Critical Issues in Child Welfare

by Shireman, Joan F.

• ISBN13: 9780231116701
• ISBN10: 0231116705
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-10-01
• Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr

Summary

What role can and should social work play in child welfare services? Responding to what many consider a crisis in the child welfare system, Critical Issues in Child Welfareis a comprehensive overview of the policies, programs, and practices that define the field, with an emphasis on the role of social work.Joan Shireman looks at the community context of child welfare, noting changes over time, and the role of social work in the development of services to children and families. Next, she establishes a framework for child welfare services and examines the complexities of the system and its relationships to public and voluntary agencies and the judicial system. Finally, the book surveys core services, including supportive services to families, child protection, foster care and other out-of-home care, adoption, and services to at-risk youth. Each chapter concludes with a section identifying and exploring a critical issue in child welfare services, such as family violence, permanency planning, racism in the system, child care, and the recruitment, education, and retention of child welfare workers.

Author Biography

Joan Shireman is a professor in the Graduate School of Social Work at Portland State University

Table of Contents

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