Noting that improving practice in all child welfare services is a major goal of the Child Welfare League of America, this handbook presents goals and standards for services to strengthen and preserve families with children. The handbook begins with introductory sections describing standards development, detailing how to use the standards, and…

Presents an ecological model identifying four factors: the child, caregivers, facility environment; and exogenous factors contributing to child maltreatment in residential care. Facility factors include organizational culture and staffing patterns. Caregiver factors include gender, age, training, and status. Child factors include gender, age, and…

Discusses increased kinship care as a resilient response by the African American community. Strengths and resilience of the African American family can be attributed in part to a strong kinship network. In this manner, the African American community is preserving the family. Concludes this community needs support through imaginative social work…

Historically, Americans' arrangements for rearing of impoverished children away from their homes have changed. In colonial America, children of all classes were indentured to learn a trade; in the 1850s, children were sent west to rural families. In the 20th century, boarding out developed into the modern foster care system as the role of social…

Summarizes findings of a survey of eight First Nation (Canada Native) communities concerning the provision of child and family services. The results identify important differences concerning the causality of child welfare problems, the definition of key child welfare concepts, and the place of cultural values and practices in intervention. (MDM)

The growing practice of arranging foster placement of abused children with relatives provides an opportunity to redefine relationships between extended families and the child welfare system and to develop five areas of the social work curriculum: human behavior and social environment, social welfare policy and services, social work practice,…

Assessed life-skills knowledge levels among older foster adolescents in foster family homes, group homes/institutions, and apartments. Results suggest a need to improve life-skills preparation in group home/institutional settings, to target minority males for life-skills enhancement in all placement settings, and to utilize apartment placements to…

Outlines the social and practical problems faced by foster care graduates and discusses these issues in the light of recent research in England and Wales. Offers ideas on how these problems may be ameliorated in general and outlines the way the new British child care law has provided a framework for action by practitioners. (AA)

Examines the proposal to assign the child protective investigative function to law enforcement agencies, while maintaining the family service function in the child welfare system. Reviews the national experience with the separation of income maintenance and social services in public welfare, advising extreme caution in the implementation of this…

Compared the application of intensive family preservation services (IFPS) to reunify children in out-of-home care placement with their biological families, with the same service used for preventing the need for such placements. Suggests that the relative usage of specific services and service goals confirmed the continuation of the original model.…

Focuses on current knowledge of families' involvement in intensive family preservation services. Identifies gaps in knowledge pertaining to the context of service delivery, the theory of family preservation practice, the process of service delivery, and the conceptualization and meaning of service outcomes. Suggests that gaps might be…

Reports on a longitudinal study about the educational progress and behavior of 49 children in long-term foster care and a comparison group of children receiving social work support while remaining with their birth families. Finds that the children in foster care showed lower academic achievement and more behavioral problems. (CFR)

Studied the impact of a $70-per-month increase in payment to foster parents, and other incentives, on the stability of foster care and the behavior of 4- to 7-year-old children in foster care. Children whose foster parents received payments exhibited a lower foster care dropout rate than other children. (SM)

Explains characteristics and behaviors of Native American parents who react to child protection services with extreme aggressiveness, passivity, or avoidance. Discusses appropriate behaviors for social workers to use with such parents. (BG)

Discusses the interdependence of criminal justice policy, welfare reform legislation, and kinship foster care in relation to the care of children with incarcerated parents. Explores the impact of these interdependent service organizations on these children, and discusses the characteristics of relative caregivers, their needs, and the support…