In History of Prevention: Part 1, we learned that, in the 1800s, prevention services involved providing a safe place for children to reside, where they would no longer experience abuse. History of Prevention: Part 2 saw that in the 1910s-1960s, prevention services grew to include keeping children in low-income families with their parents.
Prevention in the 1970s-2000s: Prevention becomes removing children from their home to prevent further abuse and/or neglect
What caused the shift?
- The removal of children was cheaper than providing services to low-income parents1
What did this look like?
- The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA): Passed in 1974, CAPTA provided--and continues to provide--Federal funding to states for prevention, assessment, investigation, prosecution, and treatment activitites. Additionally, CAPTA implemented mandatory reporting laws2
- Mandatory reporting laws led to rapid growth in the number of youth placed in foster care3
- Prevention services, under CAPTA, meant: (1) Services for infants born with prenatal drug exposure, (2) referrals to community services for children not at risk of imminent harm, (3) the implementation of criminal record checks for prospective foster and adoptive parents, (4) training child protective service workers, (5) protecting the legal rights of families and alleged perpetrators, and (6) supportive citizen review panels4
- Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF): In 1996, Congress repealed 'Aid to Dependent Children' and replaced it with TANF5
- Unlike its predecessor, TANF offered time-limited benefits and required single parents to find employment
Throughout history, how society provided prevention services was impacted by what they viewed as the problem and the solution. In the 1970s-2000s, the problem was abusive and/or neglectful parents and the solution was the emoval of those chidlren from the home and placement in foster homes.
Stay tuned for our final blog in the series, “History of Prevention Services: Part 4” coming soon!
Sources:
1 Child Welfare: A Brief History
2 About CAPTA: A Legislative History
3 A Brief Legislative History of the Child Welfare System
4 Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) State Grants
5Child Welfare: A Brief History
Check out the whole series!