The legal protection of children is a relatively recent phenomenon.  Historically, children were considered chattel.  The State did not interfere into the manner in which parents raised their children.  The State's only involvement was in caring for orphans who had no relatives to care for them.

As late as the 1960's, many states had no laws whatsoever dealing with child abuse.  In severe cases of abuse, such as severe beatings or whippings, children had to be protected under animal cruelty laws.  Even into the early 1970's, most States' responses to child abuse were limited to criminal prosecutions of only the most severe cases.

In the early 1970's, two parallel trends began to emerge.  Congress began to provide money to the States for the investigation of child abuse and neglect.  In addition, Congress allocated money to help states remove abused and neglected children from their homes, care for those children in foster care, and provide remedial services to help reunify families.

Around the same time, many states passed laws creating a civil, child-protection system.  Laws were enacted providing a mechanism for a state's response to allegations of abuse and neglect.  Juvenile and Family Courts were established in recognition of the special expertise necessary to make complicated child-protection decisions.

In the last 25 years, the child protection system has grown enormously as societal attitudes about the role of government in protecting children have changed.  Every state has a hotline through which citizens can telephone anonymously to report cases of abuse or neglect.  Most states mandate that certain professionals such as doctors, nurses, teachers, and therapists report suspected cases of child abuse.

Over the years, the actual concept of abuse and neglect has been expanded to include more than severe beatings and/or the failure to feed children.  The bureaucracy necessary to administer this system has also expanded as literally thousands of children became wards of the state.  With the growth of the child-protection industry, controls were necessary to ensure that children had adequate protection from the bureaucracy as well.  Courts became more vigilant in monitoring the status of children in state care.  Children, themselves, were assigned lawyers or guardians ad litem to look out for their interests.

While different states approach abuse or neglect differently, the Federal government maintains an enormous influence on the nature of child protection.  In a later section, the handbook will look at the current role of Federal involvement in setting standards.   Our first section deals with the basic concept of dependency.