week 4

2

Current Social Problem: Child Maltreatment

Tenea Lewis

Social Policy: Analysis and Advocacy

June 7,2026

Current Social Problem: Child Maltreatment

Child maltreatment is a widespread social issue that undermines the fundamental rights of children to safety, nurturing and healthy development. It is an insidious problem that affects all levels of society and needs urgent attention from social workers and social justice policy advocates. This paper provides a look at the history of child maltreatment identification, how it has affected vulnerable populations, how it is incongruous with social work ethics, and what are the next steps to identify a policy that could help to address this long-standing problem.

Child Maltreatment and Vulnerable Population

Child maltreatment refers to physical, emotional, and sexual abuse; and neglect or exploitation that causes actual or potential harm to a child's health, survival, development, or dignity. It is a complex and widespread issue, which is more prevalent in lower income families but exists in all families. The impact is profound and enduring. They include loss of physical and mental health throughout life, cognitive deficits, behavioral issues, psychopathology, and intergenerational cycles of adversity. Children, especially those at an early developmental stage are the population most directly affected. Infants and toddlers are at the greatest risk, with more than 60% of fatal maltreatment cases involving children below three years old (CDC, 2025). In addition, children from minority racial/ethnic groups and female children are overrepresented in child maltreatment.

Historical Identification and Actions Taken

While the problem of child maltreatment has long been around since the dawn of civilization, systematic recognition and response were developed not long ago. The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) was passed in 1974 as the modern child protection movement took hold in the United States. CAPTA gave States federal funds to enhance response systems (Chasnoff et al., 2018). With the advent of “neglect” as a criterion for reporting maltreatment, the number of reported cases jumped from 60,000 in 1974 to one million in 1980 and then to two million in 1990. Responses to child abuse and neglect slowly moved toward a more holistic response, such as mandated child reporting laws, child protective services, family preservation services, and, more recently, child abuse prevention-based laws and policies, including those that provide economic supports. These efforts have not fully succeeded and almost 1% of U.S. children ages 0-17 were substantiated as maltreated annually.

Changes in Affected Populations Over Time

There have been significant changes in the populations impacted by child maltreatment. Child maltreatment was viewed historically as being a poverty-related and moral issue. Nowadays, studies have shown that it is a problem that affects all socioeconomic classes, but still, poverty is a great risk factor. Racial and ethnic disparities have become more prominent contributing factors, whereby, children of minority racial and ethnic groups, especially Black and Hispanic children, are disproportionately reported and substantiated. Moreover, recognition has been extended to cover emotional abuse, witnessing domestic violence as well as child trafficking. Geographic differences have also been noted, with scholars using “lifetime risk of child protective services involvement” to find out which populations are at highest risk of system contact.

Incongruence with Social Work Values and Ethics

Child maltreatment is in fundamental conflict with the core social work values and ethics such as service, social justice, dignity and worth of the individual, and integrity. Children's protection is supposed to be the child welfare system's primary concern, but the systems harm children through systemic flaws, disproportionate policing of poor families, and removing children from their communities without proper support. One researcher pointed out that social workers are increasingly subject to policy prescription and welfare retrenchment and that their freedom to work professionally is curtailed. Both mandatory reporting laws and foster care systems are racially and classically biased, which goes against the social work value of social justice (Kamali, 2022). The term “neglect” is a euphemism for poverty, which results in the ethical issues of punishing families for poverty.

Next Steps to Identify a Policy

The following steps are suggested to identify an effective policy to address child maltreatment. The first step is to thoroughly analyze the policies based on Jansson's framework to determine policy leverage at the federal, state, and local levels that have been proven effective. According to research studies, economic supports such as state Child Tax Credits, minimum wage increases, and expanded SNAP eligibility are related to decreased maltreatment (Kamali, 2022). Second, bring together a community advisory board to include people with experience in the child welfare system, child welfare professionals, legal advocates and researchers to develop priority policies. Thirdly, compare and contrast current policies in states that have demonstrated meaningful decreases in maltreatment rates. Last, create a policy suggestion that emphasizes prevention upstream, such as universal home visiting, economic supports for families experiencing poverty, and prevention of mandatory reporting with a non-punitive response to poverty.

Conclusion

Child maltreatment is an enduring social issue that disproportionately affects at-risk children, especially children of color, infants and toddlers. Reactions have progressed from denial to recognition, but a systemic response is still needed. The issue is fundamentally in opposition to social work's ethics, and requires transformative policy advocacy. In order to promote a more equitable and effective approach to child maltreatment, social workers need to be active in preventive economic and family support policies.

References

CDC. (2025, January 31).  About child abuse and neglect. Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention.  https://www.cdc.gov/child-abuse-neglect/about/index.html

Chasnoff, I. J., Barber, G., Brook, J., & Akin, B. A. (2018). The child abuse prevention and treatment act.  Child Welfare,  96(3), 41-58.

Kamali, M. (Ed.). (2022).  Revolutionary social work: Promoting systemic changes. Taylor & Francis.