Risk and Resilience Framework for Child, Youth, and Family Policy
The social policies developed in the United States within the past decades are aimed at facilitating positive and prosocial experiences and opportunities for young populations. More importantly, these policies are used to mitigate the risks and negative experiences the youth is exposed to in the contemporary world. The framework for risk and resilience is aimed at providing a well-structured system of programs and interventions that are capable of timely identification and addressing of the risks, as well as improving the ability of young individuals to overcome difficulties. The elements of the risk and resilience framework include four key statements. Firstly, the problem domain, which incorporates problematic issues such as education, child well-being, financial support, disabilities, delinquencies, and physical and mental health impairments. Secondly, child and adolescent life course development address the most frequently observed risks and protective factors. Thirdly, policy responses include the development of policy initiatives that are capable of addressing the identified risks and use protective factors as the basis for resilience improvement. Finally, interventions are used to apply evidence-based techniques to practical work with children and young individuals.
The Impact of 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act on Antipoverty Programs
Before 1996, there were no federal antipoverty programs in the United States that would meet the needs of children in poverty and their families. The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act contributed to the 1935 Social Security Act and improved children who were eligible to receive financial aid. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families put some restrictions on access to the program. These restrictions include obligatory employment, strict requirement compliance, forbidding people with drug felonies to participate in the program, and teenage parents’ necessity to live with adults. All these rules led to a decrease in poverty cases but did not improve the quality of aid and welfare of children.
Theoretical Frameworks
Firstly, ecological developmental models are applied to build social welfare policies based on the environment in which children live. These theories are used as guidance for policy creation that utilizes the context and the influential external factors that provide benefits for children’s development. Secondly, developmental theories are based on the identification of the stages of a child’s development and the key needs he or she might have during a given time. Physical, mental, emotional, social, and cognitive development is taken into account when creating effective policies. Brain development plays a key role within this context since neurobiological processes are the basis for the overall development of an organism.
Educational Interventions
It is imperative to combine educational efforts and social welfare policies in the domains of health care, substance abuse prevention, and other tentative youth’s issues. Since education is a long-term effort that provides youth with knowledge and skills for independent and self-managed dealing with social problems, it is crucial to invest in cross-system efforts. Cross-system funds might be used to identify the individuals with the problems of adjustment to provide them with timely support. Also, such funds might be used to implement interventions for the timely detection of risky behaviors in at-risk populations.
Affordable Care Act and Mental Health System
The Affordable Care Act significantly improved the overall health system, insurance coverage, and access to healthcare across the country. Within the sphere of the mental health system, the law allowed for transforming its financial and operational side. In particular, one of the mandates of the act necessitated the transition from a volume-driven algorithm of work to an outcome-driven one, which improves the quality of service. Another mandate promotes early childhood development by ensuring effective parenting and non-violent homes.