Social workers encounter politically fraught issues in many aspects of their professional lives. They must make decisions that touch on topics such as abortion, family planning, end-of-life care, immigration rights, economic assistance, and racial inequality, among many others. How do personal political beliefs influence social workers’ education and training, practice with clients and communities, and efforts to achieve social change? Mitchell Rosenwald provides a comprehensive examination of the role of politics in the social work profession. He discusses how political ideology relates to social work education and practice at all levels, identifying and analyzing the strands of thought that have shaped the profession’s history up to the present day. This book examines how social workers strive to balance their personal views with the professional obligation to provide therapy, case management, and information and referral to their clients. It explores how the social work profession struggles to encourage and support political diversity among its members and what happens when an individual’s political beliefs challenge commonly held attitudes. Considering both clinical and policy work, Political Ideology and Social Work also offers recommendations for encouraging political reconciliation in order to strengthen the profession.

Social workers encounter politically fraught issues in many aspects of their professional lives. They must make decisions that touch on topics such as abortion, family planning, end-of-life care, immigration rights, economic assistance, and racial inequality, among many others. How do personal political beliefs influence social workers’ education and training, practice with clients and communities, and efforts to achieve social change? Mitchell Rosenwald provides a comprehensive examination of the role of politics in the social work profession. He discusses how political ideology relates to social work education and practice at all levels, identifying and analyzing the strands of thought that have shaped the profession’s history up to the present day. This book examines how social workers strive to balance their personal views with the professional obligation to provide therapy, case management, and information and referral to their clients. It explores how the social work profession struggles to encourage and support political diversity among its members and what happens when an individual’s political beliefs challenge commonly held attitudes. Considering both clinical and policy work, Political Ideology and Social Work also offers recommendations for encouraging political reconciliation in order to strengthen the profession.

This book is the first to provide strategies for effective advocacy and placement within the foster care and kinship care systems. It also takes a rare look at the dynamics of the foster and kinship relationship, not just among children and the agency workers and service providers who intervene on their behalf, but also between children and those who take in and care for them as permanency develops. Drawing on their experience interacting with and writing about the institution of foster care, Mitchell Rosenwald and Beth N. Riley have composed a unique text that helps practitioners, foster parents, and relative caregivers realize successful transitions for youth, especially considering the traumas these children may suffer both before and after placement.

Advocating for a child's best interests must begin early and remain consistent throughout assignment and adjustment. For practitioners, Rosenwald and Riley emphasize the best techniques for assessing a family's capabilities and for guiding families through the challenges of foster care. Part one details the steps potential foster parents and kinship caregivers must take, with the assistance of practitioners, to prepare themselves for placement. Part two describes tactics for successful advocacy within the court system, social service agencies, schools, and the medical and mental health establishments. Part three describes how to lobby for change at the agency and legislative levels, as well as within a given community. The authors illustrate recommendations through real-life scenarios and devote an entire chapter to brokering positive partnerships among practitioners, families, and other teams working to protect and transition children.

This book is the first to provide strategies for effective advocacy and placement within the foster care and kinship care systems. It also takes a rare look at the dynamics of the foster and kinship relationship, not just among children and the agency workers and service providers who intervene on their behalf, but also between children and those who take in and care for them as permanency develops. Drawing on their experience interacting with and writing about the institution of foster care, Mitchell Rosenwald and Beth N. Riley have composed a unique text that helps practitioners, foster parents, and relative caregivers realize successful transitions for youth, especially considering the traumas these children may suffer both before and after placement.

Advocating for a child's best interests must begin early and remain consistent throughout assignment and adjustment. For practitioners, Rosenwald and Riley emphasize the best techniques for assessing a family's capabilities and for guiding families through the challenges of foster care. Part one details the steps potential foster parents and kinship caregivers must take, with the assistance of practitioners, to prepare themselves for placement. Part two describes tactics for successful advocacy within the court system, social service agencies, schools, and the medical and mental health establishments. Part three describes how to lobby for change at the agency and legislative levels, as well as within a given community. The authors illustrate recommendations through real-life scenarios and devote an entire chapter to brokering positive partnerships among practitioners, families, and other teams working to protect and transition children.