In the last segment we reviewed some of the disturbing finds that were made public recently regarding the issue of child welfare in the US and here in Michigan. We looked at the results of a WalletHub research study and wondered what on earth we, in Michigan, could do to change it. Well, the folks at WalletHub were wondering the same thing. And so they asked a number of experts in the fields of human development, sociology, and social welfare.
The experts in question were professors teaching all over the country, from New Mexico to Massachusetts. They were all asked four set questions dealing with key issues that affect children and what we could do to change that.
Matthew A. Diemer, an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology and Educational Technology at MSU, had some very interesting points to make about why so many families in the US have income levels below the poverty levels. “There is a lot of evidence that living in or near poverty exposes children and families to a lot of uncontrollable stressors,” he wrote. “And that these external stressors negatively affect development, and make it harder for children to achieve the American Dream.”
When asked what we could do to help underprivileged children live meaningful childhoods, he suggested universal access to health care, more equitable K-12 school funding and better working wages. After all, child welfare programs can only do so much when the problem is so extensive, and has so many compounded factors.
Cynthia K. Bradley Kind, a Clinical Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh pointed out in her answer something that ties in directly with what Diemer addressed. Poverty. “The high numbers of single heads of household – especially those led by a female and/or a teen female is primary.” she explained. “The female is usually under-educated and thus under or unemployed and poorly equipped to adequately care for her family.”
In addition she noted the fact that poverty often goes hand in hand with child neglect. And neglect is frequently the result of substance abuse. “Many people living in poverty self-medicate with various substances including alcohol. A parent under the influence is incapable of adequately caring for their children. They make poor decisions about supervision, utilize scarce resources for their drug of choice and expose their children to negative influences associated with drugs and alcohol.”
Jennifer Hook, an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Southern California believes that politicians can make the difference. By providing quality early childhood education and care, quality K-12, affordable access to higher education, and jobs that pay a living wage, our society could improve child welfare.
What is interesting is that for the most part, all of the experts asked to weigh in on these issues had pretty much the same thing to say. Which leads us to determine that child abuse is not an isolated issue. It is a symptom of a far greater problem. Which is why CPS is so ineffective at dealing with it. We need more than just a band aid for this societal cancer, we need a full-blown surgical overhaul.