How did child abuse change after CAPTA?
After child abuse was publicized in 1974 and CAPTA was passed, a picture has been painted of child abuse as being a “poor problem.” Read more here. When the government cracked down on these offenses, people with money to protect themselves from the law by hiring lawyers escaped consequences and the children remained in the homes in which they were abused and still do. What emerged was an unprecedented number of low-income children being removed from the homes of their accused abusers. The poorer parents could and cannot afford proper legal aid. Many times, further abuse occurs in the foster home. The average stay of children in foster care is 27 months. While foster care initially removes the child from an abusive environment, it is not a permanent solution and may end up harming the child further. First the child is removed from the only parent it knows and is placed with a person who either is emotionally distant from the child and only provides the basic needs, loves the child in a way that the child has never experienced and eventually that child is removed from that positive attachment or abuses the child further. We have all heard the horror stories about foster care. Read more about the negative effects of foster care here. We need to find a better way to improve the lives of these children.
