Challenges in Mental Health and Child Welfare: A Social Science Report

This report delves into the critical areas of mental health and child welfare, examining key issues and challenges within these fields. The report identifies the significance of mental health, exploring its impact on individuals and society, while also analyzing the implications of mental illness and the role of social work and human services in addressing these challenges. Furthermore, the report focuses on child welfare, discussing the challenges children face, such as poverty and adoption issues, and emphasizing the vital role of social workers and human service professionals in providing support and intervention. It highlights the importance of addressing abuse, ensuring children's safety, and promoting their well-being within the context of a supportive environment. The report also provides references to the literature on these topics.

RUNNING HEAD: SOCIAL SCIENCE 1
Responses towards Mental Health and Child Welfare
Name
College

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Question 3
Mental Health
When talking about mental health, a very crucial aspect of life is under investigation and
it is salient to really underscore the mechanism behind our brains, Noviar, Rhebergen & Bakker
(2018). Without proper brain functioning, the entire human organism is declared insane since
that is the hub of all the issues of life. Each and everything that somebody is engaged in revolves
around the working of the mind. Mental health in simple words refers to the state of mind
welfare where somebody can be able to engage himself or herself in the normal daily challenges
without many complications, Cooney (2018). The normal approach towards these life issues
ensures that one is able to meet the challenges as they come without many struggles. At least
each and everybody has some mental challenge because of the round of issues that take place in
this world. When these things go beyond the normal levels someone gets into a state of
impairment because he or she cannot be able to cope up with what challenges posse to his or her
life. This state is referred to as a mental illness condition which has been a portion to many
people in the world, Torous, Nicholas, Larsen, Firth & Christensen (2018).
Countries like Australia and other parts of the world have been characterized by this
abnormality within her citizenship and it is really alarming. There have been many cases that
have been noted to cause this condition, some of them are natural and others are artificial factors
that have been contributed due to the normal round of life activities. In the event that one
member of a certain family had some inherited tendencies towards that direction of mental
illness, there is a high likelihood of passing the same attributes to other siblings online, Worden
(2018). In some cases, one might have gone through some circumstance that has been a burden
to his mind like any type of child abuse. This develops to be a chronic challenge in the latter life.

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When life becomes so much stress one can give up and the mental bolts becomes loose and
hence mental illness.
Keys issues in mental health
Since mental health is the key to each and every success in life, there are so many
implications that come along with either positive or negative mental health. In this section, the
researcher intends to discuss the negative impacts that the mental health has towards personal life
and other aspects of life in general. Therefore, the two key issues lie on the personal and other
general aspects of life emanating from the major authors’ discussions, Briggs and Adamson.
The personal impact of mental health
This is a key issue in mental health as it focuses on how the individual person responds in
the instance some mental condition has been noted. There are major tenants of life of an
individual person that is really affected by the mental disorder. In general terms, the quality and
substance of such a person's life are devastated and things are never the same again. There is
deterioration to a great scale than ever which demonstrates a deplorable decline in what used to
be enjoyed prior, Hirsch et al 2018. With this complication, the individual social growth is
retarded since there is some development of fear of interacting with the external environment.
Finally, the production that used to be accrued from him is no longer seen again and also the
condition presents a great possibility towards the development of other diseases online.

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Extra personal implications of mental health
There are viral implications of this condition when it affects one member of a family or
the society. From that one person, the effects in a ripple like a form reach to the very heart of the
society and there are also serious implications noted. There is a great possibility of escalating
poverty levels in the very homes where those individuals issue from since they must care for
them hence decreasing any fortune that might have been there, Espelage, Merrin & Hatchel
(2018). To the society in general, the net economic declension is observed and additional care to
those affected.
The role of social work and human services provision
This is a crucial aspect in mental health that is concerned with the areas and circles of
mental health that the medical profession may not be in a position to find out. These dual aspects
act as the intermediaries between all the crucial aspects of the structure of dealing with mental
complications, while the medics deal with the diagnosis and physical therapy of the mental
condition and human sectors deal with issues beyond these mere externals, Hadley & Hatch
(2018). With an integrated system of connection finding the root cause of this circumstance
including spiritual and emotional ramifications so much positive responses have been arrived at.
Question 4
Child welfare
Introduction
Children occupy a very special sector in the society. It is from them that the grown-up
members of the community come. When all things have been said and done, it remains that
proper orientation of the child in the way that he or she should trend on in life has a great bearing
on what shall be her or his share in life. Different children are born in diverse families with their

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special challenges as well, Brown & Bailey-Etta (2018). It is from these backgrounds where they
find a compass of life. Some of the children have successfully gone through all the stages of life
to maturity without any abnormal interference because of the tender care of the parents and the
surrounding environments in their lives, Lawrence-Webb (2018). On the other end, there are
children who have been very unfortunate to have been raised up in so poor and distorted family
settings with also very discouraging circumstances. Because of these conditions, they have
always felt out of place in the face other counter children who are doing well.
These circumstances expose them to other factors that make them very vulnerable to the
incidences of abuse. There have been many incidences where parents have molested their
children sexually and assaulted them as well when such a kid is in the outside he or she becomes
more susceptible to other abuses of nature. Life becomes very hard and challenging to many
children because of the injustices that have been done to them in the name of abuses. When some
of them have been abused, no one cares for them and he or she carries those wounds through his
or her entire life. Child welfare department in any country is concerned with investigations of the
abuses that the children have gone and intervention measures to help curb the challenges,
Gullies, Edwards & Horley (2018). It coordinates the efforts of the parents and other
stakeholders concerned in order to deliver all the services that these victims of circumstances
may need to restore sanity and heal the broken hearts. It organizes all the essential aspects to
ensure children have had a proper place of retention in safe homes and environments after they
have done their services.
Challenges within the Child Welfare
In the process of ensuring that children have got all that they need in order to be secure
and stable in life after the abuses, the department must ensure that all the sufficient aspects

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towards the maintenance of the possible conditions have been met (Worden, 2018). In this part
of this response, the author has a purpose to explore two major challenges that the sector faces
her implementation plan, Kedell and Katz have spoken on many issues when the author synthesis
among the issues of concern are discussed below.
Poverty
More than expected in this age and period, many children have been abused and they
have no place they can find safety after the incidence. Several of the victims have no homes and
where they could go their parents are poor or they cannot help reclaim their wretched lives. The
department must ensure all the resources in terms of the basic needs have been met and also
additional finances to be able to facilitate rehabilitation projects, Smith, Kay & Pressley (2018).
All these burdens have had a great impact on the financial state of these departments hence
promoting poverty because of the massive incurrence of the costs.
Adoption
This aspect revolves around getting a way of ensuring that a child has found a place of
safety away from their original home. This is major because of the circumstances that had
transpired before. In case their homes cannot support them or they have been abused therein, the
department must come up with subsidiary means to position them where they would identify as
their home, Bakhireva et al 2018. This is challenging because it is not easy to acclimatize to a
new home from what the child was used to. It is a fundamental challenge facing the child welfare
and must be done still to sort the matter off.
The implication of social worker and human service practice
This sector in terms of child welfare is very critical in ensuring that this department has
found its right shape. There are so many areas that the department may fail to underscore and this

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gives this branch an opportunity to help. There are portentous benefits that they have towards the
child welfare. They establish programs beyond the normal welfare settings that are designed to
meet the members of the family and the individuals of abuse, Gibson, Samuels & Pryce (2018).
Another important aspect that they look into is actually the reason why many children are abused
and this acts as a permanent remedy instead of only focusing on the already abused case.
Therefore, this sector plays a fundamental function in promoting the real life of the child welfare.

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References
Bakhireva, L. N., Garrison, L., Shrestha, S., Sharkis, J., Miranda, R., & Rogers, K. (2018).
Challenges of diagnosing fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in foster and adopted children.
Alcohol, 67(3), 37-43.
Brown, A. W., & Bailey-Etta, B. (2018). An out-of-home care system in crisis: Implications for
African American children in the child welfare system. In Serving African American
Children, 60(3), 65-84.
Cooney, G. (2018). Exercise and mental health: a complex and challenging relationship. The
Lancet Psychiatry, 5(9), 692-693.
Espelage, D. L., Merrin, G. J., & Hatchel, T. (2018). Peer victimization and dating violence
among LGBTQ youth: The impact of school violence and crime on mental health
outcomes. Youth violence and juvenile justice, 16(2), 156-173.
Gibson, K., Samuels, G., & Pryce, J. (2018). Authors of accountability: Paperwork and social
work in contemporary child welfare practice. Children and Youth Services Review, 85,
43-52.
Gillies, V., Edwards, R., & Horley, N. (2018). Challenging the politics of early intervention:
Who’s saving children and why?. Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work, 30(1), 73-75.
Hadley, R., & Hatch, S. (2018). Social welfare and the failure of the state: centralised social
services and participatory alternatives. Routledge.
Hirsch, J. K., Smalley, K. B., Selby-Nelson, E. M., Hamel-Lambert, J. M., Rosmann, M. R.,
Barnes, T. A., ... & LaFromboise, T. (2018). Psychosocial Impact of Fracking: A Review
of the Literature on the Mental Health Consequences of Hydraulic Fracturing.
International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 16(1), 1-15.
Lawrence-Webb, C. (2018). African American children in the modern child welfare system: A
legacy of the Flemming Rule. In Serving African American Children, 9-30.
Noviar, G. A., Rhebergen, D., & Bakker, P. R. (2018). T106. Improving Psychiatric Diagnosis
By Adding Motor Function Next To Mental Health Function: A Network Approach.
Schizophrenia Bulletin, 44(1), S157.
Smith, B. D., Kay, E. S., & Pressley, T. D. (2018). Child maltreatment in rural southern counties:
another perspective on race, poverty and child welfare. Child abuse & neglect, 80, 52-61.
Torous, J., Nicholas, J., Larsen, M. E., Firth, J., & Christensen, H. (2018). Clinical review of user
engagement with mental health smartphone apps: evidence, theory and improvements.
Evidence-based mental health, 21(3), 116-119.
Worden, J. W. (2018). Grief counseling and grief therapy: A handbook for the mental health
practitioner. Springer Publishing Company.