Based on extensive studies into child welfare services, this important book brings together research into what works in service provision for minority ethnic families. Reviewing studies of the nature and adequacy of the services provided, and the outcomes for the children and their families, this book provides much-needed guidance for policy and practice around issues of cultural and ethnic background and identity, and puts forward suggestions for future research. The authors consider in particular: * the complex needs and identities of minority ethnic families who might use child welfare services * how families using social services view current practice * the impact of the formal child protection and court systems on ethnic minority families * placement patterns and outcomes for children from the different minority ethnic groups who are in residential care, foster care or adopted * cultural issues and `matching' the social worker to the family. Drawing on current government statistical returns and the 2001 national census, this wide-ranging analysis challenges dated research and practice and proposes a revisionary agenda for future research and culturally sensitive child welfare practice, making it essential reading for all child welfare professionals.

This volume examines existing research documenting racial disproportionality and disparities in child welfare systems, the underlying factors that contribute to these phenomena and the harms that result at both the individual and community levels. It reviews multiple forms of interventions designed to prevent and reduce disproportionality, particularly in states and jurisdictions that have seen meaningful change. With contributions from authorities and leaders in the field, this volume serves as the authoritative volume on the complex issue of child maltreatment and child welfare. It offers a central source of information for students and practitioners who are seeking understanding on how structural and institutional racism can be addressed in public systems.

The history of child welfare through the eyes of children themselves. Children's Experiences of Welfare in Modern Britain demonstrates how the young have been integral to the creation, delivery, and impact of welfare. The book brings together the very latest research on welfare as provided by the state, charities, and families in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Britain. The ten chapters consider a wide range of investments in young people's lives, including residential institutions, Commonwealth emigration schemes, hospitals and clinics, schools, social housing, and familial care. Drawing upon thousands of personal testimonies and oral histories--including a wealth of writing by children themselves--the book shows that we can only understand the history and impact of welfare if we listen to children's experiences.

Comprehensive history of the Children’s Bureau from 1912-2012 in eBook form that shares the legacy of this landmark agency that established the first Federal Government programs, research and social reform initiatives aimed to improve the safety, permanency and well-being of children, youth and families. In addition to bios of agency heads and review of legislation and publications, this important book provides a critical look at the evolution of the Nation and its treatment of children as it covers often inspiring and sometimes heart-wrenching topics such as: child labor; the Orphan Trains, adoption and foster care; infant and maternal mortality and childhood diseases; parenting, infant and child care education; the role of women's clubs and reformers; child welfare standards; Aid to Dependent Children; Depression relief; children of migrants and minorities (African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans), including Indian Boarding Schools and Indian Adoption Program; disabled children care; children in wartime including support of military families and World War II refugee children; Juvenile delinquency; early childhood education Head Start; family planning; child abuse and neglect; natural disaster recovery; and much more. Child welfare and related professionals, legislators, educators, researchers and advocates, university school of social work faculty and staff, libraries, and others interested in social work related to children, youth and families, particularly topics such as preventing child abuse and neglect, foster care, and adoption will be interested in this comprehensive history of the Children's Bureau that has been funded by the U.S. Federal Government since 1912.

Shattered Bonds is a stirring account of a worsening American social crisis--the disproportionate representation of black children in the U.S. foster care system and its effects on black communities and the country as a whole. Tying the origins and impact of this disparity to racial injustice, Dorothy Roberts contends that child-welfare policy reflects a political choice to address startling rates of black child poverty by punishing parents instead of tackling poverty's societal roots. Using conversations with mothers battling the Chicago child-welfare system for custody of their children, along with national data, Roberts levels a powerful indictment of racial disparities in foster care and tells a moving story of the women and children who earn our respect in their fight to keep their families intact.

Family-Focused Practice in Out-of-Home Care provides practical hands-on support to help agencies bring a family focus to their policy, administrative, and program structures. It goes further to describe an agency's process of change from a traditional out-of-home care agency to one that develops and improves relationships with families of children in care.