The RC vs. Alabama case changed the development of child welfare programs in Alabama, and perhaps everywhere, forever. RC vs. Alabama is a case in “was filed in United States District Court against the Commissioner of the Department of Human Resources in 1988 on behalf of a child who was then in the custody of DHR. The child, identified only by his initials, R.C., had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The suit alleged that DHR had not maintained systems to ensure that emotionally disturbed or behaviorally disordered foster children were adequately provided for when placed in the foster care system.” (http://www.dhr.alabama.gov) This change in the child welfare laws and programs was extremely important, as stated …show more content…
At the beginning of social welfare programs in the nineteenth century, there was a group of local societies known as Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children who gradually separated in two competing perspectives rescue and preventative. These perspectives started creating the basis for future welfare programs. As concern about child abuse and neglect grew and as a Child Abuse and treatment act of 1974 was introduced and put into place; a system for collecting data on child abuse was created. With this new system, a “preservationist” reaction soon emerged, as did an impression that the system was out of control” (Noonan, K. G., Et Al., 2009). In 1980 the Congress overhauled this child protection regime with the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act (AACW). The compromise put into place from the RC vs. Alabama changed the (AACW) to better fit everyone. After the ruling of the RC vs. Alabama case, the need to make rules declined as the need to customize and adapt arose. “programs that once focused on financial redistribution increasingly link transfer payments to services, and the services are increasingly customized to the needs of individual recipients” (Noonan, K. G., Et Al., …show more content…
Key features of this change that can be found in other states child reform programs as well. The key features in the RC vs. Alabama contract are “commitments to “system investments” or infrastructure development such as equipment acquisition or training for sophisticated information processing systems; increase of caseworkers and supervisors, with a goal towards getting caseloads down to some benchmark and establishment of minimum qualifications for workers” (Noonan, K. G., Et al. 2009). There were also typically commitments “to monitor compliance with a series of procedural and documentation norms.” (Noonan, K. G., Et al, 2009). This approach also gives structure to three themes that have long defined the back ground legislation of the child welfare system. These three themes are customization of service, collaborative decision making and diagnostic monitoring. The model of Alabama and Utah does not have a strict definition. The center of this model shifts is able to shift every agency which is one of the reasons it is so successful, it is able to be shifted to meet the needs of individuals and groups. This is different from the old standards which were are rigid and not as customizable or
Social workers are in a unique position within the child welfare system. While some tenured social workers do work within the political realm, most social workers are consistently face-to-face with clients and their families. This is true also for caseworkers in the foster care system. When policy is enacted by a federal or state government, it is put into action by “street-level bureaucrats,” or practitioners that have direct interactions with clients (Segal, 2020). In this regard, social workers have the most influence over if and how a policy is enacted on the “street
Worcester v. Georgia By Sydney Stephenson Worcester v. Georgia is a case that impacted tribal sovereignty in the United States and the amount of power the state had over native American territories. Samuel Worcester was a minister affiliated with the ABCFM (American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions). In 1827 the board sent Worcester to join its Cherokee mission in Georgia. Upon his arrival, Worcester began working with Elias Boudinot, the editor of the Cherokee Phoenix (the first Native American newspaper in the United States) to translate religious text into the Cherokee language. Over time Worcester became a close friend of the Cherokee leaders and advised them about their political and legal rights under the Constitution and federal-Cherokee treaties.
Kyra Rubin Professor Jennifer Larson English 105i 5 October 2015 Unit 2, Feeder 1 In the 2013 case of Miller v. Alabama, the Supreme Court held that a mandatory minimum sentence of life-without-parole is an unconstitutionally disproportionate punishment for a juvenile. Under the Eighth Amendment protections from cruel and unusual punishment, the Court held that mitigating factors must be considered in determining sentencing for juveniles. The issue in Montgomery v. Louisiana is concerned with whether or not this rule can be applied retroactively; doing so would potentially provide relief for the inmates who are currently serving time after being sentenced to live-without-parole as juveniles, and who didn’t have such mitigating factors considered. Issue: Does the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Miller v. Alabama, which held that the Eighth Amendment prohibits mandatory sentencing schemes that require children convicted of homicide to be sentenced to life in prison without parole, apply retroactively?
Laura Finley states, “Indeed, restoration of the family is achieved in over half the cases of foster care, according to federal statistics. Where this is not possible, permanent adoption is the goal with about twenty percent of foster children. Other children are simply waiting until emancipation…” (Jacobs and Finley). The issue with this view on the foster care system is that its completely sugar coated.
No research to date has indicated that applying harsher penalties or mandating national registries has reduced the recidivism rates among sex offenders, reduced sex trafficking against minors, nor child pornography. Despite the ongoing efforts of The Adam Walsh Act alongside other child safety acts as well, children in the United States are still perishing from sexual and physical abuse each day. According to data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), “49 States reported a total of 1,585 fatalities. Based on these data, a nationally estimated 1,670 children died from abuse or neglect in FFY 2015, which is 5.7 percent more than in 2011. This translates to a rate of 2.25 children per 100,000 children in the general population and an average of nearly five children dying every day from abuse or neglect”.(www.childwarefare.gov) Human Rights Watch shares that “the real risks that children face are quite different: government statistics indicate that most sexual abuse of children are committed by family members or trusted authority figures, and by someone who has not previously been convicted of a sex offense.
Melody believed applying a broad interpretation of state action to this case proved failure of the Wisconsin Department of Social Services to do their job- protecting Joshua. The broad interpretation refers to the extent of state intervention; determining what’s considered a state obligation, and when it’s an intrusion on individual liberties. The broad interpretation of state action in the DeShaney case defined the Department of Social Services’ directly liable for Joshua’s current state (at that time), because the Wisconsin law placed the wellbeing of abused children in the hands of a social worker; who evaluates the situation and determines the best course of action- removing the child, or working through the problem with the family. To
Today’s Child welfare system is a development from what was created during the 1700s. As many may know the operation of DCS was not great during the 1700s but fortunately it has made some great changes. With the changes that have been made there was a time the state of Tennessee’s DCS program was ranked very high but as recent research has shown the current department is not living up to the expectations from the changes made during the 1900s. To help Tennessee’s current system perform better researchers are seeking to create an experiment to compose different methods of operation so that the state’s program can live up to the expectations made during the 1900s. The way researchers plan to execute the research project is by interacting with
Consistent with the value of personalismo, parents stress the importance of a good relationship with their worker and the implications to their case. Child welfare policy is another factor that can impact workers’ abilities to provide culturally congruent services. Conflicts with child welfare workers may arise as policies that guide the public child welfare system practices are child centered and reflect main-stream values influenced by individualistic world views. The findings from this qualitative study indicate that substantial change is required if we truly aim to provide culturally congruent and relevant services to the families served by the public child welfare system. Towards this aim, child welfare practice and policies need (1) to be informed by the families’ perspectives, and (2) to address child welfare workers’ need for training and support.
Department of Children & Families, Div. of Youth & Family Servs. v. T.B., 207 N.J. 294 at 301; New Jersey Dept. of Children and Families v. R.R., 436 N.J. Super. 53 at 60; New Jersey Dep't of Youth & Family Services v. J.L., 410 N.J. Super.
For instance emotional disturbance, specific learning disabilities and autism (Hill, 2009). When a social worker takes a child into custody that child has just became a child of the state or some would say basically their child and responsibility. That leaves the social worker taking that child to doctor appointments and make sure the child is in a foster home that is taking care of the child’s need. The funding for this policy comes from the federal government, state systems, and local systems (A legacy training module from NICHCY, 2014). Most children that are in the system are supplied with Medicaid, and sometimes receives a check from the government if they are physically disabled or
Many of the placements are done to carry out the systems policies and other placements are done if foster parents don’t meet the child needs. Children are less likely to be moved many times if a foster family is prepared to meet the child 's challenging needs. The foster care system is also in need of more social workers that will ensure that the child is placed in a good family so that they are not moved several times. Plenty of placements are also done if the child is initially placed in short-term care but needs to be moved to long term. However, the more changes a child experiences decreases the chance of them returning home or being adopted.
This book raised awareness to authorities on the kind of treatment happening and proposed a change for foster institutions and homes to be monitored. The story began by Ms. Rita, Jennings’s mom, walking Jennings to an orphanage called Home of the Angels. My initial reactions after reading the first chapter was how a mother could just leave her kid with anybody. The book immediately gained my
McKeen (2006) explains that the framework of the current child welfare approaches was directed from the dominant discourse of ‘national children’s agenda’ initiatives. Since then, there have been many major changes happened in the mainstream social policy in child welfare sector. The national and global political influences and world economic pressure forces federal and provincial governments to control the social security and welfare programs and it reflects in child welfare system too (McKeen, 2006). Politics in Canada has a serious notion on key ideologies while restructuring child welfare policies (McKeen, 2006). Ontario’s Child and Family service Act 1984, was developed on the principle of minimal family intervention with a view that children need to be protected in their own homes (Dumbrill, 2006b).
It changed the role of the parent to one of responsibility and not a right over the child or young person. This act outlines the duties of people who work with or around children and how they should work with other services or agencies to keep children safe and protected. The welfare of the child or young person must always
As I watched the documentary “Road Beyond Abuse,” I experienced a whirlwind of emotions. From disgusted and disappointed to impressed and joyful, I felt it all. It truly disturbed me to hear about the experiences both Michael McCain and Johnnetta McSwain endured. I was disgusted that no one protected these innocent children from being verbally abused, beaten, raped, and left to fend for themselves. It was shocking to hear that these children withstood this amount of abuse from their family members until they were teenagers.