| History of Minority Population in the Child Welfare system | | | Kristy Kobzeff | 5/10/2011 |

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Rosina M. Becerra, Ward Thomas, Paul M. Ong.
(2001). Latino and African American Fathers: Perceptions of Fatherhood
And Child support. Haworth Press, Inc.

In this article on Non-custodial Fathers, or (NFC’s) The authors describe child welfare and child support being one of the most important parts of helping the young population of new mothers get off of welfare and other state aid programs. During Welfare reform one of the programs that was started was the (TANF) program. This was a program designed to transition woman of single parent homes into the workplace and transition off of aid. In this article there were many studies and surveys done to achieve an understanding of why certain minorities may or may not pay child support. It was understood that Latinos and African Americans seemed to be “over represented” in the welfare system. Much research was also done on non-custodial fathers and their own personal relationships with their own families and fathers during adolescents. This article contained personal views and expressed many opinions about what Latino and African American men think about child support and the role it plays in their own experience as fathers. As it turns out many studies showed a significant increase in work ethic and a significant interest in their own non-custodial children despite having to pay child support. In fact, one of the studies showed that Latinos were “more involved” compared to African Americans. Latinos were suspected to have higher emotional involvement with their children while paying child support than those who were African American fathers that were not paying child support.

Anna Rockhill, Beth L. Green, and Lind Newton-Curtis. (2008). accessing substance abuse treatment: issues for parents involved with child welfare services. (Report). Child Welfare League of America, Inc.

In this article about substance abuse and child welfare. The authors point out vivid barriers among substance abusers and the significance it has on their families and children. This article pointed out that a large part of families on welfare have children that are more prone to neglect and substance abuse. In one study that was conducted they found that woman were fearful to get treatment or ask for services that they needed in fear that they may lose custody to their children. Many courts today have certain rules pertaining to mothers and fathers who are abusing drugs and going through recovery. This article made a lot of valid points about parents not having enough time to complete their recovery. In one section the author stated “Couples are bounded by their poverty” (Green & Rockhill 2004). They emphasized the importance of getting treatment and the significant amount of recognition that it receives from the judicial system. Unfortunately a lot of things discourage abusers from getting help such as Language barriers and money for treatment and the basic lack of knowledge about their own disease.
The authors attempted and succeeded at making excellent points and provided excellent examples of studies that reflect the unfortunate journey among drug abusers that have children.

Busch, Monique; Folaron, Gail (2005).
Accessibility and Clarity of State and Child Welfare Agency mission statements
Washington: Child Welfare League of American Inc.

In this article the authors discuss mission statements and the significant implications it has on individuals on the welfare system. A mission statement is a statement which promises to provide a certain level of respect and morals to individual receiving services from a program. In one of the studies done they come to find out that some states do not even post their mission statement for the public to see which in turn can create problems and create a negative understanding about what the program promotes. In order to improve the child welfare system there needs to be certain clarity in how information is given so that the system can continue to prevent child abuse and neglect. The article suggests that all states should update all forms and mission statements to conform to “readability” rules. The misconception is that the rules in fine print are always updated and accurate, unfortunately in this article we learn that they are not. The studies conducted in this article are based around the ideas that the general public is not easily able to access a website where they can seek out clarity and understanding. If we are trying to prevent child exploitation and fraud and abuse then shouldn’t there be a mission statement that represents that? There are too many people that may not have the basic skills or knowledge to be able to seek out accurate information. Therefore clarity and easy access should be among the most important. Everyone is different so maybe one person’s understanding of the mission statement may means something completely different to someone else. There are many skewed misconceptions of the child welfare system; a mission statement should not be one of them.