CAPTA was created to bring a federal focus to preventing and responding to child abuse and neglect in the United States by offering funding to states and non-profit organizations for programs that address this important issue.
HHS created the Child Welfare Information Gateway which contains a wide range of information and statistics on child abuse and neglect. Although CAPTA set national standards for what child abuse means, each state has the freedom to set its own specifications, and these can vary across the spectrum. To this end, six additional pieces of legislation were passed between and that dealt with concerns ranging from ending foster care drift to the inclusion of community agencies in protective service delivery.
The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of created Title IV-E of the Social Security Act and established the first federal rules to govern child welfare case management, permanency planning, and foster care placement reviews.
States were also required to develop reunification and preventative programs for foster care and assure that children in non-permanent settings were seen at least every six months. This legislation also created the Court Improvement Program, which enabled state courts to assess innovative methods of improving family court performance. In , Congress authorized a Child Welfare Waiver program similar to the Court Improvement Program that would enable state agencies to test new approaches to delivering and financing child welfare services.
The U. Department of Health and Human Services grants waivers annually to states through its discretionary grants program. The Adoption and Safe Families Act of was created in response to criticisms that inadequate resources were devoted to adoption as a permanent placement option for abused children, that the child welfare system was more concerned with family preservation than with child protection, and that too many children languished indefinitely in the foster care system.
It also expanded the Family Preservation and Family Support Services Program, now called Promoting Safe and Stable Families, to provide additional funding for adoption promotion and support activities and for time-limited family reunification services.
The funding is used for four core purposes: family preservation, community-based family support services, time-limited reunification services, and adoption promotion and support services. The Act gave the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program new authority to fund a voucher program for the postsecondary education and training of children who have aged out of the foster care system. The Act also allowed the Promoting Safe and Stable Families program to support mentorship programs for children of incarcerated parents.
Department of Health and Human Services HHS is the principal federal agency that regulates and funds federal child welfare initiatives. The Administration for Children and Families ACF , an operating division of HHS, is responsible for federal programs that promote the economic and social well being of families, children, individuals and communities.
Within the ACF, the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families ACYF administers the major Federal programs supporting social services promoting growth and development of children and their families, protective services for children in at-risk situations, and adoption for children with special needs.
Each of the state grant programs has its own legislatively mandated matching requirement and formula for allocation, but all require that funds be administered only by the state child welfare agency or in some programs, Indian Tribes or Tribal organizations.
The state agency is then authorized to contract with other public agencies and with private agencies for the direct provision of appropriate services.
ACF policy requires a match from the grantees for all discretionary grant projects other than research. The systems administered by CB are:. The CFSR measures outcomes and results by examining case file documentation, and allows states to undertake corrective action if they are not found in substantial conformity with the law.
The CFSR takes place in two phases, consisting of a Statewide Assessment and an onsite review of child and family service outcomes and program systems.
Secondly, a joint Federal-State team performs an onsite review of the State child welfare program. The onsite portion of the review includes: 1 case record reviews, 2 interviews with children and families engaged in services, and 3 interviews with community stakeholders, such as the courts and community agencies, and caseworkers and service providers. At the end of the onsite review, States determined not to have achieved substantial conformity in all the areas assessed are required to develop and implement Program Improvement Plans PIPs addressing the areas of nonconformity.
States that do not achieve their required improvements sustain penalties as prescribed in the Federal regulations. No State was found to be in substantial conformity in all of the seven outcome areas or seven systemic factors. Federal Funding Federal Funding State child welfare systems receive funding from a variety of federal sources, the majority of which stem from the U.
Department of Health and Human Services. Title IV-E is the largest source of federal funding. It is a permanently authorized, open-ended entitlement that provides reimbursement to states for every eligible child placed in a licensed foster home or institution or adopted from foster care. Under Title IV-E, states are reimbursed for 1 monies provided to foster and adoptive families that cover the cost of food, shelter, and clothing, 2 the cost incurred by the state agency through placement and administrative duties, and 3 training for staff and foster or adoptive parents.
It is important to note that the process of determining which families meet eligibility requirements and filing appropriate paperwork is itself a drain on state resources. Furthermore, the standards set in have not been adjusted for inflation, leaving fewer and fewer children eligible for federal reimbursement. Title IV-B provides more flexible funding in comparison to Title IV-E because it does not contain any eligibility restrictions regarding which families can receive aid with these funds; however, it is also a much smaller resource, representing only 5 percent of all federal child welfare spending in SFY There are two important subparts to this amendment.
The first, known as the Child Welfare Services Program, provides for matching grants to states for a variety of child welfare services predominantly but not exclusively targeted at enabling children to remain in their homes whenever possible.
The second, called Promoting Safe and Stable Families, is a capped state entitlement that can be used for prevention, family preservation, time-limited family reunification, or adoption promotion and support. Moreover, as it is not indexed for inflation its true value continues to shrink, dropping States are given considerable flexibility in determining which programs and individuals are to be served with this funding and therefore many states allocate money from this grant to child protection rather than to other child welfare programs.
States use TANF funds to provide parenting classes, mental health counseling, or substance abuse treatment — programs which fall under the federal guideline of providing assistance to families so that children may be cared for in their own homes. States are also permitted to allocate TANF money for kinship care payments.
The current financing system has been widely criticized for its inflexibility. The vast majority of dedicated federal funding requires that a child be removed from their biological families. Oftentimes, the provision of basic services to a family has to be forgone because funding is exclusively designated for children placed in foster care. Open-ended federal funding sources that specifically target the prevention of child abuse and neglect are relatively limited; for these efforts, states often depend on money designated for child welfare programs, including foster care and adoption.
Thus, states are restricted in terms of their choices regarding aid for a child who has been a victim of abuse or neglect. Finally, in order to maximize federal aid for child protection programs, states must expend a considerable administrative effort that not only slows the entire funding process but also diverts resources from direct service provision.
Every child in every child welfare proceeding, including foster care and dependency proceedings, should be provided with competent independent legal counsel. The safety, stability and well being of children involved in these proceedings are highly dependent upon competent legal representation of all parties, including the young people whose lives are at issue.
The following principles are designed to promote the safety, stability and well being of children through the provision of high quality legal services for child clients. Legal representation provided by an attorney trained in child law and practice allows the child equal access to justice. Children, like adults, are deserving of and entitled to representation that protects their interests, expresses their wishes, and gives them meaningful access to the courts.
Only lawyers sufficiently trained and financially supported to represent children can provide effective assistance of counsel to their clients. A child has a fundamental liberty interest in his or her own safety, health and well-being as well as in maintaining the integrity of the family unit and in having a relationship with his or her biological parents. A child in state custody continues to have these fundamental liberty interests as well as a right to safe living conditions and services necessary to ensure protection from physical, psychological and emotional harm and to secure permanency in a safe, loving family.
These fundamental liberty interests are separate and distinct from the interests of parents, guardians, or the state. Independent counsel owes the child client the same duties of zealous representation, undivided loyalty and confidentiality ethically required of counsel for adults. A child involved in a child protective, foster care or dependency proceeding shall be considered a party to that proceeding, having the right to pursue legal remedies, to initiate legal proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction and to express him- or herself, with the assistance of counsel, to the court or hearing officer.
Prior to any judicial disposition, a child shall have the opportunity to express his or her views and wishes to the court, personally or through a lawyer. Attorneys are ethically required to bring the fullness of their experiences to representing their child clients.
This includes counseling the client against the particular outcome desired by the client where the attorney believes that outcome to be contrary to the interests of the client. Any attorney with legal responsibility for the representation of a child who has an open child welfare case must have full access to all information that bears upon the safety and well being of the child including services being provided to the child and family, the permanency plan, and steps being taken to secure permanency for the child, consistent with state and federal law.
Court-appointed special advocates CASA and lay Guardians Ad Litem GAL can be valuable sources of support for children in maltreatment and dependency proceedings but cannot substitute for independent counsel for the child. Attorneys representing children, parents and guardians and agencies in child welfare cases, as well as judicial officers presiding over those cases, can be assisted by guidelines for such case practice such as those standards set by the American Bar Association, the National Association of Counsel for Children and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.
Encouraging application of rules of practice nationally through such measures as fiscal incentives may contribute to heightened adherence to desired standards of practice. Congress should encourage the development of national and state professional standards to ensure that attorneys representing children in maltreatment and dependency cases are trained in child law and provide effective representation to their child clients. A child at issue in a maltreatment or dependency case be presumed competent and entitled to contribute to his or her representation absent a showing that he or she is unable to do so.
Appointment of traditional, client-directed representation for a child in a maltreatment or dependency proceeding be mandatory and occur prior to any adversary hearing. No person in any representative capacity, be it CASA, GAL, AAL or attorney, represent a child in any proceeding without proper training in child advocacy law as determined by the individual states. Training requirements must also be met by attorneys representing state and local child protective service and social service systems.
Lawyers be trained and practice in accordance with the standards arrived at by the American Bar Association. Each state report on its current representation model and standards, stated goals for the representation of children, and steps being taken towards their implementation. Strict penalties should attach for states that delay in complying with such standards to protect children.
Reject any proposed legislation that weakens a state or federal position on the need for competent, trained legal advocates working for abused, neglected and dependent children. For children with disabilities and those who have lost one or both of their parents, the Foster Children Self Support Act requires states serving as representative payee to use the Social Security benefits of those children for their immediate and future needs rather than as a state revenue source.
As a result of how the benefits of these vulnerable children are used, scarce assets that belong to the child are not available to them as they transition to adulthood and try to achieve independence. Just as parents work hard to raise children who will become self sufficient, we should work hard to prepare foster youth to have the same capabilities. Key provisions of this bill would:. To date, federal legislation has not mandated minimum education requirements for the GAL, and no caseload restrictions are in place to ensure that every child receives a fundamental standard of care.
Attorney representation allows the child equal access to justice and to have his or her own voice heard in a court of law. In , Congress provided the first representatives for children in abuse and neglect cases through the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act. Court action should be triggered after a specific number of days in voluntary care not fewer than 30 days, but not more than 90 days.
The best interest advocate may be a lawyer or a lay person, such as a court-appointed special advocate, or CASA. A lawyer appointed as a best interest advocate shall function as otherwise set forth in state law.
This act recognizes the right of every child to have quality legal representation and a voice in any abuse, neglect, dependency, or termination of parental rights proceeding, regardless of developmental level. Nothing in this Act precludes a child from retaining a lawyer.
States should provide a lawyer to a child who has been placed into state custody through a voluntary placement arrangement. A best interest advocate does not replace the appointment of a lawyer for the child.
Because this Act deals specifically with lawyers for children, it will not further address the role of the best interest advocate. The child is entitled to conflict-free representation and the applicable rules of professional conduct must be applied in the same manner as they would be applied for lawyers for adults. A lawyer representing siblings should maintain the same lawyer-client relationship with respect to each child.
Lawyers for children shall be familiar with all relevant federal, state, and local applicable laws. States should establish minimum training requirements for lawyers who represent children. Such training should focus on applicable law, skills needed to develop a meaningful lawyer-client relationship with child-clients, techniques to assess capacity in children, as well as the many interdisciplinary issues that arise in child welfare cases.
The lawyer needs to spend enough time on each abuse and neglect case to establish a lawyer-client relationship and zealously advocate for the client. States are encouraged to conduct caseload analyses to determine guidelines for lawyers representing children in abuse and neglect cases.
The organization or program shall designate the lawyer who will act in that capacity and notify the parties and the court of the name of the assigned lawyer as soon as practicable.
The lawyer may, with the permission of the court, arrange for supplemental or separate counsel to handle proceedings at an appellate stage.
In order to comply with the duties outlined in this section, lawyers must have caseloads that allow realistic performance of these functions. Having one lawyer represent the child across multiple proceedings is valuable because the lawyer is better able to understand and fully appreciate the various issues as they arise and how those issues may affect other proceedings. This explanation should occur during the first meeting so the client understands the terms of the relationship. The lawyer should maintain regular and ongoing contact with the child throughout the case.
The lawyer should, without unduly influencing the child, advise the child by providing options and information to assist the child in making decisions. The lawyer should explain the practical effects of taking various positions, the likelihood that a court will accept particular arguments, and the impact of such decisions on the child, other family members, and future legal proceedings.
The presumption of diminished capacity is rebutted if, in the sole discretion of the lawyer, the child is deemed capable of directing representation.
The lawyer shall, as far as reasonably possible, maintain a normal client-lawyer relationship with the client and fulfill the duties as outlined in Section 7 b of this Act. Data on sexual violence is scarce and is mainly based on reporting of cases. This means that figures underestimate of the magnitude of the problem, especially as many cases go unreported.
Progress has been made in generating social awareness, enhancing legislation and nurturing action towards ending violence, abuse and exploitation of children, but more needs to be done to ensure survivors and their families benefit from sensitive, timely and efficient protection and services. UNICEF in India works on include strengthening child protection systems, child marriage, children on the move, strengthening family-based care, child labour, violence against children and gender-based violence, adolescent participation and engagement, and mental health and psychosocial support MHPSS.
UNICEF focuses on implementation of key child protection legislation and promotion of practices that protect children from violence, abuse and exploitation. Building on increasing awareness towards child abuse in India, UNICEF can play a major role in enhancing two missing elements of the government action: prevention and rehabilitation of survivors of child abuse and exploitation.
Prevention is central to UNICEF programming as it is the most effective way to deal with child sexual abuse and exploitation. Priority is given to promoting social protection programmes which incentivize the reduction of child labour and child marriage. A key area of work for UNICEF is to strengthen and advocate for effective delivery of preventive and response child protection services in selected states. Working in coordination with the Government of India, 17 state governments and civil society organizations, UNICEF is creating the building blocks of a child protection system, including financial and human resources, financial institutions, delivery of programmes and monitoring and evaluation.
UNICEF and its India partners are working together to ensure that children are protected from work and exploitation which is harmful to their development. They are working to ensure that children remain in economically stable family homes and get the opportunity to go to school and be educated.
UNICEF joins hands with government, civil society organizations and other partners in building communities and families where children are safe and free of abuse and exploitation. India is home to million child brides. Guidelines for declaring a community free of child marriage. Most lawsuits must be filed within a certain amount of time from when the crime was committed or discovered.
Statutes of limitations vary from state to state and claim to claim. They also differ for criminal versus civil claims. States also vary in how they classify types of abuse. You can also read more and see a listing of statutes by state at www.
Legislation serves to keep children free from exploitation, harm, and danger. We use cookies to give you the best browsing experience possible.
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