Recent policy on child endangerment and removal in family services

¶ … Policy from the Department of Job and Family Services

A recent policy was implemented by Anytown's Department of Job and Family Services regarding the issue of child endangerment, that the children of a household in which there are certain offenses will be removed until the parents or caretakers can show themselves to have been rehabilitated. To explain this decision, the Department of Job and Family Services referred to the social learning theory. This policy paper will address the moral and ethical issues involved in implementing this new policy, consider the impact of implementing such a policy, and conclude by discussing whether the Department of Job and Family Services correctly interpreted and applied this theory in planning and implementing this policy.

There are several ethical and moral issues that could arise from implementing this new policy. First, has the theory been applied correctly? Social learning theory does, in fact, imply that children could learn violent behavior from their parents (Ormond, 1999). However, it implies much more than that. Social learning theory states that people will learn from observing the people around them. It implies that children will learn behavior from whoever their caretakers are, the people they observe the most. On a practical level, though, who does this replace the parents with? The United States foster care system, while it may be the best the state has to offer, is notoriously problematic. Is the state truly a better caretaker than a violent parent? With the history of foster care in the United States, foster care may not be the most helpful to the child. In 2009, there were 423,773 children in foster care in the United States (Lawrence, Carlson, & Egeland, 2006). Adults who were in foster care as children experience higher rates of physical and psychiatric morbidity than the general population. All of these facts, as well as recent studies, suggest that foster care placements are more detrimental to children than remaining in a troubled home.

The impact of this law should not be underestimated. The result could be positive. It could take the child out of a home in which they were abused, or witnessed abuse, or other crimes. This could reduce the amount of crime in the future, as children would either not learn that behavior, or learn that that behavior was punished. It could also remove children from homes in which the parents were overwhelmed and have other things to concentrate on before they take good care of their children. It could also get high risk children and families involved in the system at an early age, at which further disturbances and trouble could be prevented.

This policy could have serious negative impacts on the welfare of the child, as well as the society in general. This law could break up many families. Particularly, the policy is overreaching in its grasp. It would punish many families of non-violent offenders, like people being punished for one instance of marijuana use. And that point is additionally important -- it would not simply punish the offender, or provide for better care or learning by the children of offenders. One possible repercussion from the implementation of such a policy is that survivors of domestic violence would have yet another reason to not turn in their partner, or testify against them. Thus, this policy, based on its potential ramifications, is not ethical.

There are several potential impacts on all those involved in the above situation. First, the welfare of the child, as has been explored above. Removal from the family home could have serious impacts on a child. It breaks up families, a fundamental unit of society. It could place a tremendous burden on the foster care system. It could also create less trust between the citizens and the state. Already, many poor families dread the idea of a social worker in their lives. This would create yet another interface for that already troubled relationship. For the state, it creates another financial obligation in an already troubled economic time.