Web Exercises

Click on the following links. Please note these will open in a new window.

Exercise 1

Abused and neglected children fall under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court, according to the Uniform Juvenile Court Act of 1968. These children, in most cases, are taken under the care of a state-appointed children and family services department. These departments provide prevention and diversion programs to the children and the families referred to them. These programs are aimed at stopping child abuse and neglect and at correcting the conditions that caused the abuse and neglect in the first place. The Children’s Bureau is a federal agency within the Department of Health and Human Services that works directly with children and family services departments throughout the nation. You can learn more about this office by visiting their website at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/ and doing the following exercises.

  1. At the menu, click on Focus Areas
     
  2. Click on Child Abuse and Neglect link
     
  3. Click on Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Systems: The Children’s Bureau collects case-level data on reports of child abuse and neglect and analyzes the data. We make our reports available to the public and provide an annual report to Congress
     
  4. Review the Child Welfare Outcomes Report Data—2013 Data Highlights
     
  5. Write a one-page summary on your findings
     

Exercise 2

Although many government agencies work to prevent and address child abuse and neglect, many private agencies offer services for children as well. For example, the Childhelp organization focuses on the treatment and prevention of child abuse and their website may be found at http://www.childhelp.org/. The work of this organization may be better understood by completing the following exercises.

  1. Click on the “programs” tab. What programs does Childhelp sponsor and assist?
     
  2. Click on the “prevention” program. Explain the “good touch, bad touch” program concept? How might this assist children? Do you think this is a good program?
     
  3. Click on the “statistics” tab. Are there any statistics that surprise you? Did you learn anything you didn’t know already in regards to statistics on child abuse and neglect?
     
  4. What can be done to prevent child abuse?