Final Project milestone

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Final Project Milestone 3: Social Advocacy Proposal

Brief Synopsis of the Social Problem:

The social problem is child sex abuse. Wekerle and Black (2017) defined child sexual abuse as when an adult or older individual uses a child for sexual stimulation. Cases of child sexual abuse have been rising in the United States and other parts of the globe. Statistics indicate that more than 65,000 children are abused every year in the US (Wekerle & Black, 2017). Also, about one in five adult women and one in thirteen men were abused in their childhood (ages 0-17 years). In addition, approximately 120 million girls and young women below 20 years report having experienced some form of forced sexual contact (Wekerle & Black, 2017).

Brief Synopsis of the Policy:

The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) of 1974 has existed for about 48 years to address child sex abuse in the US. Congress enacted the policy in 1974, and it focuses on preventing child abuse and neglect through funding states that have integrated approaches for dealing with child abuse and neglect (Clay et al., 2019). CAPTA addresses the child sexual abuse problem by providing funding to states to support prevention, examination, investigation, prosecution, and treatment activities associated with child abuse and neglect. Since its enactment, the policy has undergone several changes and amendments. For instance, it was amended by the Victims of Child Abuse Act Reauthorization Act of 2018 in 2019 (Clay et al., 2019). The policy receives overwhelming bi-partisan support in Congress and the House of Representatives.

Explain the Selection of a Policy:

The social worker selected the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) of 1974 as a policy to promote change and reduce child sex abuse due to its holistic approach. Typically, CAPTA tackles the child sexual abuse problem by providing funding to states to support prevention, examination, investigation, prosecution, and treatment activities associated with child abuse and neglect. In this sense, the policy attacks the child sex issue from all angles, from prevention to treatment of survivors, which is critical in ending this problem (Drury et al., 2019). The strategy is like holding the "snake's" head and tail. The policy has a better chance of eliminating child sex abuse in the US. For example, the federal government gives sufficient financial support to the states and participates in developing intervention measures that will effectively operationalize the policy, leading to better outcomes.

Person or Group who Enacted the Policy:

Congress enacted the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) of 1974. The motivation behind the legislation was to establish a single national focus for preventing and addressing child abuse and neglect. Also, rising child abuse and neglect cases before 1974 and the need to safeguard children indiscriminately might have led to the policy's enactment. The reason for advocating for CAPTA is the same as mine, to protect our children from abuse and allow them to grow to their full potential with high self-esteem.

Ways in which the Policy Impacts the Population and the Consequences:

CAPTA impacts the population, mainly survivors or families affected by the abuse, by improving their morale or motivation. It assures them that the state, through local agencies, has the funds to expedite the investigation and prosecution of their cases. Also, the policy promotes child safety in the community, which enhances the overall security by eliminating adverse implications like criminal behaviors associated with the long-term effects of child sexual abuse. The intended consequence of the policy is to end child abuse, while the unintended one comprises improved community security and increased child education attendance.

Plan for Social Advocacy:

The social worker's plan is not for the policy to entirely change but advocate for improvements that would enhance its effectiveness in addressing child sexual abuse. I will advocate for increasing more funds to the states to help them respond to the social problem adequately. Also, the states should direct more funds and effort towards prevention measures because making it difficult for child sexual abuse to happen would save the responsible agencies money and time examining, investigating, and prosecuting the abuse cases (Banton & West, 2020). The prevention measures should start from the family level since there have also been reports of sibling sexual abuse (Tener et al., 2020). No area should be spared.

References:

Banton, O., & West, K. (2020). Gendered perceptions of sexual abuse: investigating the effect of offender, victim, and observer gender on the perceived seriousness of child sexual abuse. Journal of child sexual abuse, 29(3), 247-262.

Clay, A. L., Okoniewski, K. C., & Haskett, M. E. (2019). Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA). The encyclopedia of child and adolescent development, 1-10.

Drury, A. J., Elbert, M. J., & DeLisi, M. (2019). Childhood sexual abuse is significantly associated with subsequent sexual offending: new evidence among federal correctional clients. Child abuse & neglect, 95, 104035.

Tener, D., Tarshish, N., & Turgeman, S. (2020). "Victim, perpetrator, or just my brother?" Sibling sexual abuse in large families: A child advocacy center study. Journal of interpersonal violence, 35(21-22), 4887-4912.

Wekerle, C., & Black, T. (2017). Gendered violence: Advancing evidence-informed research, practice and policy in addressing sex, gender, and child sexual abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 66, 166–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.03.010