Adoption Opportunities
A Board that would be responsible for the interpretation and implementation of the provisions that are provided within the Act to prevent the issues that are related to child abuse was formed. This Board referred to as the State Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board were set up as an independent body within the department of management and budget. This Board was given the powers to oversee all the issues that are related to the abuse of the welfare of the children, as well as the legal actions to be taken against the persons who are regarded as having gone against the provisions of the Act (Davis & Gidycz, 2000). Such actions of the caretakers of the children must have violated the rights of the children as shown in the Act and subsequently resulted in harm that can be classified as an abuse under the Act.
The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act has come a along way and has experienced several amendments in the wake on increasing child abuse occurrences. Some of the strengths of this act are that the act has succeeded in eliminating the otherwise significant problem of child abuse in the U.S. Prior to the enactment of the act, the existing policies regarding child abuse and neglect were found to be ineffective in controlling the occurrences of children’s rights violation. This is what necessitated the need for a more detailed law detailing the parental obligations as well as initiating federal programs to cater for the provision of essential necessities to children victims of child abuse and neglect. This explains why this act has been amended severally to include the Adoption Opportunities program and Abandoned Infants Assistance Act.
However, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act have failed in identifying the underplaying factors in the society that lead to child abuse or neglect. It is not always a matter of policy but rather, it is the application of strong moral discipline not only in the U.S. but in other countries as well that will help curb the frequency of child abuse and neglect. We must first evaluate the underplaying factors that somehow seem to contribute to child abuse and neglect such as poverty, drugs and substance abuse as well as moral degradation. By evaluating these factors, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act will only act as code of ethics under which citizens are required by the law to abide to but the real discipline comes from the people themselves.
In relation to the B.S.W.- core competencies and practice behavior, policies should have the capability to advocate for social well beign rather than punishing those who go against the law. This is going by the fact that policies should more or less by the guiding factors in the society and not appear punitive in any manner whatsoever.
There is a code of ethics that guide self conduct as well as the application of work ethical principles in a professional setting. The social setting is seen as having a significant effect on how children and their parents relate. It is therefore the social interactive environment that is laid out that affects the social wellbeing not only of children but also for adults in the society. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act should therefore incorporate core competency areas that reflect standards of an individual with respect to how he/she related to others in the society.
