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Experimental Paradigm for Measuring the Effects of Self-distancing in Young Children
Published on: March 1, 2019
A historically based thought experiment: meeting new challenges for children's health and well-being
1Rutgers University, Camden, New Jersey, USA>
Insights
This study proposes a new Department of Children's Affairs (DoCA) to consolidate federal children's health initiatives. It models this on the Department of Homeland Security to improve child well-being policy.
Area of Science:
- Public Health Policy
- Child Welfare Studies
- Governmental Organization
Background:
- US children face critical health needs.
- Past initiatives offer lessons for current policy.
- The Children's Bureau's historical work is examined.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a model for future children's health policy.
- To advocate for a unified federal approach to child well-being.
- To draw parallels with successful governmental restructuring.
Main Methods:
- Historical analysis of the Children's Bureau.
- Comparative governmental structure analysis.
- Policy proposal development.
Main Results:
- The Children's Bureau's early work provides a foundational model.
- A unified Department of Children's Affairs (DoCA) is proposed.
- DoCA aims to consolidate fragmented federal initiatives.
Conclusions:
- A centralized Department of Children's Affairs could enhance children's health and well-being.
- Lessons from the Children's Bureau and DHS can inform policy.
- Proactive policy restructuring is needed to address children's critical needs.
Abstract:
In fall 2004 we proposed a way to use the lessons of the past to inform U.S. children's health policy, given the increasingly critical needs of children in this country. Continuing in that tradition and beyond, we describe here the founding and early work of the Children's Bureau and consider how it might be a model for the near future. We propose the creation of a Department of Children's Affairs (DoCA), which would unite the various federal agency-level initiatives aimed at children's health and well-being, much as the Department of Homeland Security did for terrorism defense activities after 9/11.
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