First published in 1986, this study explores the increased public concern with policies of 'community care' and their effects on informal carers, at that time. It looks at the widespread evidence that one particular group of informal carers- parents looking after their severely disabled child- lack information, advice and a co-ordinated pattern of supporting services. The author, who carried out research on disabled children and their families for a number of years, describes in detail a low-cost experimental project in which specialist social workers set out to remedy these shortcomings. Drawing on the results of this particular study, the author argues strongly for widespread assignment of 'key' social workers to this and other groups of informal carers. Despite being written in the mid-1980s, this book discusses topic that will still be of interest and use today.

Distinguished by its critical perspective, this book delivers a balanced and comprehensive examination of the child welfare system in the United States today. In a clear and accessible style, it outlines key issues, reviews the history of the child welfare system, andexplores the challenges to developing appropriate federal, state and local policies that address child welfare concerns. A chapter devoted to innovative and effective child welfare and prevention practices showcases examples of successful programs. Additionally, the book underscores the importance of coordination among human service professionals and organizations. The text addresses issues related to the educational system, homelessness, poverty, the juvenile justice system, foster care, and adoption. It incorporates the perspectives of parents and children involved in the system, who cite both positive experiences and bureaucratic challenges. Child welfare workers themselves describe the professional and personal realities of their experiences working within the system.Illustrative case examples of abused and neglected children add to the text's value for BSW and MSW students studying child welfare.

This book illuminates the process of child psychological assessment in community psychology through discussion, theory, and case studies of collaborative, systemic treatment of children and their parents. "Assessing Children in the Urban Community" presents a semi-structured form of collaborative psychological assessment, designed to help clients gain new insights and make changes in their lives. Traditional psychological assessment focuses on diagnosis and treatment but has been slow to include contextual elements, particularly social and cultural contexts into the assessment process and psychological report. Clients receiving services in a community psychology clinic pay for their treatment through state welfare coverage. They cannot choose their providers, they cannot always determine the length and course of their mental health care, they often do not have access to transportation to begin services, to continue them, or to take advantage of follow-up recommendations. The Therapeutic Assessment model is particularly adaptable to community psychology because it allows maximum interaction in the assessment process and promotes participation and collaboration in an often dis-empowering system. This book will be relevant to clinical psychologists, community psychologists, social workers, family therapists, graduate students in psychology, social work, marriage and family therapists, and counseling programs.

Black Single Mothers and the Child Welfare System examines the pressures, hardships, and oppression women of color face in the child welfare system, and how this affects social workers who investigate childhood abuse and neglect. Author Brandynicole Brooks addresses intersectionality and ideological, institutional, interpersonal, and internalized oppression and how it affects the safety, permanence, and well-being of children. Through research and real-life examples, the reader will be immersed in a historical perspective of oppression faced by black single mothers involved with social service systems, understand the definition of oppression and its four interrelated facets, examine ways oppression plays out in child welfare supports and services, and discover new integrated methods of addressing oppression. The last chapter discusses theory, generalist social work practice, and transformational leadership styles, which can be used by social workers to advocate on behalf of their clients and inspire self-advocacy, thus transforming child welfare.

The authors in this book use the metaphors of invisibility and visibility to explore the social and school lives of many children and young people in North America whose complexity, strengths, and vulnerabilities are largely unseen in the society and its schools. These "invisible children" are socially devalued in the sense that alleviating the difficult conditions of their lives is not a priority-children who are subjected to derogatory stereotypes, who are educationally neglected in schools that respond inadequately if at all to their needs, and who receive relatively little attention from scholars in the field of education or writers in the popular press. The chapter authors, some of the most passionate and insightful scholars in the field of education today, detail oversights and assaults, visible and invisible, but also affirm the capacity of many of these young people to survive, flourish, and often educate others, despite the painful and even desperate circumstances of their lives. By sharing their voices, providing basic information about them, and offering thoughtful analysis of their social situation, this volume combines education and advocacy in an accessible volume responsive to some of the most pressing issues of our time. Although their research methodologies differ, all of the contributors aim to get the facts straight and to set them in a meaningful context. New in the Third Edition: Chapters retained from the previous edition have been thoroughly revised and updated, and five totally new chapters have been added on the topics of: *young people pushed into the "school-to-prison" pipeline; *the "environmental landscape" of two out-of-school Mexican migrant teens in the rural Midwest; *the perceptions and practices, in and outside schools, that construct African American boys as school failures; *negative portrayals of blackness in the context of understanding the "collateral damage of continued white privilege"; and *working-class pregnant and parenting teens' efforts to create positive identities for themselves. Of interest to a broad range of researchers, students, and practitioners across the field of education, this compelling book is accessible to all readers. It is particularly appropriate as a text for courses that address the social context of education, cultural and political change, and public policy, including social foundations of education, sociology of education, multicultural education, curriculum studies, and educational policy.

Promoting Youth Sexual Health, written for preventionists and interventionists who work with children and adolescents across home, school, or community settings, offers guidance on how to promote sexual health among youth. The reader is first introduced to the state of the field, including sexual behaviors in which youth engage, sexual risk and protective factors, standards and professional guidelines for promoting sexual health of youth, developmental and cultural considerations, and considerations in supporting LGBTQ youth. Evidence-based strategies to support child and adolescent sexual health in homes, schools, and communities are then presented. The book concludes with a proposed model for integrating supports across settings to comprehensively promote youth sexual health.

Combining theoretical, empirical, and clinical knowledge, Stepfamilies: A Multi-Dimensional Perspective contains recent research and information that will help mental health practitioners, family therapists, psychologists, and counselors understand the characteristics, dynamics, needs, and issues of nonclinical stepfamilies. Based on direct experiences with diverse types of stepfamilies, this book gives you new guidelines and strategies that will enable you to offer more successful sessions to your clients and improve your effectiveness as a practitioner. Developed to give you a more realistic understanding of stepfamilies, this text helps you avoid the stereotypes and false perceptions that often surround stepfamilies. Offering methods and strategies aimed at making your clients feel comfortable about themselves and their situations, Stepfamilies: A Multi-Dimensional Perspective examines several aspects of these families that you need to know in order to improve your effectiveness with them, including: the definition and description of stepfamilies and recognizing historical and social changes in the stepfamily structure critical reviews on the present knowledge of stepfamilies describing the complexity of family structure, the ambiguity of boundaries and roles, and the struggle with the diverse phases of the life cycle discussing key issues for stepfamilies, such as past orientation and acceptance/rejection of differences from non-stepfamilies and focal subsystems the profile, characteristics, and case studies of an innovative typology of stepfamilies that includes integrated families, invented families, and imported families aspects of ethnically and culturally different stepfamilies, including American stepfamilies, Israeli stepfamilies, and immigrant stepfamilies from the former Soviet Union social perceptions and attitudes of stepfamilies in schools, social services, community organizations, the media, and with the lawOffering case studies and data on a variety of families and situations, Stepfamilies: A Multi-Dimensional Perspective will show you that all stepfamilies are not the same and cannot be helped by just one practice method. Complete with principles and instruments to assess patients and the success of sessions, Stepfamilies: A Multi-Dimensional Perspective works to promote an understanding of stepfamilies that will result in effective and positive therapy for your clients.

First Published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

The importance of interagency cooperation within children's services has been highlighted within recent government strategy, including the Every Child Matters agenda, the development of Children's Centres and the expansion of Extended Schools. Following tragic cases such as Victoria Climbie, the need for effective multi-disciplinary teamwork and interagency co-operation across all education and care settings remains as pressing as ever. Working Together in Children's Services addresses a range of theoretical perspectives and contexts to stimulate students and practitioners critical thinking about the issues of multi-agency working. The book provides the reader with a critical framework for understanding both new and future developments and explores key issues like: The notion of "working together" and what it means in practice The benefits and barriers of multi-agency work Current policy and requirements for successful interdisciplinary working Essential skills for inter-professional teamwork. As modules on multi-professional working become increasingly common, the book will provide core reading for all students of Early Childhood Studies, Initial Teacher Education and Foundation Degrees in the Early Years. By showing how to develop successful multi-agency partnerships, it is also highly relevant for teachers and practitioners working across children's services.

Promoting Youth Sexual Health, written for preventionists and interventionists who work with children and adolescents across home, school, or community settings, offers guidance on how to promote sexual health among youth. The reader is first introduced to the state of the field, including sexual behaviors in which youth engage, sexual risk and protective factors, standards and professional guidelines for promoting sexual health of youth, developmental and cultural considerations, and considerations in supporting LGBTQ youth. Evidence-based strategies to support child and adolescent sexual health in homes, schools, and communities are then presented. The book concludes with a proposed model for integrating supports across settings to comprehensively promote youth sexual health.

Working with families in which parents have problems with alcohol or other drugs can be complex, stressful and intense. This ground-breaking guide helps human service workers to better support parents struggling to overcome substance use problems. It draws together the perspectives of professionals from alcohol and other drug treatment centres, child and family welfare groups as well as leading researchers in the fields of addiction and child protection, and also provides practical strategies for understanding and overcoming common practice challenges.In this book you will find guidelines for: developing positive relationships with parents and children; identifying what you need to know when undertaking an assessment; ensuring the safety of families; improving family life; assisting parents when children are in care; and focusing on your own self-care and professional development.This is an essential resource for both students and professionals working in this challenging field.'The optimism, wisdom and insight collated in this work...makes this required reading for all of those whose working lives coincide with substance-using parents or their children.' - Professor David Best, Chair, Sheffield Addiction Recovery Research Group; founder and co-chair of Recovery Academy Australia

During the past decade, a remarkable transference of responsibility to Indigenous children's organisation has taken place in many parts of Australia, Canada, the USA and New Zealand. It has been influenced by Indigenous peoples' human rights advocacy at national and international levels, by claims to self-determination and by the globalisation of Indigenous children's organisations. Thus far, this reform has taken place with little attention from academic and non-Indigenous communities; now, Decolonising Indigenous Child Welfare: Comparative Perspectives considers these developments and, evaluating law reform with respect to Indigenous child welfare, asks whether the pluralisation of responses to their welfare and well-being, within a cross-cultural post-colonial context, can improve the lives of Indigenous children. The legislative frameworks for the delivery of child welfare services to Indigenous children are assessed in terms of the degree of self-determination which they afford Indigenous communities. The book draws upon interdisciplinary research and the author's experience collaborating with the peak Australian Indigenous children's organisation for over a decade to provide a thorough examination of this international issue. Dr Terri Libesman is a Senior Lecturer in the Law Faculty, at the University of Technology Sydney. She has collaborated, researched and published for over a decade with the peak Australian Indigenous children's organisation.

Genetic screening technologies involving pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) raise particular issues about selective reproduction and the welfare of the child to be born. How does selection impact on the identity of the child who is born? Are children who are selected for a particular purpose harmed or treated as commodities? How far should the state interfere with parents' reproductive choices? Currently, concerns about the welfare of the child in selective reproduction have focused on the individual interests of the child to be born. This book re-evaluates the welfare of the child through the controversial topic of saviour sibling selection. Drawing on relational feminist and communitarian ethics, Michelle Taylor-Sands argues that the welfare of the child to be born is inextricably linked with the welfare of his/her family. The author proposes a relational model for selective reproduction based on a broad conception of the welfare of the child that includes both individual and collective family interests. By comparing regulation in the UK and Australia, the book maps out how law and policy might support a relational model for saviour sibling selection. With an interdisciplinary focus, Saviour Siblings: A Relational Approach to the Welfare of the Child in Selective Reproduction will be of particular interest to academics and students of bioethics and law as well as practitioners and policymakers concerned with the ethics of selective reproduction.

According to the United Nations' latest data, the United States has more children living in poverty than any other industrialized nation in the world. More than a fifth of all children grow up in poverty. The poverty rates for African-American and Latino children often exceeds 40 percent. Furthermore, the United States--a country that once pioneered strategies to prevent child abuse and that now spends more money fighting child abuse than any other industrialized country--also has the highest rate of child abuse in the industrialized world.

Against this background, Duncan Lindsey, a leading authority on child welfare, takes a critical look at the current welfare system. He traces the transformation of child welfare into child protective services, arguing that the current focus on abuse has produced a system that is designed to protect children from physical and sexual abuse and therefore functions as a last resort for only the worst and most dramatic cases in child welfare. In a close analysis of the process of investigating child abuse, Linsey finds that there is no evidence that the transformation into protective services has reduced child abuse fatalities or provided a safter environment for children. He makes a compelling argument for the criminal justice system to assume responsibility for the problem of child abuse in order for the child welfare system to be able to adequately address the well-being of a much larger number of children now growing up in poverty.

This new edition of The Welfare of Children takes into account a major legislative change since the publication of the first edition: the welfare reform legislation of 1996. This legislation has fundamentally altered the public child welfare system as broadly understood, and Lindsey thoroughly examines its implications on policy and practice, refuting the claim that welfare reform has actually reduced child poverty. The Welfare of Children, 2nd Edition is a compassionate blueprint for the comprehensive reform of the current child welfare system to one that administers to the economic security of the larger number of disadvantaged and impoverished children. Concrete policy proposals such as a Child's Future Security account, similar to the Social Security program for older citizens, will spark serious debate on a major public policy issue facing our society.

Primarily intended for the professional child and youth care worker, this new book challenges the most basic methods and beliefs of contemporary practice. Written in the form of a novel, the central issues of child care are brought to life through the subjective experiences of a young practitioner. Each issue and experience is analyzed through the dialogues between the practitioner and his supervisor. As the story unfolds, the reader is invited to reconsider many of the most fundamental and time-tested assumptions that lie at the heart of child and youth care. One by one, the layers of professionalism are peeled back to reveal the essence of it all--the practitioner's own sense of self. This results in the inevitable conclusion that personal and professional development are inextricably interrelated. From this perspective, it becomes clear how current trends in training and practice often provide a tragic formula for methods that focus upon the control of the youngster and result in the breakdown of relationships and the burnout of the practitioner.Being in Child Care: A Journey Into Self uses the experiences of everyday life to establish themes and draw conclusions. As the story moves from the drama and minutiae of life in a small residential treatment program to the broadest existential questions, the reader will explore his or her own personal experience. Since it can be understood at many different levels, this book will appeal to the student as much as to the seasoned practitioner. (Fewster says parents can read it too.)

This ethnographic exploration of contemporary spaces of homelessness takes an expanded view of homeless space, threading together experiences of organizational spaces, routes taken through the city and the occupation of public space. Through engaging with participants' accounts of movement and place, the book argues that young homeless people become fixed in mobility, a condition that impacts on both everyday life and possible futures. Based on an innovative multi-method study of a day centre in London for young homeless people, the book contextualizes spaces of homelessness within the social relations and flows of people that produce the world city. The book considers how the biographical and everyday trajectories of young homeless people intersect with place attachments and forms of governance to produce urban homeless spaces. It provides a new angle on the city made by movement, foregrounding the impact of mobilities shaped by loss, violence and the search for opportunity. The book draws on mental maps, photography, interviews and observation in order to produce an engaging and rich ethnographic account of young homeless people in the city.

In their day-to-day practice, social work and human services practitioners frequently find themselves in confusing ethical quandaries, trying to balance the numerous competing interests of protecting children from harm and promoting family and community capacity. This book explores the ethical issues surrounding child protection interventions and offers a process-oriented approach to ethical practice and decision making in child protection and family welfare practice. Its aim is to prepare students and early-career professionals for roles in the complex and challenging work of child protection and family support. Beginning with a critical analysis and appreciation of the diverse organisational and cultural contexts of contemporary child protection and ethical decision-making frameworks, the authors outline a practical 'real-world' model for reshaping frontline ethical practice. Moving away from a focus on the child apart from the family, the authors recognise that child safeguarding affects the lives, not just of children, but also of parents, grandparents and communities. Working Ethically in Child Protection eschews dominant rational-technical models for relational ones that are value centred and focus on family well-being as a whole. Rather than a single focus on assessing risk and diagnosing deficit, this book recognises that our child protection systems bear down disproportionately on those from disadvantaged and marginalised communities and argues that what is needed is real support and practical assistance for poor and vulnerable parents and children. It uses real-world case examples to illustrate the relevant ethical and practice principles, and ways in which students and practitioners can practise ethically when dealing with complex, multi-faceted issues.

Can White parents teach their Black children African American culture and history? Can they impart to them the survival skills necessary to survive in the racially stratified United States? Concerns over racial identity have been at the center of controversies over transracial adoption since the 1970s, as questions continually arise about whether White parents are capable of instilling a positive sense of African American identity in their Black children.

" An] empathetic study of meanings of cross-racial adoption to adoptees"
"--Law and Politics Book Review, Vol. 11, No. 11, Nov. 2001"

Through in-depth interviews with adult transracial adoptees, as well as with social workers in adoption agencies, Sandra Patton, herself an adoptee, explores the social construction of race, identity, gender, and family and the ways in which these interact with public policy about adoption. Patton offers a compelling overview of the issues at stake in transracial adoption. She discusses recent changes in adoption and social welfare policy which prohibit consideration of race in the placement of children, as well as public policy definitions of "bad mothers" which can foster coerced aspects of adoption, to show how the lives of transracial adoptees have been shaped by the policies of the U.S. child welfare system.

Neither an argument for nor against the practice of transracial adoption, BirthMarks seeks to counter the dominant public view of this practice as a panacea to the so-called "epidemic" of illegitimacy and the misfortune of infertility among the middle class with a more nuanced view that gives voice to those directly involved, shedding light on the ways in which Black and multiracial adoptees articulate their own identity experiences.

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This open access book explores how children, parents, and survivors reshaped the politics of child protection in late twentieth-century England. Activism by these groups, often manifested in small voluntary organisations, drew upon and constructed an expertise grounded in experience and emotion that supported, challenged, and subverted medical, social work, legal, and political authority. New forms of experiential and emotional expertise were manifested in politics - through consultation, voting, and lobbying - but also in the reshaping of everyday life, and in new partnerships formed between voluntary spokespeople and media. While becoming subjects of, and agents in, child protection politics over the late twentieth century, children, parents, and survivors also faced barriers to enacting change, and the book traces how long-standing structural hierarchies, particularly around gender and age, mediated and inhibited the realisation of experiential and emotional expertise.

Youth residential mental health care is often a last resort after a long time searching for help. Despite engaging with residential care, moving from residential mental health programs to life in the community, many youth still confront disturbing prospects. Incorporating vignettes, chapter summaries, as well as theory and evidence in fields such as education, juvenile justice, child welfare, independent living, supporting families, and positive youth development, this book proposes a template that is both credible and feasible for improving community living outcomes for youth leaving residential mental health programs.

Following the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), the case for children's involvement in decision-making processes has been championed by pressure groups and voluntary organisations. Planning with children for better communities argues that there is now a need to transfer these ideas and experiences to mainstream services of local authorities, regeneration agencies and other organisations. In addition to clarifying why the issue of children's participation should be prioritised, the authors use examples and case studies from a variety of professions and disciplines in order to explain different methods which can be used to support participation. The book: analyses children's and young people's contemporary place in local communities; locates debates about children's and young people's participation in local communities within government social and economic policy; captures children's and young people's views and experiences of community life. The authors conclude that there should be greater recognition of the right of children to determine significant decisions affecting them - children have a clear entitlement to involvement in key decisions which influence their lives. Planning with children for better communities is important reading for local authority planners and policy makers, project workers, community development workers, children's rights officers, youth workers, play workers and students of social and community work and politics. It should also be read by those people in the voluntary and community sector concerned with children's issues relating to planning and community development.

In the Beveridge Lecture, delivered on 18 March 1999, Prime Minister Tony Blair committed his government to abolishing child poverty within 20 years. He concluded that the present-day welfare state is not fitted to the modern world, and laid out his vision for a welfare state for the 21st century. Blair's vision, grounded in a particular conception of social justice, is perhaps as challenging as the blueprint laid down by Beveridge. Ending child poverty presents Blair's Beveridge Lecture alongside the views of some of Britain's foremost policy analysts and commentators. This unique collection makes it possible to not only read the ideas of leading current thinkers in this critical area of policy, but also to compare them with the Prime Minister's lecture, and to see which ideas he himself took up and in what form. Ending child poverty is a record of not only the Lecture itself, but also of the ideas available to government and their influence on its leader at an important moment in the formation of policy. It provides a rich tapestry on analysis, insight and reflection that will, it is to be hoped, stimulate critical debate about the future shape of British welfare. This collection is essential reading for anyone interested in the future of modern society and politics and provides an accessible handbook for undergraduate students of politics, social policy and sociology.

Observe and record a child's growth and development. Specifically designed with family child-care providers in mind, this booklet, sold in ten-packs, aids caregivers to observe and record a child's growth and development. Organized by age within developmental domains, it includes milestones that directly align with those in The Redleaf Family Child Care Curriculum, Second Edition.

Deliver a detailed and focused Child Development course with the 7th edition of this textbook from Pamela Minett, designed to cover all the relevant topics in concise and highly illustrated chapters. - Quickly access individual topic areas with concise, focused and clearly laid out chapters. - Build knowledge and understanding with ongoing summative questions at the end of each chapter. - Engage learners with 100s of illustrations and photographs to support understanding of key concepts. - Suitable for all Level 1 and Level 2 specifications.

Services for young children have gone through a period of rapid transformation in recent years, which have been paralleled by great advances in our knowledge of early child development. However, care and education in the first three years of life continues to be a neglected area.

Thoroughly updated to take account of key policy and practice changes in childcare provision, this landmark text translates child development theory and research into everyday practice. All the practical ideas in the book have been developed and tested in nurseries, family and children s centres and include the importance of providing opportunities for adventurous and exploratory play for babies and toddlers, understanding and responding to children's emotional needs and offering personalized and sensitive care. The book also explores different ways of working with parents and the role of early years settings and practitioners in helping to keep children safe. It includes chapters on:

• Childcare policy and services
• Planning spaces for living, learning and playing
• Babies in day care
• Heuristic play with objects
• Mealtimes
• Learning out of doors
• Leading and managing a childcare centre
• Involving and working with parents
• Safeguarding children

People Under Three" is an established practical text for all those training to work with young children or managing day care facilities. Focusing on the care and learning of very young children, it is designed specifically for those who look after them day by day, as well as being a useful resource for social work students and policy makers."