Deck 13: Policy: Improving Childrens Lives

Question 1

A common form of federal funding for child and family policies is:

A)block grants
B)TANF grants
C)matching grants
D)some of the above but not all of the above

Answer 1

D

Question 2

A federal grant in which the state and federal government share the cost of the program is termed:

A)a dividend-yielding grant
B)a block grant
C)a legislatively mandated grant
D)a matching grant

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Economic improvement programs are aimed at:

A)providing better housing
B)increasing income for poor families
C)providing money management skills
D)some of the above but not all of the above

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The purpose of social policy is to:

A)provide information
B)provide funding to achieve goals such as child protection and family support
C)provide services to prevent or reduce problems
D)all of the above

Question 5

Policies that focus on ameliorating or "fixing" problems after they have developed include:

A)efforts to reduce gang violence by teaching aggressive children how to solve social problems
B)programs to encourage pregnant teens to stay in school by providing on-site child care for their babies
C)programs to re-train parents after they have abused their children
D)all of the above

Question 6

Primary prevention policies are designed to:

A)provide remedial training for children with poor social skills
B)alter environmental conditions and prevent problems before they develop
C)provide therapy for children in trouble
D)focus on children who are already at risk of developing problems

Question 7

TANF is a program aimed at:

A)improving the quality of schools in impoverished areas or funding supplementary after-school programs
B)reducing gang violence
C)providing parents with job training and parenting-skills training
D)none of the above

Question 8

Public policy is best described as:

A)government-based social policy
B)policy initiated by the public
C)policy initiated by community action groups
D)policy initiated by concerned citizens who wish to help children

Question 9

Social policy refers to:

A)a set of planned actions to solve a social problem
B)a set of actions sponsored by the federal government to attain a social goal
C)a set of community based programs using volunteers to aid children
D)state and county government programs aimed at improving children's lives

Question 10

The research base for a policy:

A)always takes precedence over political considerations
B)has become a decreasing concern over the last few decades of policy making
C)is recognized as important but generally ignored in policy making
D)is increasingly considered in policy making

Question 11

Policy decisions always involve the following considerations:

A)trade-offs and compromises based on societal needs
B)budgetary limitations
C)political agendas
D)all of the above

Question 12

An example of a type of service-oriented policy would be:

A)TANF
B)UNESCO
C)FSP (Food Stamps program)
D)INOF

Question 13

A county supervisor provides a service to monitor the level of lead in the environment. This is an example of:

A)a legislatively mandated grant
B)a secondary prevention policy
C)a tertiary prevention policy
D)none of the above

Question 14

A secondary prevention effort is aimed at:

A)preventing problems before they appear
B)fixing problems before they are present but only those that affect poor children
C)providing remedies for problems after they appear or for children who are at risk of developing problems
D)providing programs such as ensuring the safety of the water supply

Question 15

In the middle of the 20th century the major policy concerns were:

A)teenage parenthood
B)health insurance
C)child abuse
D)preventing moral and sexual transgressions of children

Question 16

Which issue is not a current policy concern?

A)child abuse
B)health insurance for children
C)early education and child care
D)none of the above

Question 17

An example of a secondary prevention effort would be:

A)making sure schools are safe
B)monitoring sulphur levels in the soil in children's playgrounds
C)providing Head Start programs for disadvantaged children
D)providing parent education for first-time new mothers

Question 18

Child policy priorities have changed in the last 100 years. In the late1800s, the main concern for U.S. policy makers was:

A)working conditions for children
B)poverty
C)preventing moral and sexual transgressions of children
D)child abuse

Question 19

New America Foundation and Child Trends are organizations that serve the following social policy function:

A)provide funding to achieve goals such as child protection and family support
B)provide information
C)provide services to prevent or reduce problems
D)train community volunteers to execute social policy initiatives

Question 20

You are pleased to be residing in the U.S. because of the following social policies and social conditions:

A)the low rate of poverty in the U.S. compared with other modern societies
B)the high level of support provided for children compared with military spending
C)the government's being largely responsible for the health and well-being of children
D)none of the above

Question 21

What is a main feature of center based child care?

A)an adult, most often a mother, cares for a small group of children
B)care is relatively inexpensive
C)the program offers children educational opportunities
D)the program is typically not regulated by the state

Question 22

Under Title I (Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged) children and families could expect the following kinds of assistance:

A)free school lunches
B)parent education
C)provision of after-school programs
D)teacher retraining skills

Question 23

Over the last several decades, as more children have been enrolled in child care, the quality of child care has:

A)improved
B)stayed the same
C)improved until the last 5 years
D)gotten worse

Question 24

Over the past two decades programs such as TANF have

A)increased the percentage of children covered
B)stayed the same
C)decreased in coverage
D)were eliminated

Question 25

TANF, a welfare reform policy that provides assistance for single parents through block grants to states, stipulated that:

A)there were no time limits on cash assistance but there were work requirements
B)recipients must be searching or preparing for a job and then engaging in full-time work within 2 years of receiving their first aid check
C)aid was limited to a maximum of 8 years
D)recipients could receive welfare even after they found a job

Question 26

Children enrolled in evaluated Head Start programs compared with children who were not enrolled tended to be:

A)better readers
B)less aggressive
C)less shy
D)more motorically skilled

Question 27

The developmental trajectory for families in poverty can best be described as:

A)highly stable
B)families move in and out of poverty
C)families that move out of poverty stay out of poverty
D)families only move out of poverty when provided with government assistance for at least 5 years

Question 28

Parents of children in the National Head Start Impact Study compared with parents of children who were not in Head Start:

A)were more likely to read to their children
B)were just as likely to spank their children
C)provided better meals for their children
D)loved their children more

Question 29

Protective factors to reduce the effects of poverty on children include:

A)increasing family income when children are adolescents
B)being poor in the first five years of life
C)having high quality child care
D)becoming close friends with protective services personnel

Question 30

Poor children are at increased risk for:

A)not finishing elementary school
B)being born with low birth weight
C)reaching puberty earlier
D)none of the above

Question 31

Parents in poverty are more likely to experience which of the following:

A)limited power
B)lack of resources
C)psychological distress
D)all of the above

Question 32

In choosing child care, parents balance:

A)cost
B)convenience
C)quality
D)all of the above

Question 33

What is not a reason for the increased percentage of children in child care?

A)the rise in maternal employment
B)increased geographic mobility
C)increased availability of affordable high quality child care
D)most parents believe that children benefit from spending time in a setting where they can interact with peers

Question 34

If someone was looking for a high quality child care arrangement, it would probably be:

A)nanny care so the child would be able to stay at home
B)a neighbor's family day care home
C)a licensed child care center
D)a facility with a relaxed social structure so children would be less stressed

Question 35

What did researchers discover were the effects of TANF?

A)parents benefited from going to work and earning money but reported more domestic violence
B)mothers who moved into stable employment showed no improvement in psychological well-being
C)adolescent problem behavior (drinking, smoking, minor delinquency)increased when parents moved from welfare to work
D)welfare policies that increased parents' employment but did not affect family income had many positive effects on children's social behavior.

Question 36

The following features are included in how researchers define high quality child care:

A)convenient location
B)good price
C)friendliness of staff
D)low child-adult ratio

Question 37

The strategies used in the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program would generally include:

A)home visiting to teach about developmental milestones
B)providing food stamps
C)providing income supplements
D)nutrition education

Question 38

The following features increase the effectiveness of programs for poor children and families:

A)programs begin early in the child's life
B)programs involve parents as well as children
C)programs continue over a long period of time
D)all of the above

Question 39

In the U.S., about what percentage of children live below the poverty line?

A)10%
B)35%
C)21%
D)30%

Question 40

What is the Abecedarian project?

A)a welfare to work program
B)a tertiary prevention program
C)a secondary prevention effort
D)a program for poor adolescents

Question 41

Teens who are likely to become pregnant are different in a number of ways from teens who are not. They are:

A)more religious
B)more likely to have a sexually active best friend
C)more likely to live in a two-parent family
D)better at regulating their emotions

Question 42

The effects of high quality child care on children's social and cognitive development is best characterized as:

A)short term but dramatic
B)short term but modest
C)long term but dramatic
D)long term but modest

Question 43

Why should parents avoid using a family child care home as their choice of child care for their young children?

A)it will probably be too expensive
B)it will probably be too structured and educationally oriented, which puts pressure on young children
C)it will probably be subject to too many government regulations
D)caregivers will probably be poorly trained or untrained

Question 44

According to researchers, what components define high quality child care?

A)being close to home
B)having teachers with a high level of training
C)having high staff turnover so children can interact with a diversity of adults
D)having a substantial number of children to ensure that children have many different play opportunities

Question 45

Children who spend more time in child care-more hours, more months, more years-compared with those who spend less time in child care:

A)experience less stress so they are better adapted to the situation
B)experience no difference in their level of stress
C)experience more stress
D)experience more stress but only early in a typical day

Question 46

Which of the following would be helpful ways of improving access to quality child care?

A)extending the public educational system downward to include 4-year-olds
B)increasing parental knowledge about child care
C)providing more money for parents to pay for child care
D)all of the above

Question 47

Boys who spend lots of time in care in comparison with girls who spend lots of time in care respond with:

A)more anxious symptoms but less aggression
B)more fearful symptoms
C)more aggression
D)more vigilant anxious behaviors

Question 48

The following factor increases your chance of becoming pregnant as a teen: (a ) having a sister who became pregnant as a teen
(b)being an early maturer
(c)an absent father
(d)all of the above (535)

Question 49

The consequences of becoming a teen mother include the following:

A)a lower likelihood of completing high school
B)a higher likelihood of going on welfare
C)a higher probability of being unable to afford child care
D)all of the above

Question 50

Using nanny care is desirable because:

A)it ensures an educationally stimulating environment
B)it is convenient
C)it affords lots of opportunities for children to have contact with peers
D)nannies are well trained and licensed

Question 51

Which of the following are not features of a high quality child care facility?

A)low staff turnover
B)low child-adult ratio
C)highly structured educational curriculum
D)abundance of materials

Question 52

TV is one of the factors that may lead to increased teen pregnancy because:

A)it shows high rates of sexual activity without contraception
B)it shows widespread practice of safe sex
C)it presents clear messages about the risks associated with teen sex
D)parents do not monitor their teens' TV viewing

Question 53

Children in high quality child care compared with those in low quality care are:

A)more sociable
B)less considerate
C)more prosocial
D)some of the above

Question 54

Children who spend more time in child care-more hours, more months, more years-are likely to be:

A)louder
B)more assertive
C)more disobedient
D)all of the above

Question 55

Over the last two decades, the rates of teen pregnancy in the U.S. have:

A)declined but risen recently
B)increased but declined recently
C)declined for African American teens but risen for other groups
D)showed a steady decline for all ethnic /racial groups

Question 56

Children in high quality child care compared with those in low quality care:

A)are more likely to have increased cortisol levels over the course of the day
B)show dramatic drops in cortisol levels during the day
C)are less likely to have increased cortisol levels over the course of the day
D)show more fluctuations in cortisol levels across the day

Question 57

As a household expense, child care is:

A)second only to housing
B)second only to food
C)as costly as transportation
D)the largest expense

Question 58

Compared with other industrialized countries, the U.S. rate of teen pregnancy is:

A)the same
B)higher but only for older teens
C)lower for all teens
D)higher for all teens

Question 59

In the U.S., what percentage of teens are sexually active?

A)10%
B)80%
C)30%
D)60%

Question 60

The U.S. is notable for the following child care policies:

A)the government provides a high level of financial support for all families with young children
B)there is a unified federal government policy
C)federal training programs for child care providers ensure uniformity of caretaker skill
D)none of the above

Question 61

Child abuse is solely the parents' fault as all types of infants and children are equally likely to be abused

Question 62

The effects of being a child of a teen mother include the following:

A)being more likely to die in infancy
B)becoming more flexible and resilient as a result of early hardships
C)avoiding teen pregnancy as a result of learning from your own mother's mistake
D)good self-control and low levels of aggression

Question 63

According to Bronfenbrenner, child abuse is usefully conceptualized as a:

A)zone of proximal development process
B)transcendental process
C)maturational process
D)ecological systems process

Question 64

Children contribute to their own abuse by:

A)being born prematurely with a birth defect
B)having a shy temperament
C)being easy to console
D)having only average intelligence

Question 65

Child abuse is most likely to occur

A)in the first year of life
B)in the teen years
C)during toddlerhood
D)equally at all ages

Question 66

According to life course theory, becoming pregnant as a teen increases if

A)puberty is reached early
B)life expectancy is lower than usual
C)one is concerned about lineage survival
D)all of the above

Question 67

Sexual abuse is more likely for:

A)boys
B)girls
C)equally for boys and girls
D)younger children

Question 68

The life course trajectory of teen mothers into adulthood illustrates the following:

A)the principle of mutifinality
B)the principle of the inevitability of the devastating effects of early hardship on one's later life chances
C)the principle of equifinality
D)the principle of social dynamics

Question 69

The major perpetrator of physical child abuse is likely to be:

A)a mentally ill parent
B)a mother
C)a grandparent
D)a father

Question 70

In order to qualify as child abuse, the following condition must be met:

A)the perpetrator intends to hurt the child
B)the action violates current cultural or community standards
C)the perpetrator inflicts harm on the child even if unintentionally
D)the child suffers visible bruising or other obvious signs of harm

Question 71

Comprehensive sex education in the schools has been found to:

A)be no more effective than no program at all
B)lead to a higher level of sexual experimentation
C)lead to more use of contraception
D)be associated with an increase in the rate of sexually transmitted diseases

Question 72

The following strategies are not effective ways to control or reduce the level of abuse in a community:

A)banning physical punishment
B)teaching parents how to more accurately "read" infants' social cues
C)increasing the isolation of parents so they do not learn ineffective and potentially abusive strategies from others in the community
D)funding more crisis nurseries and home visiting programs

Question 73

Time in child care does not matter for children's social development; only quality matters

Question 74

Becoming a teen mother affects not only the girl and her children but also:

A)increases the burden on the girl's parents
B)increases the girl's sister's chance of becoming a violent offender
C)increases the chance that the girl's brother will become a teen father
D)decreases the chance that the girl's sister will become a teen mother, through negative modeling

Question 75

Teens who become parents, compared with older parents:

A)are similar in their level of nurturance and warmth
B)have lower educational aspirations for their children
C)use reasoning as a disciplinary practice more often
D)have similar levels of personal problems

Question 76

What factors help children of teen parents develop better?

A)strong ties to their father
B)living with their grandparents
C)having a parent who knows a lot about child developmental timetables
D)some but not all of the above

Question 77

Child abuse is more likely to occur when:

A)there is a history of abuse
B)family is isolated socially
C)poor couple relationship
D)all of the above

Question 78

What is not an example of physical child abuse?

A)shoving
B)withholding food
C)allowing the child access to alcohol
D)restricting access to the bathroom

Question 79

The most effective way to reduce the chance of becoming a teen parent is to:

A)make plans to go to college
B)enroll in an abstinence program
C)watch more TV so you don't have an active social life
D)take a virginity pledge

Question 80

Child abuse is transmitted across generations in a cycle of abuse:

A)nearly all of the time
B)nearly one third of the time
C)over half of the time
D)this is a myth; abuse is rarely repeated across generations