Problem:
Injustices Child poverty, from an ethical perspective, is a global injustice. Many children lack adequate food, shelter, and educational opportunities. There is systemic and institutional racism and discrimination embedded in our institutions and our policies that make it difficult for communities, especially communities of color living in poverty, to progress. The government and social welfare programs, such as TANF, emphasize work. However, they must ensure a living wage and support for families and their children. Many children are living in poverty with parents who make low hourly wages and do not earn sufficient income to care for them. Therefore, their needs are not being met. TANF imposes strict work requirements and time limits, and recipients can be sanctioned for a variety of infractions (Chapin, 2020). According to Children's Defense Funds (2023), we must strengthen Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) in order to fight for racial justice and help families afford basic necessities like meals, a trip to the laundromat, and diapers. As well as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) monthly benefits to ensure kids' nutritional needs are being met and they can grow healthy.
From a biopsychosocial perspective, children living in poverty are likely to have health issues, including mental illness, early adult mortality, and infant mortality, due to inadequate nutrition and lack of money for good health care. Impoverished people typically attend schools with inadequate facilities and receive insufficient schooling. Therefore, kids are less likely to complete high school and college. Moreover, they are also most likely to be homeless or live in neglected housing. Lastly, children living in poverty and high-crime neighborhoods are more likely to become crime victims or commit a crime.
Social Policy
The Poor Law of 1601 put people experiencing poverty to work to stabilize and prevent social disorder. According to Chapin (2020), In 1597, Parliament agreed to consider the issue, and in 1601, the government passed the Act for the Relief of the Poor, more commonly called the Poor Law of 1601. This law created a uniform system for addressing poverty and unemployment. Justices of the peace in every parish were empowered to appoint officials known as overseers of people experiencing poverty to supervise relief programs. The law further authorized a tax to raise funds for relief... A subsequent law, the Act of Settlement of 1662, restricted assistance to people who were born in the parish or who were long-term residents. This law embodied the principle of local responsibility, which mandated that each locality was responsible for helping only its residents. Therefore, local authorities were responsible for housing, providing jobs, and helping care for people experiencing poverty in their parish. However, parents who were unable to afford their children were punished as the children worked in workhouses and were utilized as apprentices, leaving many children without families and living in poverty.
According to Chapin (2020), The Poor Law of 1601 codified traditional distinctions between the "worthy" and "unworthy" poor-a demarcation that continues to characterize much social welfare policy. For the "worthy poor," the law instructed towns to raise "competent sums of money for and toward the necessary relief of the lame, impotent, old, blind, and such other among them, being poor and not able to work." Towns could also use tax monies to assist unemployed people who were capable of working, but only by "setting to work all such persons." In other words, all non-disabled people seeking aid, including children whose parents could not support them, were expected to work. Today's policies passed in the 1600s in England still influence many of our current social policies. Children today are still "worthy" and "unworthy" of resources because of their parent's income.
Social Work Profession
The social worker's position is always to support vulnerable populations like children as they are economically disadvantaged and frequently exposed to violence, abuse, substance use, and environmental threats. As well as systemic barriers such as discrimination and inequalities that comprise their development and well-being. According to Chapin (2020), In 1974, the federal government became involved in child abuse prevention with the passage of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA). The law provided states with federal funds with which to develop reporting systems for the investigation of child abuse and neglect. To treat and prevent child maltreatment.
However, according to the Children's Defense Fund, A child is removed from their home and placed into foster care every two minutes. Neglect, often a proxy for the consequences of poverty, is the most common driver of child welfare involvement, and, too often, families are broken apart for reasons that could have been prevented if they were supported to overcome poverty, mental illness, and substance use... Children left with no permanent family or connection with caring adults have no one to turn to for social, emotional, or financial support and face numerous barriers as they struggle to become self-sufficient adults. For kids who do enter the child welfare system, there needs to be more stability as transitions cause traumas and separation from families. Family stability and support must be emphasized when exploring resolutions to remove barriers to children's success, medical and behavioral health care, and overall well-being when left to fend for themselves.
Social Identities
I chose this social welfare concern because I have been interested in child poverty since pursuing my degree in social work and working with low-income communities and children experiencing poverty. As a family specialist, there have been many times when I have observed a child's needs not being met, even with the welfare system involved. I am passionate about children's well-being and physical and mental health, especially those from marginalized communities. I am from a minority ethnic group, being that I am a Latina woman and a workingclass individual. My social identities intertwine with many of the children I work with as our stories and experiences relate. In the same way, I have cultural competence. I am still learning and practicing cultural humility to understand better and support children experiencing poverty. Explain this essay. Need Assignment Help?