Child Physical Abuse
Modern Attitudes: Surprisingly, it has only been well within the last century that measures have been taken in the United States to establish child welfare laws and service programs. In 1935, federal child welfare services were established for the first time through passage of the Social Security Act. Under Title IV-B of the Act, grant funding was provided to individual States for, “the protection and care of homeless, dependent, and neglected children and children in danger of becoming delinquent.”
In 1962, a series of Social Security Amendments were passed which required each state to make child welfare services available to all children and to coordinate these services with other social services. An important distinction was made in the Amendments when the definition of the term “child welfare services” was revised to include the prevention and remedy of child abuse. 1980 saw the development of a dedicated Foster Care program by Congress.
