Critical Issues in Child Welfare

Acknowledgments xv About the Contributors xvii Introduction: Social Work and Child Welfare 1(12) The Crisis in Child Welfare 2(3) Child Welfare and Social Work: A Historical Connection 5(4) Social Work 6(1) Child Welfare 7(2) Policy and Practice in Social Work and Child Welfare 9(1) A Note About Case Examples 10(3) 1 The Context of Child Welfare Services 13(39) Changing Community Expectations 14(14) Child Labor and Universal Education: A Legacy of Advocacy and Change 15(3) Poverty 18(3) The Changing Family 21(2) Youth Violence, Delinquency, and Nonconformity 23(2) Homelessness 25(1) Substance Abuse 25(1) Racism 26(1) Women's Roles 27(1) Child Maltreatment 28(13) Child Fatalities 29(3) Community Definitions of Maltreatment 32(3) Neglect 35(2) Physical Abuse 37(1) Sexual Abuse 38(1) Psychological Maltreatment 39(2) Critical Issue: Family Violence 41(5) Conclusion 46(6) 2 A Framework for Child Welfare Services 52(37) The Rights and Needs of Children 55(10) The Needs of Children 56(4) The Responsibility of the State for Its Children 60(5) The Institutions That Have Served Children 65(2) The White House Conferences 66(1) The Children's Bureau 66(1) The Child Welfare League of America 67(1) The Judicial Framework 67(3) The Legislative Framework 70(9) Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment 71(1) Interethnic Child Placement 72(3) Income Maintenance 75(4) Critical Issue: Permanency Planning 79(6) The Theoretical Base 80(2) The Empirical Base 82(1) Legislative Responses 82(3) Conclusion 85(4) 3 The Child Welfare Services System 89(39) with Katharine Cahn The Changing Role of the Public Child Welfare Agency 90(12) The Federal Role in the Child Welfare System 92(5) The Community Role in the Child Welfare System 97(1) Public Child Welfare Under Stress 98(4) The Interface of Public and Voluntary Agencies 102(4) The Voluntary Agency 101(2) Managed Care 103(3) Interface of Child Welfare with Other Public Systems 106(8) The Judicial System and the Child Welfare System 106(4) Other Systems 110(4) Responsibility to Those Served 114(2) Formal Oversight 114(1) Informal Oversight 115(1) The Interface of Systems 116(4) Interdisciplinary Work 117(1) Differing Perspectives 118(1) Funding for Services 119(1) Critical Issue: Racism in the Child Welfare System 120(4) Conclusion 124(4) 4 Community Services for Children and Families 128(35) with Karen Tverit Families Needing Intensive Services 129(9) Substance Abuse Treatment 130(2) Mental Health Services 132(1) Support for Incarcerated Mothers 133(1) Family Violence 134(1) Respite Care 135(3) Families Needing Some Extra Support 138(8) Family Resource Centers 140(1) Home-Visiting Programs 141(2) Parent Training Programs 143(1) Self-Help Groups 144(1) Head Start 145(1) Meeting the Needs of All Families 146(4) Income Maintenance 147(1) Health Care 148(1) Affordable and Safe Housing 149(1) Critical Issue: Child Care 150(9) Historical Perspective: A Mother's Place Is in the Home? 150(2) The Changing Economy and Workforce 152(1) Parental Preferences in Child Care 153(1) Child Care Costs 153(1) Child Care Resources 154(1) Quality of Care and Outcomes for Children 155(1) Federal Child Care Policy 156(1) Reexamining Child Care 156(1) Possibilities for the Future 157(2) Conclusion 159(4) 5 Crisis Intervention: Child Protection and Family Preservation 163(35) The Nature and Extent of Child Maltreatment 164(1) Child Protective Services 165(18) The Development of Child Protective Services 168(1) The Public Agency Overwhelmed 168(4) Intervention 172(11) Family Preservation 183(6) The Concept 183(1) Family Preservation Services 184(1) The Three Original Intensive Service Models 185(2) Community-Centered Practice 187(1) Kinship Foster Care 188(1) Critical Issue: Appropriate Use of Family Preservation Services 189(3) Evaluation 189(2) Do Attempts to Preserve Families Put Children at Risk? 191(1) Conclusion 192(6) 6 Investment in Foster Care 198(52) Historical Perspective 199(8) Congregate Care 200(2) Foster Family Care 202(5) Foster Care Today 207(12) Number of Children in Care 207(3) Characteristics of Children in Foster Care 210(3) Characteristics of Foster Care 213(5) Maltreatment in Foster Care 218(1) The Foster Care Experience 219(15) The Children's Original Families 220(5) The Children 225(4) The Foster Parents 229(5) Outcomes 234(3) Foster Children as Adults 234(2) Facilitating Positive Outcomes 236(1) Critical Issue: Establishing and Retaining Foster Homes to Meet the Needs of Children 237(7) Recruitment of Foster Parents 237(1) Assessment 238(2) Training 240(1) Retention of Foster Homes 241(3) Conclusion 244(6) 7 Expanding the Foster Care System: Other Types of Out-of-Home Care 250(38) Shelter Foster Care and Assessment Centers 252(1) Expanded Resources for Children Within Their Families 253(8) Kinship Foster Care 253(6) Whole-Family Care 259(2) Care for Children with Special Difficulties in the Child Welfare System 261(15) Specialized Foster Homes 261(6) Group Care: Meeting a Range of Needs 267(1) Group Homes 268(1) Residential Treatment Centers 269(7) Critical Issue: Institutional Care for Dependent Children as a Supplement to Foster Care 276(6) Appropriate Uses 277(1) Young Children 278(1) Cost 279(1) Maltreatment 280(1) Outcomes 281(1) Conclusion 282(6) 8 Adoption 288(57) The Framework of Adoption 289(12) A Brief History of Adoption 289(5) Major Adoption Legislation 294(2) The Paths to Adoption 296(4) Numbers of Children Involved in Adoption 300(1) Protecting the Adoption Triad 301(9) The Birth Parents 301(4) The Adopting Parents 305(2) The Children 307(3) Adoption Outcomes 310(2) Nontraditional Adoptive Homes 312(15) Single-Parent Adoption 313(2) Adoption by Gay and Lesbian Parents 315(2) Transracial Adoption 317(3) International Adoption 320(4) Open Adoption 324(3) Critical Issue: Continuing Support for Postadoption Services 327(9) The Need for Postadoption Services 327(2) The Range of Postadoption Services 329(6) Policy Implications 335(1) Conclusion 336(9) 9 At-Risk Youth 345(38) with Charles Shireman Youth Without Homes 348(9) Independent Living Programs 348(5) Runaway and Homeless Youth 353(4) Youth with Special Needs 357(3) Sexual Minority Youth 357(1) Youth of Color 358(2) All Youth: At Risk 360(5) Sexual Behavior 360(2) Substance Abuse 362(2) Solutions for Problem Behaviors 364(1) Critical Issue: Juvenile Law Violations and Violators 365(13) Extent of the Problem 367(2) Societal Response 369(1) The System's Clientele 370(3) Prevention and Treatment 373(5) Conclusion 378(5) 10 Concluding Thoughts 383(30) Major Policy Issues 385(5) Comprehensive and Universally Available Services 386(2) Shifting of Program Responsibility to the Local Level 388(1) The Impact of Welfare Reform 388(2) Outcomes 390(6) Expanding Expectations 391(1) The Impact of Outcome Measures on Service Provision 392(2) Effective Intervention to Achieve Outcomes 394(2) Toward More Effective Service: The Ideas of Major Scholars 396(5) Freeing Workers from Investigations 397(1) Increased Use of Adoption 397(1) Community-Based Practice 398(2) The Eradication of Poverty 400(1) Critical Issue: Recruitment, Education, and Retention of Child Welfare Workers 401(5) Turnover Rates 401(3) Social Work Education and Child Welfare 404(2) Social Work and Child Welfare: The Nature of the "Fit" 406(3) Assumptions 406(1) Values and Ethics 407(1) Social Justice 408(1) Advocacy 409(1) Conclusion 409(4) Appendix: Internet Resources 413(2) Index 415