Because
I have been volunteering at Casa de los Niños since August 2014, my adjustment
from 5 hours a week to 15 hours a week has run smoothly. Before I started my SRP,
I only worked with the toddlers, who are known as Eeyores in the Winnie the
Pooh themed shelter. Now, I work with the Eeyores, the Poohs, who can crawl but
not walk, and the Roos, who can speak rather well and are older than the
toddlers. With this schedule, I am able to spend an equal amount of time with
children from three distinctive and adjacent age groups that are very
significant developmentally. Since I have been at the shelter since August, I
have also observed some children who have changed age groups during their stay.
Although all of the children have come from completely different backgrounds
with different levels of trauma and abuse, they all now have access to
excellent medical, social, and educational care and facilities. Every week when
I work with each age group, I see substantial differences in each child’s
physical and social abilities, appearance, adjustments to the shelter, and many
other elements.
Externally
from my internship, I read a research paper discussing the results of child poverty.
This paper focuses on the effects of the Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, which replaced the federal program of
Aid to Families with Dependent Children with block grants to states for
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, on child development. This act, which
successfully provided welfare-to-work transitions to some families, forced
other families into a deeper state of poverty. In categories such as personal
health and achievement, there is abundant quantifiable data that consistently
shows that child poverty adversely affects the ability and achievement of children.
Probabilities for grade repetition and dropping out of high school, learning
disabilities, teenage out-of-wedlock births, child abuse and neglect, and
experiencing violent crimes is proportionately 2.0 times higher, 1.4 times
higher, 3.1 times higher, 6.8 times higher, and 2.2 times higher respectively
for poor children relative to nonpoor children. This data demonstrates the
powerful nature of the cycle of poverty and its direct influence on the cycle
of abuse. Because of ideals of the American Dream, many people believe that
poverty is an individual choice, not a systemic problem. This society must
recognize and understand the cycle of poverty and all of its consequences because
public policies such as minimum wage laws and social welfare programs have a
significant influence on poverty levels. By changing and refining the often
unrealistic views of poverty, we may be able to end the cycle of poverty and
the subsequent cycle of abuse.
Sources:
Duncan, Greg J., and Jeanne
Brooks‐Gunn.
"Family poverty, welfare reform, and child development." Child
development 71.1 (2000): 188-196.
Dominique, this seems really interesting! :) Though they are young, will you be speaking to any of the children about their opinions on the topic?
ReplyDeleteThis may be outside the purview of your intended project, but did the shift from direct federal support to block grants to states have an impact, either negative or positive? Given the poor reputation of the Child Protective Services and the need to restructure it last year, I would guess that the monies have been insufficient, poorly allocated, and spent without any real accountability.
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