"Christian Heroes: Then & Now have set a new standard of quality in Christian biography. These thrilling true adventures are the best-written biographies for ages 10 and up! Sustained by God's provision. George Muller's vision of caring for orphans grew to five large homes that ultimately over ten thousand children would call home (1805-1898).

Childhood problems are often related to and exacerbated by the disintegration of the family structure, whether through parental separation and divorce, military service, or incarceration. Reunification therapy is a therapeutic process incorporating different empirically based methods (CBT, humanistic, and systemic) to help repair relationships between parents and children and restore not only physical contact but also meaningful social, emotional, and interpersonal exchanges between parents and children. This unique manual, bringing together the vast experience of the author, outlines the many situations many families currently face and why the need for reunification therapy exists. The therapist works firstly with the individual family members and then with all family members in conjoint sessions. The manual expertly guides clinicians through pretreatment decisions and processes to enable them to decide where, when, and in what form reunification therapy is appropriate, taking into account ethical, legal, and special family issues. Detailed chapters outline the structure and issues for the individual and conjoint sessions, as well as a step-bystep treatment plan template. Additional tools in the Appendix enable clinicians to monitor and effectuate change.

'Primarily aimed at adoptive parents, but of considerable use to foster carers of young children, this publication approaches attachment and developmental issues arising when even the smallest child is in your care. Extremely well researched, it offers practical, sensitive guidance through the dark areas of separation, loss and trauma in early childhood. It reassures that no problem faced as a result of your child's early experiences is insignificant or undeserving of a solution. Neither is the reader patronized by assumptions that some matters should already be common knowledge. Archer sets out purposefully to encourage confidence and thereby to enable enjoyment of the young life in your care, confessing this to be the book she herself would have welcomed 20 years ago.'

'A 'must have' book for both adoptive parents and for those professionals who help adoptive families forge new family ties. The author, herself an adoptive parent, addresses a wide variety of very complex topics with a marked sensitivity to the varying needs of children who may have had a wide range of early life experiences. Although in general the text is easy to read and understand, there is a glossary for those who might be unfamiliar with some of the terminology. References are made to well established issues as well as to some of the newer research on the impact of early abuse and neglect on brain development. I particularly appreciated the special focus on identifying abnormal arousal patterns and helping the child with these. Parents and professionals alike will value the specific ideas provided for coping with problem behaviors and for building closer family ties.'

On average, a quarter of a million children in the United States enter foster care every year. Most of these children are placed in non-kinship homes; that is, with people who are complete strangers. In The Neglected Transition, child welfare researcher Monique B. Mitchell explores children's experiences of loss and ambiguity as they transition into foster care, as well as the questions children ask during this critical life transition. Specifically, the author uses child-centered research, practical examples, and healing suggestions to create a foundation from which a relational home can be built. Drawing from the compelling stories of children, Mitchell invites readers to join children on their journey as they transition into the foster care system and courageously share their experiences of loss, ambiguity, fear, and hope.

The fundamental aim of youth work is to build trusting and mutually respectful relationships with young people, creating transformative experiences for young people in formal and informal spaces outside of homes and schools. These complex and multidimensional situations mean that the day-to-day work of youth workers is full of dilemmas, pitting moral, developmental, motivational, organizational, and other concerns against each other. By showing how different youth workers respond to a variety of such dilemmas, this authentic text makes visible youth workers' unique knowledge and skills, and explores how to work with challenging situations - from the everyday to the extraordinary. Beginning by setting out a framework for dilemma resolution, it includes a number of narrative-based chapters, in which youth workers describe and reflect on dilemmas they have faced, the knowledge and experiences they brought to bear on them and alternative paths they could have taken. Each chapter closes with a discussion from the literature about themes raised in the chapter, an analysis of dilemma and a set of overarching discussion questions designed to have readers compare and contrast the cases, consider what they would do in the situation, and reflect on their own practice. Teaching us a great deal about the norms, conventions, continuities, and discontinuities of youth work, this practical book reveals essential dimensions of the profession and contributes to a practice-based theoretical foundation of youth work.

This is a realistic dissection of the current status of children's rights at multiple levels of government and private society. Each chapter focuses on one aspect of children's rights (i.e. poverty, statelessness, sexual abuse, nutrition, education, armed conflict, etc.). A dynamic mix of commonsensical reasoning, formal legal inquiry, and practical yet professional language enables readers from stratified segments of the population to engage seamlessly with the material. Rejecting the ivory tower view that real world progress can be sustained through continuance of the same regulatory and political measures that broke ground in the latter 20th century, the author delves deeper into more pragmatic elements of children's rights why they are not universal and what prevents their achievement. Detailed scrutiny of data, law, and contemporary social attitudes move the text from one paradoxical situation to the next perpetual limitation in the quest for eradication of abuse and deprivation of fundamental human rights. However, hope is not lost in the midst of these empirical findings. Instead, thorough contemplation of the failures and shortcomings of child protective systems resurrects a spirit of compassion, and a more personal challenge emerges for readers, who are urged to undertake small-scale actions. We live in a time of unparalleled communications, where virtually anybody with a mobile phone can access information about people around the globe from any place. The critical mass in the movement for human rights which start in childhood years has long been established. The word has spread across the land through varied forms of media. Children's rights today are not threatened by ignorance inasmuch as they are by disinterest, disengagement, and outright opposition to those rights in practice. In order to breathe new life into the discussion, fresh and resourceful ways of thinking about the subject are needed. For rights to grow and evolve through the 21st century, stakeholders cannot afford to alienate potential allies with the same bullish rhetoric that led to the disillusionment of millions of supporters. Today's participants are tech-savvy, independent, and not overly optimistic about accomplishing goals in the shortest of terms. Child Protection in an Interconnected World is written for those who understand that failure has occurred time and again, and that only through acceptance of the factual essence of our condition may we find a suitable path toward continued growth and achievement as individuals and collectives. The book advocates the idea that changes and improvements can and will happen, but they will be incremental, transgenerational, and built upon mutual cooperation from the bottom up.

Adolescent Health Literacy and Learning offers insights to all those who care about promoting and assisting adolescent health development: health education teachers, health practitioners, and youth care workers. Adolescent health is of worldwide concern, especially as we learn that health habits and attitudes established in adolescence continue into adulthood. For example, chronic diseases such as diabetes that began in mid to late adulthood are becoming more prevalent in younger ages. Academics, clinicians and teachers are searching for ways to raise the health literacy and health outcomes of adolescents to better prepare them for the future. There is a need to raise the profile of adolescent health literacy and learning in order to address issues in adolescent and adult health. This edited volume features expert Canadian health literacy scholars writing on topics such as digital technology, software applications to health promotion, advertising, gender, suicide, nutrition, fitness, and mental health specifically for adolescents. It contains theoretical and practical ideas as well as resources for practitioners and educators to assist adolescents with interacting more critically with health information. The hope is that this book will help young people grow into adults who are more health literate. All contributing authors are experts in adolescent health literacy. Many take a uniquely Canadian perspective as well. They all acknowledge the impact of a variety of individuals and groups on adolescents, but also encourage the development of an adolescent's sense of individual identity, critical thinking, social responsibility and even activism as part of their health literacy.

Child welfare services are intended to prevent the abuse or neglect of children; ensure that children have safe, permanent homes; and promote the well-being of children and their families. Federal support for child welfare activities is provided via multiple programs. The largest share of this federal child welfare funding is provided for support of children in foster care, and for ongoing assistance to children who leave foster care for new permanent families (via adoption or legal kinship guardianship). This book begins with an overview of appropriations activities for child welfare programs. It then includes a discussion of how annual funding levels are determined for child welfare programs and briefly discusses the effect of sequestration on that child welfare funding. The remainder, and largest part, of the book provides descriptions of each federal child welfare program.

Congress has maintained an interest in the effects of gang violence in Central America, and on the expanding activities of transnational gangs with ties to that region operating in the United States. Since FY2008, Congress has appropriated significant amounts of funding for anti-gang efforts in Central America, as well as domestic anti-gang programs. This book examines the U.S.- funded international anti-gang efforts and describes the gang problem in Central America; discusses country approaches to deal with the gangs; and analyses U.S. policy with respect to gangs in Central America. The book discusses how unaccompanied alien children are treated in comparison to unauthorized adults and families with children in the specific contexts of asylum and expedited removal.

We are facing one of the most significant challenges to the future of America's children that we have ever known. Our children are experiencing and witnessing violence on an alarming scale. This exposure to violence is not limited to one community or one group of children. It occurs among all ethnic and racial groups; in urban, suburban, and rural areas; in gated communities and on tribal lands. Advances in neuroscience and child development have taught us that the trauma children experience when they are exposed to physical, sexual, and emotional violence harms their ability to mature cognitively and emotionally, and it scars them physically and emotionally well into their adult lives. We pay astronomical costs to the healthcare, child welfare, justice and other systems because we have not yet done what we know works to prevent and treat childhood exposure to violence. This book focuses on protecting children from exposure to violence and to healing those who were exposed, and calls for action by the federal government, states, tribes, communities and the private sector.

This book draws on original research to consider the connections between childcare, family lives and social policy. The research, located in Wales in the period following devolution, concerns the capacity of policy to enhance family well-being. In interviews with mothers and fathers of young children, their day-to-day childcare arrangements are explored through the themes of gender, social networks, material circumstances and neighbourhood resources. This material provides a basis for an assessment of policy through interviews with policy-makers. The book identifies a significant gap between what matters to parents and what is currently being offered in policy and service provision

In this book, the authors present topical research in the study of the current issues, practices and challenges related to child welfare today. Topics include mental health oversight for children and adolescents in child welfare custody; children in foster care and excessive medications; youth sexuality and health conditions; secondary traumatic stress in child welfare professionals; transforming mental health practices in child-serving systems; educational vulnerability of children and youth in foster care; developing a child welfare and child protection system in China; and mindfulness training for addressing the needs of child welfare system children and families.

This book presents background and analyses on a variety of children's issues, including the laws and programs which respond to these issues. Topics discussed herein include early childhood care and education programs; child welfare funding; the child care and development block grant; custody rights in the Abbott case; pre-existing exclusion provisions for children in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Approximately 662,000 children spend some time in foster care each year. Most enter care because they have experienced neglect or abuse by their parents. Between 35% and 60% of children entering foster care have at least one chronic or acute physical health condition that needs treatment. As many as one-half to three-fourths show behavioural or social competency problems that may warrant mental health services and substance abuse counselling. As many as 24,000 (about 6%) receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or other Social Security benefits. Some research suggests that a greater number of children in foster care might be eligible for SSI benefits if this assistance was sought. This book examines the health care needs and social security benefit issues facing children in the foster care system with a focus on medicaid benefits; private health insurance reforms; and possible legislative changes.

The nation's future depends to a larger extent on its children's ability to develop into contributing adult members of society. For that reason, and for what many would consider a society's moral obligation to care for the young and vulnerable, Congress and the nation take an interest in promoting children's well-being. Their well-being and ability to develop into productive adults in an increasingly competitive global economy is influenced by a variety of factors and public policies. This book discusses topics such as child well-being and the non-custodial father; child support enforcement and ex-offenders; parents in prison and their minor children, as well as child welfare agencies' efforts to identify, locate and involve non-resident fathers.

The sexual abuse and exploitation of children rob the victims of their childhood, irrevocably interfering with their emotional and psychological development. Ensuring that all children come of age without being disturbed by sexual trauma or exploitation is more than a criminal justice issue, it is a societal issue. Despite efforts to date, the threat of child sexual exploitation remains very real, whether it takes place in the home, on the street, over the Internet or in a foreign land. Because the sexual abuse and exploitation of children strikes at the very foundation of our society, it will take our entire society to combat this affront to the public welfare. This authors of this book examine the nature of the child exploitation problem and the significant efforts being undertaken by federal, state and local agencies to address this epidemic.

Recess can be stressful for children on the autism spectrum. Since most of these children tend to function better in structured environments, the usual chaos of the schoolyard is not only overwhelming from a sensory standpoint, but from a social one as well. In this book, Carol Gray offers teachers and parents helpful tips and strategies for structuring playtime so that children can get through this part of the day.

This book presents a synthesis of major studies on child exploitation and an annotated bibliography. Topics discussed in this compilation include: Internet crimes against children; the role of the family and caregivers in preventing children from becoming victims of sexual abuse; the incidence of sexual solicitation according to demographics and social characteristics and the role that law enforcement can play in prosecuting predators and evaluating the effectiveness of their investigations.

Each year, there are over 58,000 non-family abductions and more than 1 million children reported missing. This is a staggering number, but it doesn't include the other young victims, the sisters and brothers of those who have been abducted. These overlooked children suffer the loss of their sibling. Their lives are turned assunder, and family patterns are irrevocably changed. Additionally, when a child is abducted by a family member, the parent who has been left behind faces seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

For over a decade and with the best of intentions, the U.K. government has spent millions attempting, but largely failing, to improve personal, social and educational outcomes for children and young people in public care. In this book, the authors explain why the problems of this highly vulnerable group have resisted such effort, energy and expenditure and go on to show how achieving positive outcomes for children in care is possible when the root causes of failure are tackled.

Topic covered include:

- The power of parenting

- The impact of parental rejection on emotional development

- Support for the adaptive emotional development of children and young people

- Practical advice on introducing the 'Authentic Warmth' approach into existing childcare organisations

- Future issues in childcare

This book is essential reading for carers, commissioners, policymakers, support professionals, designated teachers and students of social work.

Child Health for All is a comprehensive manual addressing clinical, family, community, and health system aspects of child health aimed at health science students which includes medical, nursing, and allied disciplines.

States have primary responsibility for administering child welfare funds. However, the federal government provides substantial child welfare funding that is contingent on states meeting certain program requirements. The greatest part of federal assistance for general child welfare services, as well as adoption assistance, foster care, the Promoting Safe and Stable Families Program and Chafee Foster Care Independence Program, is included in Title IV-B and IV-E of the Social Security Act. Under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), states also receive funds to strengthen child protective services, develop networks of state-wide community-based, prevention focused family resource and support programs, and improve handling, investigation and prosecution of child maltreatment cases. This book categorises and describes state program requirements linked to these federally funded child welfare programs and includes a list of important related definitions from the Social Security Act.

This new edition of this bestselling textbook examines the key themes involved in the study of young children and childhood from a variety of disciplines and international perspectives, making essential links between theory and practice to help you apply your learning in real-life settings. Key additions include: the latest changes in early years policy 2 brand new chapters on Postmodernist theories in Education, and Education for Sustainable Development A renewed emphasis on reflective practice across Part 4, supporting and encouraging your professional development Throughout, case studies, exercises and links to further reading help you engage with key issues and test your learning, making it easier for you to get to grips with all aspects of your course.

"Every child's way of being can open doors to wisdom, compassion, and human connection. We need only to listen." This is among the conclusions that the authors, one of whom is an experienced foster parent and the other a professor of developmental psychology, draw as a result of working with a diverse range of children and families. Inspired by their relationships with families in crisis, the authors began to rethink the traditional foster care models and developed an innovative practice that afforded birth parents the opportunity to reside, under supervision, with their children during evaluation and treatment. Drawing on over 20 years of work in foster care, along with current attachment research and theory, this book conveys the foster care experience with recommendations for improved models of care and intervention strategies. Engaging case studies depict the challenging nature of determining the best outcome for a child and of supporting the adult's journey as a parent. Written in a narrative style and supported by in-depth research, this book will aid social workers and foster care professionals to better understand families in crisis and to further develop their practice.