McKenzie Dowdy

Mrs. Van Schenck

Senior Project
October 31, 2014
Project Proposal

A.) Abstract
The title of my paper is Child Neglect and Abuse in Commercial Day Care Centers. For
my senior project, I intend to host the first Parents Afternoon Out event at the youth group
building of Church of Christ at Creeds. I chose the topic of Child Neglect and Abuse in
Commercial Day Care Centers based on my passion to work with kids. I frequently work with
children in the youth group program at my church, and the thought of children being mistreated
while under another persons care drives me to spread the awareness for such maltreatment. The
driving questions for my research are:
1.) How is the role of Child Protective Services affecting the lives of children being
maltreated while under a commercial daycare centers responsibility?
2.) Does the barrier between the rich and poor show the role wealth has in providing
adequate care for children?
3.) What are the regulations for child care licensure and how have the violations led to the
abuse and neglect of children?
4.) What are the forms of child maltreatment and how do they relate to the abuse and neglect
in day care centers?

5.) Does excessive amount of children being supervised by minimal amounts of providers
result in the likelihood of a child to become disruptive?
6.) What regulations can be enforced to ensure licensed day care centers provide children
with adequate care?
The law aspect that I will be looking into will be the action that should be taken when day
care centers fail to provide sufficient care for children. Also, I will be looking into how the lack
of oversight from the state and Child Protective Services applies to the insufficient care being
given to children by providers whose care doesnt follow their licensure regulations.
My consultant for my project will be Mr. Winn. Mr. Winn is a teacher at First Colonial
High School for the Legal Studies Academy and has worked with kids in the Virginia Beach
Public School system for the past few years. For my project, I intend to host the first, Parents
Afternoon Out event in the youth group building of my church. Parents will be given three
hours off to complete any work they cant do with kids around or to have a break from their daily
schedule. Parents are also allowed to stay at the event to give their children a chance to interact
with others and have fun in a safe environment. There will be a waiver for parents to fill out for
their children, of who must be at the age of 10 and under, before they can attend the event. I
intend to have a family friend, Chrystal Hale, who works at a child day care center in the City of
Virginia Beach and is CPR certified to attend my event. Chrystal will help supervise the event,
provide information to parents in concern to my topic, evaluate, and volunteer her time to care
for the children who attend this event. Children will have the chance to do arts and crafts, play
games, and have fun. Materials needed will be markers, colored pencils, paper, glue, etc., for the
arts and crafts. Also, for the games, the youth group building of my church will donate balls and
the playground to be used.

Donations will be given to the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), who fights in
court for children who are abused and neglected by their parents or while under anothers care. I
will be collecting donations of travel sized toys such as bubbles, play dough, crayons, markers,
coloring book, etc. These travel sized toys are placed into bags by CASA and given to children to
break the ice when CASA steps in as an advocate. There will be donation boxes set up at my
event that allow parents and volunteers to donate these items that will be placed into bags for the
children CASA advocates for.
To connect my topic of child abuse and neglect in day care centers to my project, I have
decided to create a pamphlet to hand out to parents as well as other adults who attend my event
to spread the awareness of my topic. Parents who attend my event will most likely have children
at the age where there are times the child is looked after under anothers care. This pamphlet will
contain information based off of the driving questions of my paper to allow parents and others to
understand that such neglect and abuse has been from lack of licensure regulations being
maintained and the lack of oversight given by Department of Social Services and Child
Protective Services over day care centers. The information I will provide parents and adults will
bring light to this issue and allow parents to become more aware of such neglect and abuse when
choosing a day care center to provide adequate care for their children.
My target audience will be parents of younger children who are at the age where they
receive care from others, as well as adults or teenagers who wish to volunteer as help in setting
up or in running the event. I will get people to attend my event by setting up flyers and
contacting families at my church through the weekly newsletters we have. I will also set up a
Facebook page so families and others who plan to attend can share it with their friends to spread
the word.

The parents, children, and volunteers who attend my event will evaluate my project based
on their experience and the organization of the event. My main goal for the event is that children
have a safe, fun night where they can continue to enhance their social skills as well as
developmental needs that are lacked in some day care centers, while parents can receive
information on my topic to become aware of the insufficient care day care centers can provide to
children.
B.)Learning Skills
Skills I will need to enhance:

Public speaking
Organization
Interviewing
Communicating with others

Skills I will need to learn:

How to plan an event by myself

How to carry out an event by myself
How to collect donations properly
How to be financially literate when planning out my event

C.)Project Steps
STEPS
Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

DESCRIPTION
Meet with the Youth Minister
at my church to review the
date, purpose of my event and
collect donations of toys to
use at my event.
Meet with my consultant, Mr.
Winn, to discuss the process
of my event.
Consult with Court Appointed

HOURS
2 hours

1 hour

2 hours

Service Advocates in concern

to what donations they need.
Create waivers for parents to
sign before the event, flyers to
be set up around my church,
and a Facebook page so my
event can be shared
throughout the local
community.
Create pamphlets about my
topic to bring light to this
issue
Collect materials for the arts
and crafts table such as, paper,
markers, paint, etc
Provide food and snacks for
children and volunteers.
Set up the youth group
building for my event.
Carry out the event
Collect waivers from parents
Collect donations
Have parents pick up their
children
Give all donations to Court
Appointed Service Advocates
Total Hours

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Step 7
Step 8
Step 9
Step 10
Step 11
Step 12
Step 13

2 hours

2 hours

1 hour

2 hours
2 hours
3 hours
3 hours
3 hours
30 minutes
2 hours
Approxiamatly 26 hours

D.) Documentation

Photo documentation of the event

Video documentation of the event
Receipts of all supplies purchased for the event
Copies of flyers, emails, pamphlets and Facebook posts pertaining to the event
Phone logs and copies of emails from Court Appointed Service Advocates

E.) Project Justification

Creating and hosting the first, Parents Afternoon Off event in the youth group building
of my church will be quite a challenge for me. This project relies on my abilities of event

planning, which will be new to me. Being able to work well with kids, while having fun is an
ability that I have developed throughout my work in my youth group. However, organizing an
event that revolves around the participants of others will be difficult for me. I will need to be able
to manage my stress and establish confidence in order to face this challenge.
F.) Project Paper Connection
The central idea of my paper is what actions should be taken when children are abused or
neglected by the lack of sufficient care provided by day care centers. Also, I will be looking into
the aspect of what are the regulations for licensure and how has the lack of oversight from the
state and child protective services affected childrens lives. By planning and hosting the first,
Parents Afternoon Out event, parents will become aware of the neglect and abuse in day care
centers and how care providers have hindered the developmental growth of children. The project
will bring light to this issue for many parents whose children attend day care centers and will
give children a chance to enhance their developmental skills by interacting with others their age
through games and arts and crafts in a safe environment.
G.) Academic Honesty
I understand that any academic dishonesty by me on any part of the project will result in failure
of the Senior Project and forfeiture of the Legal Studies Seal on my High School diploma.
H.) Completion Dates

Step
Consult with Youth Group Minister to discuss
the set-up of the event.
Consult with CASA to confirm what donations
are needed.
Meet with my consultant to discuss the process
of the event.
Create waivers for parents to sign before the

Completion Date
February 14
February 17
February 24
March 2

event, flyers to be set up around my church,

and a Facebook page so my event can be
shared throughout the local community.
Create pamphlet that will bring light to my
topic so parents can become more aware of this
issue.
Collect materials for the arts and crafts table
such as, paper, markers, paint, etc
Set up the youth group building for the event
Provide food and snacks for all children and
volunteers
Carry out the event
Collect waivers from parents and donations, as
well as have parents pick up their children after
the event.
Give all donations to CASA.

I.) Facilities Impact Form

N/A

March 3

March 10
March 20
March 20
March 21
March 21

March 23