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Family foster care is supposed to provide temporary protection and
nurturing for children experiencing maltreatment. Although it has
long been a critical service for millions of children in the United
States, the increased attention given to this service in the last
two decades has focused more on its inability to achieve its
intended outcomes than on its successes. However, as social and
political trends and new legislation reshape child welfare,
policymakers and service providers continue to offer innovative
policy and practice options for this child welfare service. Though
use of the service has changed, family foster care remains
important.
Responding to a widespread sense of the "drifting" of children in
care, Congress passed the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act
of 1980. This legislation became a key factor shaping the current
status of family foster care. Its goal was to reduce reliance on
out-of-home care and encourage use of preventive and reunification
services; it also mandated that agencies engage in planning efforts
for permanent solutions for foster children. Yet, despite federal
mandates and funding, the child welfare system has continued to
struggle to provide the level of services needed for children to
reduce the amount of time children remain in temporary foster care.
The latest response to these problems, the Adoption and Safe
Families Act of 1997, established unequivocally that safety,
permanency, and well-being were national goals for children in the
child welfare system. To comply with the law, public and private
agencies are required to initiate significant program and practice
changes in the coming years to improve permanency outcomes and
child well-being in family foster care.
The central theme of the volume is accountability for outcomes,
certainly a current driving force in child welfare as well as in
other public and private service fields. This volume will be of
interest to all concerned with the social welfare of children and
families at the end of the twentieth century.
Kathy Barbell is director of Foster Care of the Child Welfare
League of America, Washington, DC.
Lois Wright is assistant dean at the College of Social Work,
University of South Carolina, Columbia.
Family foster care is supposed to provide temporary protection and
nurturing for children experiencing maltreatment. Although it has
long been a critical service for millions of children in the United
States, the increased attention given to this service in the last
two decades has focused more on its inability to achieve its
intended outcomes than on its successes. However, as social and
political trends and new legislation reshape child welfare,
policymakers and service providers continue to offer innovative
policy and practice options for this child welfare service. Though
use of the service has changed, family foster care remains
important. Responding to a widespread sense of the "drifting" of
children in care, Congress passed the Adoption Assistance and Child
Welfare Act of 1980. This legislation became a key factor shaping
the current status of family foster care. Its goal was to reduce
reliance on out-of-home care and encourage use of preventive and
reunification services; it also mandated that agencies engage in
planning efforts for permanent solutions for foster children. Yet,
despite federal mandates and funding, the child welfare system has
continued to struggle to provide the level of services needed for
children to reduce the amount of time children remain in temporary
foster care. The latest response to these problems, the Adoption
and Safe Families Act of 1997, established unequivocally that
safety, permanency, and well-being were national goals for children
in the child welfare system. To comply with the law, public and
private agencies are required to initiate significant program and
practice changes in the coming years to improve permanency outcomes
and child well-being in family foster care. The central theme of
the volume is accountability for outcomes, certainly a current
driving force in child welfare as well as in other public and
private service fields. This volume will be of interest to all
concerned with the social welfare of children and families at the
end of the twentieth century. Kathy Barbell is director of Foster
Care of the Child Welfare League of America, Washington, DC. Lois
Wright is assistant dean at the College of Social Work, University
of South Carolina, Columbia.
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