Serious child protection failures haunt health and welfare agencies around the world.

This ground-breaking book provides evidence to link two issues of major concern to health and welfare professionals: the re-abuse of children and violence against child protection workers. Janet Stanley and Chris Goddard propose that by recognising the violence faced by protective workers, protection of children under the care of protective services will be increased. Furthermore, they argue that failures in child protection have been too often followed by failures in the child death inquiry systems.

Based on interviews with protective workers and rigorous examination of their case files, In the Firing Line draws links between the traumatised and isolated child protection worker and the traumatised and isolated re-abused child. Using the words of the workers themselves, the stresses of being "in the firing line" are vividly brought to life. Case studies highlight the full extent of violence in many children's lives. The book proposes that, in serious cases of abuse, new approaches and understandings are required if children are to be protected from repeated abuse, long-term psychological injury and perhaps death.

In the Firing Line is essential reading for all professionals, policy makers, students and educators in child care and protection. It is also important for those who work with clients/customers who have the potential to be violent and for those who are responsible for the supervision and management of staff who work with potentially violent clients.

There was a day when society shielded its children from the often cruel world. At least in the so-called developed countries, the exposure of children to the worst perversions society can conjure up, has never been greater. Children have reached the exalted level of being treated, seduced and targeted to as a 'market'. This bibliography brings together the literature providing access by subject groupings as well as author and title indexes.

Numerous books have been written about Victorian child care pioneers, but few biographical studies have been published about more recent child care and welfare giants. In this book, Bob Holman, a champion for children in his own right, looks at the lives of six inspirational individuals who have made significant contributions to the well-being of disadvantaged children over the course of the 20th century. Each of the six discussed - Eleanor Rathbone, Lady Marjory Allen, Clare Winnicott, John Stroud, Barbara Kahan and Peter Townsend - has been important in establishing present systems of child care and welfare, and in stimulating debate around issues which remain high on policy and practitioner agendas today. Based on documentary research and extensive interviews, "Champions for children" relates personal histories to wider policy and practice developments. It makes important connections between poverty, inequality and child care policy - links that are often overlooked. The author also gives an engaging account of his own life, which has been dedicated to improving the lives of children through research, education and direct work with children. In the final chapter, he makes recommendations for the future development of services for children and families and policy recommendations for tackling poverty. "Champions for children" is aimed at social workers, policy makers, academics and students with an interest in child care and welfare issues.

This concise and accessible new text examines the correlations between runaway children and teenage prostitution in the United States from a criminological, sociological, and psychological perspective. The author takes a systematic approach to defining and describing the differences between youth who run away from home and those who leave institutional settings and distinguishes the difference between runaway and throwaway children. A careful examination of teenage prostitution among girls and boys helps to illuminate the special problems faced by children who have run away. In addition, the author discusses laws related to runaways, teenage prostitution, and the sexual exploitation of minors as well as the criminal justice response to the problems. Runaways and prostitution involving youth in other countries is also explored. The text's findings support current conclusions on the characteristics of runaways, the relationship between runaways and teen prostitution, and the implications of running away from home.

"Runaway Kids and Teenage Prostitution" is divided into five parts. Part I examines the scope and dynamics of running away and differentiates between runaways and throwaways. Part II explores teenage prostitution and provides information on girl and boy prostitutes and the people who exploit them. Child sexual abuse and child pornography as correlates to the problem are studied in Part III, and Part IV reviews the law that atttempts to combat teenage prostitution. Part V is devoted to an examination of the scope and significance of the problem in other countries. Together, these chapters provide readers with a clear picture of the problem of runaways and teenage prostitution in the United States and around the world.

Dale Borman Fink, the author of the only book on inclusion of youth with special needs in before and after school child care, now presents the first book to examine the experiences of children with disabilities participating in youth programs alongside their typical peers. This book is the product of Fink's quest to learn as much as possible about one community's experience with the inclusion of children with special needs in youth programs. Using a case study technique, he probes into the issues and dynamics that influence the increasing participation of kids with disabilities in such activities as Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and park and recreation programs. Fink enters a Midwestern community of 14,000, which he calls Wabash, interviewing the parents, the professionals, the peers, the community leaders, and the volunteers about the participation of children with disabilities. How does a girl who relies on an augmentative communication device take part in a Brownie troop? What do other tee-ball players think about a teammate with cerebral palsy? Why does one family refuse to use the local drop-in recreation center? Readers will learn what practices are evolving and what opportunities are being overlooked. Fink makes his own biases and interpretations plain, and he shares part of his own biography along the way. But it is the voices and experiences of the people of Wabash, rather than those of the author, that invest this book with such power about and such importance to all who are concerned youth with special needs.

With their deep tradition of tribal and kinship ties, Native Americans had lived for centuries with little use for the concept of an unwanted child. But besieged by reservation life and boarding school acculturation, many tribes--with the encouragement of whites--came to accept the need for orphanages.

The first book to focus exclusively on this subject, Marilyn Holt's study interweaves Indian history, educational history, family history, and child welfare policy to tell the story of Indian orphanages within the larger context of the orphan asylum in America. She relates the history of these orphanages and the cultural factors that produced and sustained them, shows how orphans became a part of native experience after Euro-American contact, and explores the manner in which Indian societies have addressed the issue of child dependency.

Holt examines in depth a number of orphanages from the 1850s to1940s--particularly among the "Five Civilized Tribes" in Oklahoma, as well as among the Seneca in New York and the Ojibway and Sioux in South Dakota. She shows how such factors as disease, federal policies during the Civil War, and economic depression contributed to their establishment and tells how white social workers and educational reformers helped undermine native culture by supporting such institutions. She also explains how orphanages differed from boarding schools by being either tribally supported or funded by religious groups, and how they fit into social welfare programs established by federal and state policies.

The Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 overturned years of acculturation policy by allowing Native Americans to finally reclaim their children, and Holt helps readers to better understand the importance of that legislation in the wake of one of the more unfortunate episodes in the clash of white and Indian cultures.

A comprehensive look at inner-city youth programs. Urban Sanctuaries analyzes the strategies of community leaders and organizations. The author describes how these leaders create and sustain youth programs in spite of enormous challenges.

Argues that the current system of adoption in the United States is not in the best interest of the children.

Why is the United States one of the few advanced democratic market societies that do not offer child care as a universal public benefit or entitlement? This book-a comprehensive history of child care policy and practices in the United States from the colonial period to the present-shows why the current child care system evolved as it has and places its history within a broad comparative context. Drawing on a full range of archival material, Sonya Michel shows how child care policy in the United States was shaped by changing theories of child development and early childhood education, attitudes toward maternal employment, and conceptions of the proper roles of low-income and minority women. And she argues that the present policy-erratic, inadequate, and stigmatized-is typical of the American way of doing welfare.

Now in its third edition, this resource provides a detailed guide for adoptees and their birthparents. It offers a wealth of ideas, advice, resources, and encouragement to those considering embarking on their own journey of discovery. Drawing from personal experiences as well as extensive research, author Jane Askin presents creative ways to overcome obstacles and attack problems that occur during the search process. She presents realistic choices and alternatives, and their consequences for both parties. New to this edition is coverage of the advances that have been made in the area of electronic search methods for adoptees and birthparents, and how even the most novice computer users can assess them. State-by-state listings of adoption laws have also been updated, as have the addresses and contact information for the various groups, organizations and other resources featured in the book.

'Joe is Joe, a different label is not going to make him suddenly think he is someone else' (Joe's Mum)

Quotations like this about five year old Joe are used to illustrate this text, which draws on the experience of learning disabilities in the family. Peter Burke and Katy Cigno provide helpful definitions and reflect on some preliminary, but important theoretical ideas linking to social exclusion and vulnerability. Drawing on research and experience, different aspects of family lives are illustrated in all their diversity. The implications of stressful times, major upheavals and transitions for family members are examined in detail, indicating when help from professionals should be readily available.

"Learning Disabilities in Children "introduces the theory relating to learning disabilities from the family perspective, and includes an examination of support systems for parents, caregivers and siblings. The authors emphasize why contact from service providers is necessary, particularly those based in health, education and welfare agencies. In addition, the need to give power to children and families as a multi-agency responsibility is addressed, with the aim of promoting positive practice in the professional sector for the benefit of the children involved.

"Learning Disabilities in Children "is a useful resource for postgraduates specializing in child welfare, social work and community care. It will also be of interest to social workers, community caregivers, healthcare professionals and teachers, as well as to families where there is a child with learning disabilities.

Key features:
*Based on the experience of families with children who have learning disabilities
*A practical guide for professionals and care givers seeking to clarify and understand family needs
*Explains how a more inclusive partnership between children, their families and professionals may be achieved
*Includes a chapter on child development
*Provides a unifying framework for working in the complex field of childhood learning disabilities.

Learning Disabilities in Children is a useful resource for postgraduates specializing in child welfare, social work and community care. It will also be of interest to social workers, community caregivers, healthcare professionals and teachers, and families where there is a child with learning disabilities.

This book brings together current theory and research about atypical attachments in infants and young children at developmental risk in order to illustrate and understand some of the key issues in cases that do not fit traditional attachment patterns. It also illuminates a variety of conceptual issues that warrant more empirical attention in future research on parent-child attachment.

In the 20th century we have witnessed the massive movement of women and young mothers into paid employment in the U.S. and other industrialized countries. By 1995 64% of married mothers with a preschool-aged child were in the labor force compared to 35% only 25 years earlier. Rising divorce rates and an increase in the percentage of female-headed households make more families dependent on the mother s earnings. These structural shifts, along with women s growing aspirations for careers and more independence, have changed social norms. Families increasingly depend on formally provided child care.

The child care crisis is easily overlooked. It is a silent, voiceless crisis. Three-, four-, and five-year-old children cannot speak for themselves. Low- and middle-income children and mothers, those most directly affected, have little economic or political power. What choices must we as a society make to aid our nation in raising its children?"

The Silent Crisis in U.S. Child Care," a special issue of THE ANNALS, addresses the important debates and questions regarding child care:

- Regulating Child Care Quality

- Making Child Care Affordable in the United States

. Defining and Assessing Early Childhood Program Quality

. Who Should Pay for Child Care

The discussion of child care not only affects our society as a whole, but also influences the decisions of policymakers and politicians. The articles in this special issue are valuable to scholars, researchers, policymakers and those working in and with the child care system who seek to find answers and solutions to this timely and important problem."

"The first complete and comprehensive work on these important, unique programs. . . . An interesting, humane, yet tragic component of the post-1959 Cuban experience and the Cold War in general."--Antonio Benitez-Rojo, Amherst College "The ordeal began [for the children] when their parents told them they had to travel alone and that they had to keep the upcoming trip a secret. The most powerful parts of the book are their accounts. . . . Through interviews with many of the participants-the children and their parents, the coordinators of the airlift, those in the underground in Cuba and the Catholic sponsors in the United States-Triay attempts to answer many of the questions the exodus raised."--Miami Herald A stirring account of the covert effort to smuggle Cuban children into the United States in the aftermath of Fidel Castro's rise to power, Fleeing Castro brings to light the humanitarian program designed to care for the children once they arrived and the hardship and suffering endured by the families who took part in Operation Pedro Pan. From late 1960 until the October 1962 missile crisis, 14,048 unaccompanied Cuban children left their homeland, the small island suddenly at the center of the Cold War struggle. Their parents, unable to obtain visas to leave Cuba, believed a short separation would be preferable to subjecting their offspring to Castro's totalitarian Marxist state. For the children, the exodus began a prolonged and tragic ordeal--some didn't see their parents again for years; a few never did. Until now, this chapter of the Cuban Revolution has been relatively obscure. Initially the result of an effort by James Baker, headmaster of an American school in Cuba who worked closely with the anti-Castro underground, Pedro Pan quickly came to involve the Catholic Church in Miami and, in particular, Father Bryan Walsh, who established the Cuban Children's Program, the nationwide organization that cared for those children without relatives or friends in the United States--almost half of them. The latter program, in effect until 1981, was the first to allot federal money to private agencies for child care, an action with far-reaching repercussions for U.S. social policy. Victor Andres Triay traces this story from its political and social origins in Cuba, setting it in the context of the Cold War and describing the roles of the organizations involved in Cuba and in the United States. Making use of extensive interviews with Baker, Walsh, and influential underground figures, as well as personal letters that document the fears and dreams of both the parents and the children, Triay presents this history of Pedro Pan--the largest child refugee movement ever in the Western Hemisphere--with the drama of an international thriller and the pathos of a heartbreaking family drama.

Who are the new families that are appearing on city streets, in suburban malls, and at Fourth of July celebrations? The parents, in their 40s and 50s, are obviously Caucasian, and their very young daughters are obviously Chinese. This book is about these new American & Chinese families that are being formed through the mechanism of international adoption.

The first survey of bicultural Chinese-American children, based on personal experience and rigorous research, both documents these adoptions and examines their implications for American society. This book will be of great use to couples considering or living with adopted Chinese children, professionals in social welfare and education, and scholars and other researchers involved with American multiculturalism.

New Yorker writer William Finnegan spent time with families in four communities across America and became an intimate observer of the lives he reveals in these beautifully rendered portraits: a fifteen-year-old drug dealer in blighted New Haven, Connecticut; a sleepy Texas town transformed by crack; Mexican American teenagers in Washington State, unable to relate to their immigrant parents and trying to find an identity in gangs; jobless young white supremacists in a downwardly mobile L.A. suburb. Important, powerful, and compassionate, Cold New World gives us an unforgettable look into a present that presages our future.

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
A Los Angeles Times Best Nonfiction of 1998 selection
One of the Voice Literary Supplement's Twenty-five Favorite Books of 1998

Children, Child Abuse and Child Protection is the second book written by the Violence Against Children Study Group, a multidisciplinary group of researchers and practitioners from a range of professional settings concerned with child protection. This book follows on from the highly successful Taking Child Abuse Seriously, published in 1990. This new volume gives an overview of the complex and uncertain political, moral and social context within which practitioners and managers attempt to work with children, families and others. The authors suggest factors that should be taken into consideration when refining policy and practice. The book reviews the development of improved policy and practices in child protection, placing children at the centre of policy, practice and discourse. The chapters explore the margins of the child protection system, and in particular how child protection interconnects or overlaps with other systems, such as health, police and education. This accessible text:

• provides a unique focus on the margins of the child protection system
• engages in current debates in social theory and social research
• makes suggestions for policy and practice

"When I was young I wanted to be a geologist, you know, dinosaurs and stuff. But as I got older I became aware of my being in a wheel char and it dawned on me it wouldn't be possible."

This quotation from a disabled student interviewed for this book graphically illustrates how disabled boys and girls experience their childhood differently from most children. The challenge for those working with disabled children and young people is to enable them to negotiate their childhood successfully, and to help them in a world which may crush their hopes and dreams, confront them with barriers and prejudices, and exclude, bully or abuse them because of their difference.

Thinking inclusively means designing services to meet the needs of all children, not just those who are able bodied. Placing the experiences of disabled children at the heart of service planning will create high quality provision for all service users, addressing key issues such as communication, family support, protection, confidence in services, advocacy, children's rights and anti-oppressive practice.

Key features:
draws on disabled young people's own accounts of their childhood
describes their experiences of the health, education and welfare systems
offers explanations for continued prejudice against disabled people in an age of equal opportunity
assists professionals and organisations to understand and dismantle discriminatory practices
makes suggestions for more inclusive provision

Written by a leading authority in the field, this book is a valuable text for childcare professionals in all sectors as well as anyone with an interest in promoting social justice.

With the heart of an adoptive mother and the eye of a journalist, Lois Gilman navigates the often complicated but ultimately fulfilling world of adopting a child.

This practical, wise, and encouraging book contains all the information a couple or an individual needs to investigate adoption alternatives, arrange for and complete a successful adoption, and raise an adoptive family. Beginning with a broad overview of options for both domestic and foreign adoption, the author provides details about agencies, home studies, paperwork, and legal issues. Also covered are procedures for agency and independent adoptions as well as concerns about intercountry adoption, special-needs children, preparing for a child's arrival, and longer term questions about the impact of adoption on your family over the years.

This newly revised fourth edition features:

• more information on open adoption and creating the relationship with birth parents that's right for you and your child;

• the latest on financing an adoption, including loans, government subsidies, and tax credits;

• the best sources for pursuing an international adoption;

• new stories throughout from birth mothers, adoptive parents, and adopted children to illustrate adoption issues today, and a detailed bibliography for further reading;

• and completely updated listings of over a thousand domestic agencies, parent groups, information exchanges, and public service offices.

Joining New Families is based on a research study which followed 61 children who were placed, between 5 and 9 years old, with adoptive or permanent foster families. Most of the children had previously been maltreated. The study focused on the problems and strengths that these children brought to their new families; how the new families coped; and the factors associated with the placements becoming stable and secure. The authors provide a detailed presentation of the findings from this unique study and highlight the implications for policy and practice. Key factors examined include

• the children’s pre-placement experiences
• the quality of preparatory work with the children and families
• the characteristics of the new parents and their parenting style
• the children’s emotional and behavioural difficulties
• the development of relationships within the new family
• the type and quality of post-placement support

Going Missing presents important findings from the first major study of young people who go missing from residential and foster homes. By exploring the diverse reasons why young people go missing and what happens when they do, the authors highlight the impact both of individual motivations and of residential and foster care contexts on the patterns associated with going missing. The authors address the serious risks that young people may encounter while missing, including the dangers associated with sleeping rough, offending, sexual exploitation, and substance misuse. The longer term implications of repeatedly going missing for the structure of young peoples lives are also explored. In outlining the strengths and limits of the different professional responses to young people who go missing, the authors present an analysis of the difficult professional task of managing risk for different groups of people. Conclusions drawn from this unique study are considered in terms of their wider implications for

• developing preventive services for teenagers
• the nature of residential and foster care provision
• inter-agency approaches to supporting young people

The process of interviewing a child can be a daunting experience for both the child and the interviewer. Interviewing Children offers practical advice for understanding the linguistic abilities of children and for applying that knowledge effectively to the evidentiary interview. Drawing on real transcript data and data from language games with presumed non-abused children, the authors examine each stage of the phased interview as outlined, in the Memorandum of Good Practice. Incorporating case studies, checklists, and self-assessment sheets, Interviewing Children provides step-by-step guidelines for

• establishing an effective interview setting
• building rapport with the child
• overcoming the difficulties that can arise when eliciting free narrative accounts
• understanding which question types to use and which to avoid
• identifying and using age-appropriate language
• interviewing disabled children and those who are bilingual or use a minority language

"Making Research Work" demonstrates how research can be fostered and applied more effectively to child care policy and practice. Drawing on a wealth of experience, current literature and government documents, the contributors present a comprehensive discussion of key contemporary issues relating to child care research. Recommendations are given for recognising and responding to both the fundamental and the specialist issues that challenge the various stages of the research process. Practical guidelines are given for

• undertaking single-case design research
• appraising current child care literature and official statistics
• accessing hidden or hard-to-reach populations
• dissemination
• establishing a research centre
• preparing a research proposal to submit to a funding body
• commissioning and funding research

Childrens homes have cultures which vary from the benign to the malignant. Using a distinctive cross-institutional design, this study of 48 childrens homes shows how some were characterised by widespread bullying, delinquency and low morale among both staff and residents whilst others were relatively peaceful and friendly. These differences are explained by the way these homes were resourced, managed and run, thus providing lessons for the future. This accessible text provides

• a much-needed insight into the management of childrens homes and the impact on their residents
• perspectives from a large sample of children, parents, staff and social workers
• an examination of the effect on staff and residents of features such as the size of the home, staff ratios, the proportion of trained staff and the approach of the head

This book presents a wholly new perspective on the Child Support Agency. The authors were granted privileged access to the CSA's own staff and were thus able to monitor case conduct from both the Agency and the client perspective. In a gripping analysis they compare the accounts of former husbands and wives with those of their respective legal advisers,and, critically, they incorporate the experience and views of the beleaguered CSA staff who attempted to calculate and enforce child maintenance obligations in those same cases. The media picture of the misery visited upon 'absent fathers' is borne out in part, but even more striking is the authors' account of a catastrophic administrative failure which led to the abandonment of many of the basic tenets of administrative justice. The reasons do not lie in the perceived unfairness of the formula but rather in the failure of those drafting the Child Support legislation to appreciate the impact of such change upon the rest of our hugely complex benefit structure. Their failure to grasp that the problems of inadequate disclosure and ineffective enforcement - with which courts had grappled for decades - could not be tackled effectively by a distant bureaucracy.