Social Policy Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Social Policy Analysis - Assignment Example One such reform that is going to be discussed in this paper is the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA). Child Abuse is an issue that is spreading around like a contagion. Though there have been numerous efforts to curb this issue, but the facts revealed from a number of studies show that it is continuously on the rise and is also intensifying with the passage of time (Gil, 1973). Such studies give a disturbing insight into the alarming amount of impact that it is having by plaguing societies. Specifically shedding light on the issue at grass root level, child abuse can be defined as any act that threatens to be harmful to the health and/or welfare of a child. A child, in such a case, generally refers to persons under the age of 18 that are under parental care or in the care of a guardian (Stoltzfus, 2009). The abuse on the other hand in case of child abuse can be anything on part of the parent or caretaker that leads to any sort of emotional or physical harm to the child; or any sort of exploitation or sexual abuse. It even constitutes the domain of neglect on part of the parent/guardian in terms of failure to act that leads to any sort of harm to the child (McClennen, 2010). Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act is a legislation incepted in 1974 in United States pursuing to ensure child protection. It has been reviewed and reformed six times since its inception in efforts to further refine and expand its scope of operations (US Dept of Health and Human Services, 2003). The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act has been crafted in view of various studies that show that there are over a 1000,000 children in America that suffer from abuse and neglect every year, which in turn leave marks due to which they suffer throughout their lives. Most of these children never even receive any sort of treatment or protection from such mishandling. It was only when the enormity of the situation got serious that