Problem:
Children poverty is a major challenge for the United States social welfare, with more than 11 million children affected by the challenge, emphasizing the need for systemic change to address the inequalities and challenges faced by this vulnerable population. A social welfare problem that impacts many children throughout the United States is poverty. As of 2023, 11 million children are living in poverty, including 1 in 6 children living in poverty, including 1 in 7 children of color and 1 in 6 children under 5 (Children's Defense Fund). Children are the poorest age group in the United States. Poverty first came about and was strongly influenced by social welfare through religion. According to (Chapin & Lewis 2023), "The major religious and spiritual practices of these societies require their adherents to care for people who are poor, these individual obligations gave rise to increasingly sophisticated institutions and systems of relief. At the same time, powerful members of the ruling elite were careful to maintain social and economic barriers that oppressed poor people and protected their own privilege". The welfare structures that evolved to address poverty also serve as social control, which continues today. There is still tension between providing assistance and fearing more help would lead to negative enabling.
Children living in poverty deserve support, but there are mixed feelings about it. For example, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program that helps low-income families with children, but some people believe those parents are not deserving of help. Many people focus on work and worry that cash assistance might discourage people from finding jobs, leading to less help for families in need. This focus on limiting cash assistance often overlooks the issue of child poverty. Children in poverty face many challenges that affect their education and their social skills. When they go through tough experiences and feel insecure, it is di for them to concentrate and behave well because they don't have basic necessities like food, hygiene products, proper education, a safe home, and clothing. They may also face delays in their growth due to traumatic experiences during childhood.
Injustices:
Child poverty, from an ethical point of view, is a worldwide injustice. Millions of children are experiencing severe deprivation of necessities like food, shelter, and education. The structural and institutional racism in our policies that often operate independently of individual intent perpetuate a cycle of poverty and economic immobility for people of color. The government and social welfare programs, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), emphasize work; However, they have to guarantee 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 make a sufficient income to care for them. Therefore, their necessities are not being met. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program TANF puts strict work requirements and time limits, and recipients can be sanctioned for a variety of infractions (Chapin & Lewis 2023). According to Children's Defense Funds, we have to provide basic cash assistance to low-income families with children to pay for groceries, rent, diapers, clothing, and other basic necessities. Also, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in a monthly basis to make sure young children's nutritional needs are met daily; they can academically retain what they learn in school and become healthy.
From a comprehensive point of view, according to research children who live in poverty are at a higher risk for health issues, including mental health disorders, higher rates of early adult death, and higher infant mortality rates, largely due to malnutrition and limited access to quality healthcare. Families who live in poverty often have to send their children to schools with the worst quality facilities, resulting to poor quality of education. Consequently, these children are less likely to graduate from high school or pursue college education. Additionally, they are more prone to experience homelessness or live in a poorly maintained housing. Furthermore, children who are growing up in poverty and high-crime areas are at a greater risk of being victims of crime and participating in criminal behavior.
Social Policy
The Poor Law of 1601 put for able-bodied experiencing poverty to work to stabilize and prevent social disorder. According to (Chapin & Lewis 2023), 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 and authorized a tax to raise funds for relief. Justices of the peace in every parish were empowered to appoint officials known as overseers of people experiencing poverty to supervise relief programs. As I mentioned before this law pursued to further authorized a tax to raise funds for relief. A subsequent law, the Act of Settlement of 1662, restricted aid to people who were born in the parish or who were long-term residents (Cannon, 1997; Olsen, 1999; Rowse,1950). This law embodied the principle of local responsibility, which mandated that each locality was responsible for helping only its residents. Local authorities were tasked with poor relief, but in practice, they punished poverty. Families were often torn apart when children were forced into apprenticeships or workhouses, creating a cycle of child poverty.
In page thirty Chapin & Lewis (2023), The Poor Law of 1601 codified traditional distinctions between the "worthy" and "unworthy" poor a demarcation that continues to characterize much social welfare policy, at least implicitly. 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 as a condition of assistance. Many social policies enacted in the 1600s in England still remain in force implicitly, shaping modern perceptions of poverty, work, and community responsibility. Children today are still "worthy" and "unworthy" of resources because of their parent's income.
Social Work Profession
Social work as profession is to always to help the vulnerable people like children and their families 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 & Lewis (2023), 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.
Provide one conclusion paragraph to your critical reflection paper. Summarize what you wrote in your paper. Discuss any final thoughts you have on this topic. Need Assignment Help?