Parental Drug Use as Child Abuse Research Paper

Parental Drug Use as Child Abuse - Research Paper Example At that time there was no agency to look into the welfare cause of abused children, therefore, the advocates for American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) took the case by arguing that laws securing animals from abuse should not be relatively effective than laws safeguarding children. In this particular case of Mary Ellen Wilson, the foster mother was sentenced to one year imprisonment. This sentence created awareness in the society leading to the formation of the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in 1874. In 1974, the federal law was enacted to help the cause of child abuse through government funding (Find Law.com, 2012). The legislative record of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), the leading Federal legislation for child abuse and neglect started in P.L. 93-247; the   Act was further amended very recently and reauthorized on December 20, 2010, by the CAPTA Reauthorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-320). All function s related to child abuse are covered under CAPTA by arranging funds for the state agencies and welfare organizations (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2011). It could be pertaining to any one of the issues faced by the government, for example, in the case of abuse of drugs by the parents or caretakers having negative repercussions on the overall growth of children. Considering the loss of health and well being of children, about 47 states, the districts of Columbia, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are governed by the law under the child protection statutes but policy since May 2009 does not cover states such as American Samoa, Connecticut, New Jersey, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and Vermont for exposure to illegal drug activity (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2009). It has implicit meaning for the NASW, as federal funding for drug abuse would not be forthcoming for these specified states, not covered by the state law.