Permanency Planning and the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act: The Paradox of Child Welfare Policy

Abstract

The policies of the 1974 Child Abuse Prevention & Treatment Act (CAPTA) & the 1980 Adoption Assistance & Child Welfare Act (AACWA) are examined. Though both acts stem from the Progressive era conviction that the family has a duty to be instrumental in a child's development & the 1960s & 1970s interest in social equality, civil liberties, &, consequently, children's rights, the two acts impose conflicting mandates. CAPTA, emerging from media attention to the battered child syndrome, emphasized professional intervention with troubled families. AACWA, stemming from a more conservative, laissez-faire approach to child welfare, was based on the assumption that protecting the family from outside interference was the best way to protect the interests of the child. The contradictions inherent in these two policies insure that the best interests of the child will not be served. 34 References. D. Generoli