Child Welfare Challenge: Policy, Practice, and Research (Modern Applications of Social Work Series)

This newly revised and updated edition of a widely adopted text continues to address a broad array of issues in supporting children and strengthening families. It includes key information about federal legislation as well as policy-related outcomes research in child welfare. The first edition of The Child Welfare Challenge was hailed by Social Work as "an excellent source from which to gain an in-depth understanding of the practice and policy dimensions of child maltreatment, foster care, and adoption" and by the Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare as "essential reading for anyone interested in knowing more about child welfare practice in social work." Within a historical and contemporary context, this book examines major policy, practice, and research issues as they jointly shape current child welfare practice and possible future directions.

In addition to describing the major challenges facing the child welfare field, the book highlights some of the service innovations that have been developed, as these could be used to help address some of these challenges. In child welfare the focus is on families and children whose primary recourse to services has been through publicly funded agencies. The contributors consider historical areas of service--foster care and adoptions, in-home family-centered services, child-protective services, and residential services--in which social work has a legitimate, long-standing, and important mission. This is a comprehensive book, but one that appreciates the fact that many areas, such as daycare and early intervention, invite exploration. It is unique in that each chapter describes how policy initiatives and research can or should influence program design and implementation.

James K. Whittaker is Charles O. Cressey Endowed Professor Emeritus in the School of Social Work, University of Washington. He is a frequent consultant on child care training both in the Seattle area and nationally and is a consultant on research and training to the Child Development and Mental Retardation Center, University of Washington. He has served as director of the Social Welfare Program. He is also a founding member of the International Association for Outcome-Based Evaluation & Research on Family and Children's Services. Anthony N. Maluccio recently retired from Boston College where he was professor of social work. He is also professor emeritus of the University of Connecticut, where he taught social work for over twenty-five years. He conducted many research projects on topics such as adoption, permanency planning, and family foster care. His authored and co-authored books include Permanency Planning for Children: Concepts and Methods; Social Work Practice with Families and Children; and Evaluation in Child and Family Services: Comparative Client and Program Perspectives.