child welfare Ch1-5 Questions with complete solutions 2023 The need for Child welfare services today • America's children suffer from a variety of problems including poverty, low birth weight, early death, and lack of health insurance. • Some children drop out of school, are suspended from school, are arrested, are abused or neglected, and are killed by guns. • The percentages differ between various ethnic groups. • These circumstances require societal intervention that is provided through child welfare services. A brief history of the plight(unfortunate situations) of children Prior to the twentieth century, children were seen as mini adults with similar responsibilities to their superiors. • Children were considered to be the property of their parents and for the most part, parents had the ultimate say over the fate of their children. • Infanticide, the killing of children, was an early solution to unwanted, malformed children or children who were not of a desired gender. • Unwanted children or those for whom parents were unable to care of might also be abandoned. • There was no agency until the late 1800s that was responsible for the protection of children. • Children were also expected to work alongside of adults, and some children were placed by their parents in indenture—the practice of working with a master to learn a trade. • The Industrial Revolution increased the need for children in the workforce as their small bodies and dexterous hands and fingers were needed for certain tasks. • Early reformers expressed concern about child labor and other treatment of children resulting in the first White House conference in 1909. This resulted in important legislation to protect children. Early Efforts to care for and help children • Children whose parents were poor might be sent to poorhouses or almshouses along with their parents. • Children with poor or absent parents might also be relegated to orphanages. The first orphanage was in 1727 but these institutions were slow to develop until the mid-1800s. • In the late 1800s, Charles Loring Brace developed the practice of "placing out" or sending children on orphan trains to new homes in the midwestern United States. • For those who remained in orphanages, life was not always easy. • Orphanages were segregated well into the twentieth century. There were fewer orphanages for African American children and little or nothing for Native American children. • Eventually free boarding homes developed—the precursor to today's foster homes. • During World War II, more mothers were forced to join the workforce necessitating day-time care for their children. The Latham Act of 1940 provided funds for childcare. Advocacy in the provision of children's services One of the earliest agencies to advocate for children was the New York Children's Aid Society Founded in 1853. It was his agency that sponsored Charles Loring Brace's orphan trains. • The dramatic beginning of child protection centered around the case of Mary Ellen Wilson, a neglected and abused child, in New York city in 1874. • In the late 1800s, settlement houses were also instrumental in advocating for children and in the furthering of programs to benefit children. The American Association for Organizing Family Social Work (later to become the Family Services Association of America) was established in 1911. • The Children's Bureau was established in 1912 as a result of the first White House Conference to address the need of children. • One of the most active agencies today to benefit children, the Child Welfare League of America was founded in 1921. • Other significant agencies emerged during the twentieth century, including Head Start in the 1960s and the Children Defense Fund in 1973. • The twentieth century has also seen some significant legislation that impacts children. Some of the most significant has been the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) of 1975, the Indian Child Welfare Act in 1978, Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Reform Act of 1980, the Family Preservation and Support Services Act of 1993, and the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997. • In 2010, President Obama signed the reauthorization of CAPTA. • The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PL 111-148) of 2010 was designed to ensure that all citizens had adequate health care, but this legislation also contained directives for the improvement of child welfare services. • Other legislation since 2010 has been the Child and Family Services Improvement and Innovation Act (PL 112-134) of 2011 and the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act of 2014 Providing services for children today Summary of This Section • Serving children in the future requires the recognition that minority children are still underserved. • The increasing number of immigrants—both legal and unauthorized will have an impact on the child welfare system requiring that child welfare workers become trained in diversity and cultural competence. • Child welfare services today are driven by trauma-informed care, which involves the recognition that children in need of services have experienced a variety of types of trauma that must be addressed. • The first goal in child welfare is to support the family whenever possible. When the family is unable to care for its children, other permanent solutions are sought. • Attachment is the foundation of a child's ability to develop and form later relationships. Promoting secure attachment is vital to serving children. • The role and tasks of a child welfare worker are governed by the agency in which she or he is employed. • Child welfare workers will usually need at least a bachelor's degree and training for their specific roles. The changing family Ch2 • According to the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, the majority of children in 2013 still lived in two-parent families, while a smaller percentage lived with single parents. • In addition, grandparents or other relatives are raising a significant number of children. • Most of the two-parent families were white, followed by Hispanic and African American. • There are multiple factors that explain the changes in family composition. These include the economy, the expectation around when and whether to marry, concerns over the divorce rate, and changes in the acceptance and legalization of same-sex marriage. • The family assumes certain roles in society including procreation, socialization of children, enculturation, modeling of societal and gender roles, financial and emotional support, meeting of basic needs as well as medical and educational needs, and the interpretation of the world to the child and the child to the world. • To accomplish these goals, the family is allowed a good deal of privacy. Only when the family is not meeting the needs of its children does the child welfare system need to intervene. The family as a system ch2 • A family can be seen as a complex system divided into subsystems each with their roles and responsibilities. Two obvious subsystems are the parental subsystem and the sibling subsystem. There are other systems made up in a variety of ways (e.g., all the females in the family). Healthy systems are divided by boundaries. Some families have blurred boundaries that can be indicative of or support dysfunction. In addition, there are boundaries that the family also maintains with the outside world. • Each family has a set of roles that members take within the system. Sometimes, these roles overlap. The roles may be influenced by society or originated by the family itself. Their ethnic origin may dictate or influence these roles. • Roles are supported by the family rules—or what is expected of each member. Rules may be stated or implied and may also support or mask dysfunctional behavior. • Communication patterns refer to the way in which a family transmits information and feelings from one member to another. Communication may be verbal or by way of non-verbal means such gestures, expressions, or voice tones. Cultural heritage has a significant impact on communication patterns. An effective method of demonstrating how a family functions both at this moment and over the last few generations is to construct a genogram, or a drawing of "genetic tree" depicting family relationships and interactions over several generations. Genograms can also be helpful in allowing the family to see how they are influenced by the past. Emotional climate of Families and the family life cycle • The configuration of families differs greatly. Some authors divide families into four types: two-parent, dual-wage earner, single-parent and reconstituted, also called blended families. • With the legalization of same-sex marriage, gay and lesbian couples have been having and raising children. • In the past, families were often intergenerational with several generations living together and raising the children giving the children more models to emulate. Although this is not that common today, more and more grandparents are raising children on their own. This is often the result of parental abandonment or incapacity. • The emotional climate differs from family to family as well. An important piece of this is the child's ability to bond or attach with caretakers. • There are several different types of attachment styles including secure attachment, ambivalent attachment, avoidant attachment, and disorganized attachment. Children who are abused or exposure to very dysfunctional caretaking may not be able to bond at all, a condition referred to as attachment disorder. • There are specific stages of family life beginning when the young adult leaves the family of origin, meets and connects with another to create a family, introduces children into the family system, and eventually launches those children on their own. Each stage brings its own challenges and requires a variety of adjustments for the family unit. The impact of culture on families A family's culture of origin can have a significant impact on how the family functions in terms of its values, roles, rules, and communication patterns. The culturally aware child welfare worker will be better able to help his or her clients. • Families with Anglo-European roots tend to value independence, self-direction, assertiveness, freedom, and equality. Communication is relatively direct but individual families may communicate differently depending upon the family in which they were raised. Religion is a personal choice that is left with the individual. • Families with Native American roots value community and sharing and often child rearing is shared with the whole community. Families are close to nature feeling that there is a rhythm to life. Family members may seem stoic, controlling their emotions and keeping to themselves—behavior that may be incorrectly interpreted as indifference. Spirituality is based upon nature giving rise to rituals that are a part of the family tradition. • Families with African American roots are often influenced by their history as many have descended from former slaves. Families rely upon one another and extended family members or 'kin' play an important role in family life. Hard work is valued along with shared responsibility and aspiration toward education. Family members are in touch with feelings and may express them to one another openly. Religion plays a significant part in family life. • Families with Hispanic (Latino) roots are diverse with Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban families as the most prevalent. The extended family is important with godparents (padrinos) playing significant roles. Families base their value system on dignidad, respecto, and personalismo. Respecto governs communication, which may inhibit strong negative emotions from being expressed. Religion, which often plays a significant part in family life, tends to be Catholicism although there are increasing numbers of Pentecostals. • Families with Asian roots can be diverse coming from a variety of different countries with diverse traditions and values but it is possible to generalize to some extent. Asian families have clear hierarchical structure with male dominance. Respect and obedience is expected of members and the closely knit family unit complies as it values harmony and dislikes conflict. Religions vary depending on geographic locations and traditions but Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism are the prominent faiths. • Families with Middle Eastern roots are also diverse in their geographic and traditional origins. Many are of Arab descent. The family is valued and multiple generations may live and work together. These patriarchal families value collective achievement. Religion—predominantly Islam, Judaism, and Christianity—is central to family life. • Today, families may also be made up of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender adults (LGBT) raising children. Although it is difficult to identify a specific profile of such families, there are some similarities. Having children is an intentional act, and as a result, the parents often center their lives around the raising of these children. Roles are more likely to be individualistic and not along gender lines. These families may deal with stigma and issues of acceptance from their families of origin. Stresses on Families and how they cope Families are in need of services when they are unable to fill their role of rearing children in an optimal manner. This may be a result of an unoccupied parental role, parental incapacity, interrole conflict, transition issues, and child incapacity issues. • Role definition or inequality occurs when there are no clear expectations of family roles and conflict results. Parent-child relations may also be strained when roles and boundaries are unclear. • When families require assistance, these services fall into three areas: supportive services that are home-based and serve to strengthen the family's ability to function, supplemental services used when the parent is not fulfilling his or her role but might be able to do so with help, and substitute services used as a last resort when parents are unable to care for their children. • Families often have strengths that can be built upon to empower them. Recognizing resilience, defined as the ability to persevere and overcome hardship, is an important piece of a strength-based approach to family case-management and treatment. • Families find resilience in their belief systems, their organizational patterns, and their ability to communicate effectively and solve problems together. Summary for chapter2 Families are changing and may look very different from those in the past. Today, children live with two parents who may be of different or the same sexes, married or living together, or may be raising the children alone as a single parent. Some children are being raised by extended family members, most often grandparents. • The family is a system composed of a series of subsystems and organized by generational boundaries, roles, and rules. Families have unique communication patterns that are sometimes dictated by culture. Genograms are a method of getting a picture of not only the family composition but also family interactions and patterns. • The different family configurations—two-parent, dual-wage-earner, singleparent, and reconstituted or blended families—all have emotional climate. The well-being of children is often determined by how the family members, especially the primary care taker—are able to bond with the child in infancy. Bonding or attachment may be secure, avoidant, ambivalent, or disorganized. Families each have a life cycle that begins when the two adults emancipate from their families of origin and progress through the birth, growth, and launching of their own children. Culture has a significant impact on how families function. The predominant cultures of Anglo-European, Native American, African American, Hispanic, Asian, and Middle Eastern all have distinct values, communications systems, and spiritual beliefs. In addition, same-sex families are a developing culture of their own. • There are numerous stresses for today's families including an unoccupied parental role, parental incapacity, inter-role conflict, transition issues, and child incapacity issues. Each has its own unique way of coping. Services to families fall into three categories: supportive, supplemental services, and substitute services used as a last resort when parents are unable to care for their children. But families have strengths that must be tapped into by the helping system. The family's ability to overcome difficulties is often referred to as resilience, the roots of which can be found in their belief systems, their organizational patterns, and their ability to communicate effectively and problem solve together. Children and Families in Poverty ch3 • Twenty-two percent, or 16 million children, live below the poverty line, an increase of 4 percent since the beginning of the Great Recession. • Forty percent of poor children live in extreme poverty or less than 50 percent of the poverty level (less than $11,746 annually for a family of four). • Forty-four percent of American children are considered low-income: their families' income in no more than twice the poverty threshold. • Absolute poverty is a fixed measure of how much a family of a particular size needs to attain basic goods and services, such as food; this does not include the cost of rent, transportation, childcare, or home heating. • Relative poverty, a more subjective term, refers to those technically above the poverty line but who feel deprived due to having less economic resources than others in the United States. • The self-sufficiency standard identifies the income necessary for a working adult to achieve economic independence for one's family; it accounts for the varying cost of living in different geographic areas. • The southern and western states have higher rates of poverty than the midwestern and northeastern ones. • Children of married couples are least likely to live in poverty. • Generally, children are less likely to live in poverty if their parents have a higher education status and are employed full time. • Children of color and ethnic minorities are disproportionately likely to live in poverty than their white counterparts. • Children of immigrants have higher rates of poverty; nearly one-third live in poverty with higher poverty rates among new immigrants. Currently, about three- fourths of immigrant children living in poverty are of Hispanic origin. ch3-Causes of poverty, Child and Family homelessness The cycle of poverty is a seemingly endless perpetuation of poverty through generations; a lack of social and economic capital traps children in poverty much like their parents. • The Great Recession of 2008 devastated America's economy largely disproportionately affecting citizens of the lower classes and the nation's children. • Although employment rates have reached levels of pre-recession times, the percentage of poor people in the United States continues. Lack of affordable housing and increases in the cost of living contribute to low-income families having difficulty. • Intimate partner violence, disproportionately affecting women, often leaves women and children in emotional and financial crisis due to difficulties with health, school, employment, and unstable housing. • Adolescents who run away from home are at a higher risk for becoming poor or homeless. • Individuals who identify as LGBTQ often leave home due to conflict and disapproval about their sexual orientation, but will often face adversity on the streets or in shelters. • Parental education attainment and employment is correlated with child poverty; maternal education, particularly, plays a large role in children's outcomes. • Due to the substantial medical expenses associated with disabilities, families with at least one disabled person are at a higher risk of being poor and will often rely on federal assistance programs such as SSDI and SSI. • Immigrants, often bringing few financial resources with them to America, are finding it difficult to obtain gainful employment to provide for their families. • There has been an increase in immigration of unaccompanied children. • When illegal immigrant parents are deported, their American-born children are allowed to remain in this country and often face adjustment problems Impact of poverty, Impoverished Environment Children who live in poverty have higher rates of social, emotional, and behavioral problems, and experience poor physical and mental health. • Children who experience poverty at a younger age, or live in deep and persistent poverty, experience the most negative outcomes. • Minority children are disproportionately poor; they are also 1.5 to 2 times more likely to suffer from chronic health conditions, such as asthma, diabetes mellitus, obesity, hypertension, dental problems, ADHD, mental illness, and cancer. • Lack of resources such as transportation and parental flexibility at work can compromise access to quality health care for poor children. • As a result of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), 95 percent of American children now have health insurance. • Children growing up in poverty experience more mental health issues, including externalizing behaviors that can lead to legal involvement, than their more affluent peers. • One in five children experience food insecurity. Due to the difficulty of providing a balanced diet for a family on limited finances, they also are more likely to be obese than their more financially stable peers. • Children who grew up in poverty are more likely to become teenage parents, join gangs, and experience educational difficulties. • Parental stress and lack of resources contribute to higher rates of child neglect than among other socioeconomic groups. • Intimate partner violence not only impacts a child's mental health, but it may lead to homelessness if the children and victimized parent need to leave their home. • Given the stressors that families living in poverty experience, caseworkers are encouraged to be familiar with trauma-focused theory. Why poverty Endures, Shaping the future of Poverty Prevention and services, Public Policy, Civic Action, etc. How to reduce child poverty right now The War on Poverty in the 1960s attempted to change the culture of poverty and a majority of the programs that exist today to help poor children and families can be traced back to the efforts of this time. • Referrals to concrete services for poor families are often the first step in alleviating stress. • The Wraparound Services model embodies an intensive and holistic approach to address complex needs of families struggling with multiple problems; this is done through individualized service planning and collaboration with multiple parties. • The Self Sufficiency Standard has been adopted by the federal government and enables people who are struggling but technically above the poverty threshold to access job training programs and other services. • The McKinney-Vento Act mandates that school districts have homeless liaisons to increase the retention rate of homeless children. • Eight societal changes that have contributed to the high rates of poverty are (1) shift to low-wage jobs, (2) changes in family structure, (3) deteriorating public education, (4) mass incarceration, (5) rise of segregated neighborhoods, (6) increased deep poverty, (7) institutional racism, and (8) a worsening gap between the rich and the poor. • Public policy, civic action, and volunteering are three solutions to fighting poverty. The Children's Defense Fund (2015) suggests that expansion and improvement of programs that already exist, America could spend just 2 percent of its national budget to alleviate child poverty by 60 percent. The estimated $77.2 billion needed to implement the efforts mentioned below would only be about 15 percent of the current annual cost of $500 billion that is spend on the costs associated with children growing up poor due to the various negative outcomes they experience Summary for Chap 3 Twenty-two percent of children live below the poverty line, and 40 percent of them fall under 50 percent of the poverty threshold. Almost half (44%) of families with children are considered low income. There are several measures of poverty: Absolute poverty is a fixed measure of how much a family of a specific household size needs for basic goods and services; relative poverty refers more subjectively to a family's sense of deprivation in relation to its peers despite not meeting federal poverty standards; and the Self-Sufficiency Standard calculates the income necessary for a family to meet its needs without relying on entitlements. Children who live in the southern and western states and immigrants have higher rates of poverty than others; this is a factor in why children of color and ethnic minorities are disproportionately likely to live in poverty. • Families and children find themselves facing economic disadvantages for many reasons. Although our nation has started to rebound from the Great Recession of 2008, changes in employment patterns and low wages have resulted in an increasing number of children and families in poverty. Those with fewer resources to begin with, such as those from marginalized groups, were significantly impacted by the recession and are still struggling to compete with the majority for resources such as employment. Homelessness, a predictor of child poverty, can be caused by a variety of circumstances such as lack of affordable housing, decreased governmental support, Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), and family conflict. Adolescents who run away from or are forced out of their homes, particularly youth who identify as LGBTQ, are at high risk for long-term homelessness. Other predictors of child poverty include the education and employment status of parents; immigration status; and having a family member with a disability. • Children living in poverty often suffer from a number of risk factors associated with lower socioeconomic status, including substandard housing and education, inadequate food, and chronic health conditions. Lack of resources contributes to parental stress, which increases the risk of child maltreatment, substance abuse, mental health issues, and intimate partner violence. Consequently, children living in poverty have higher rates of mental health issues and are more likely to become teenage parents or join gangs as adolescents. Minority children are disproportionately among those struggling with poverty. Given all these stressors, it is helpful for the caseworker to be familiar with trauma- focused theory. Twenty-two percent of children live below the poverty line, and 40 percent of them fall under 50 percent of the poverty threshold. Almost half (44%) of families with children are considered low income. There are several measures of poverty: Absolute poverty is a fixed measure of how much a family of a specific household size needs for basic goods and services; relative poverty refers more subjectively to a family's sense of deprivation in relation to its peers despite not meeting federal poverty standards; and the Self-Sufficiency Standard calculates the income necessary for a family to meet its needs without relying on entitlements. Children who live in the southern and western states and immigrants have higher rates of poverty than others; this is a factor in why children of color and ethnic minorities are disproportionately likely to live in poverty. • Families and children find themselves facing economic disadvantages for many reasons. Although our nation has started to rebound from the Great Recession of 2008, changes in employment patterns and low wages have resulted in an increasing number of children and families in poverty. Those with fewer resources to begin with, such as those from marginalized groups, were significantly impacted by the recession and are still struggling to compete with the majority for resources such as employment. Homelessness, a predictor of child poverty, can be caused by a variety of circumstances such as lack of affordable housing, decreased governmental support, Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), and family conflict. Adolescents who run away from or are forced out of their homes, particularly youth who identify as LGBTQ, are at high risk for long-term homelessness. Other predictors of child poverty include the education and employment status of parents; immigration status; and having a family member with a disability. • Children living in poverty often suffer from a number of risk factors associated with lower socioeconomic status, including substandard housing and education, inadequate food, and chronic health conditions. Lack of resources contributes to parental stress, which increases the risk of child maltreatment, substance abuse, mental health issues, and intimate partner violence. Consequently, children living in poverty have higher rates of mental health issues and are more likely to become teenage parents or join gangs as adolescents. Minority children are disproportionately among those struggling with poverty. Given all these stressors, it is helpful for the caseworker to be familiar with trauma- focused theory. The impact of violence and Addiction on Children Children in the United States are exposed to a variety of forms of violence including crime and violence in the community, exposure to gangs, and school violence including bullying. • A significant percentage of children are killed by guns every year and the presence of constant threat can have a psychological impact. • Not only are children and youth exposed to violence in the community but also the influence of violence comes into the home through the media. TV and other media sources allow youth to view violent acts and can desensitize them to the impact of such violence. • Sports also models using violence to relate and respond to disagreements in inappropriate ways. • Gangs have become increasingly prevalent on American streets—not just in large cities but also in suburban and rural areas. Gangs are both male and female and sometimes organized along ethnic lines. • Bullying has become an increasing problem in American schools, often leading the targets of bullying to become violent themselves. Bullying includes verbal as well as aggressive acts that demean or threaten. The effects of bullying are multifold. More recently bullying has taken a cyber form, which has led to concern over cyberbullying and its impact.