Child welfare

Child Welfare

Child welfare (pronunciation: /ˈtʃʌɪld ˈwɛlfɛər/) refers to a broad range of services designed to protect children and ensure their well-being. The term is often used to refer to the systems in place to protect children who have been abused or neglected, or who are in danger of abuse or neglect.

Etymology

The term "child welfare" is derived from the English words "child", meaning a young human being below the age of puberty or below the legal age of majority, and "welfare", which refers to the health, happiness, and fortunes of a person or group.

Related Terms

• Child Protection: A set of services designed to protect children and young people who are underage and to encourage family stability.
• Foster Care: A system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home, or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent".
• Adoption: The process by which a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents.
• Child Abuse: Physical, sexual, or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver.
• Child Neglect: A form of child abuse, and is a deficit in meeting a child's basic needs, including the failure to provide adequate health care, supervision, clothing, nutrition, housing as well as their physical, emotional, social, educational and safety needs.

See Also

• Child Rights
• Child Development
• Child Psychology

References

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