Short History of Child Maltreatment Prevention & Treatement

In 1903, Lillian Wald, founder of the Henry Street Settlement in New York City, suggested the formation of a Children's Bureau to Florence Kelley, who was fighting against child labor. Mrs. Kelley traveled the country and gave lectures at universities and colleges, where she proposed the formation of the United States Commission for Children. This commission would gather and interpret data about infant mortality, orphanages, birth certificates, child labor, desertion, illegitimacy, degeneracy and "the mental and moral conditions and prospects of the children of the United States." In 1905, with the help of Dr. Edward T. Devine of Columbia University, Kelley and Wald's ideas were presented to President Theodore Roosevelt. On January 26, 1909, Roosevelt presented a bill to Congress for the establishment of a Federal Children's Bureau. President Taft endorsed the bill in 1910 and, finally, in 1912, the bill was signed into law. The Federal Children's Bureau's primary concerns were infant mortality, the birth rate, orphanages (including desertion), children's diseases, child labor, juvenile courts and childhood accidents. This act was the first step regarding the inclusion of the Federal government in documenting and preventing child maltreatment (US Department of Health, pp. 3-5, 1956).

By 1919, all but three states had juvenile courts. Although these courts were created to discipline delinquent children, they also had the power to intervene in cases of abuse and neglect. Even now, the juvenile court plays a major role in child protection services. In 1922, there were approximately three hundred non-governmental child protection organizations across the country. However, many cities and almost all rural areas were lacking formal child-protective services. Most communities, and at risk children, relied upon family members, occasional neighbors, police and courts for protection and aid (Myers, p. 452, 2008).

Since the creation of the Federal Children's Bureau, legislation has evolved and grown to offer more extensive protection to children. In 1935, the Social Security Act was passed and included funds for child welfare services. In 1961, Dr. C. Henry Kempe presented a paper that described battered child syndrome to the American Academy of Pediatrics. His research put in motion widespread national efforts to deal with the problem of child abuse (Hollenbeck, p. 7, 2001). In 1969, state participation in the AFDC foster care program was made mandatory. In 1974, the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) was enacted. CAPTA is the only Federal legislation dedicated solely to "the prevention, assessment, identification and treatment of child abuse and neglect" (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2004). In 1996, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) replaced AFDC and the Interethnic Adoption Provisions law removed phrasing that permitted the consideration of race when placing children in foster and adoptive homes. In 1997, the Adoption and Safe Families Act created timelines for moving children into permanent homes and provided adoption bonuses for states. On June 23, 2003, CAPTA was amended and reauthorized by the Keeping Children and Families Safe Act (Child Welfare League of America, 2010). In December 2010, President Obama reauthorized CAPTA. On March 31, 2011, President Obama declared April 2011 as Childhood Prevention Month and spoke of his administration's intention to support programs