On any given day, nearly half a million children are served by foster care services in the U.S. at an annual cost of over $25 billion. Growing demand and shrinking funds have so greatly stressed the child welfare system that calls for orphanages have re-entered the public debate for the first time in nearly half a century. New ideas are desperately needed to transform a system in crisis, guarantee better outcomes for children in foster care, and reduce the need for out-of-home care in the first place. Yet little is known about what works in foster care. Very few studies have examined how alumni have fared as adults or tracked long-term health effects, and even fewer have directly compared different foster care services. In one of the most comprehensive studies of adults formerly in foster care ever conducted, the Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study found that quality foster care services for children pay big dividends when they grow into adults. Key investments in highly trained staff, low caseloads, and robust supplementary services can dramatically reduce the rates of mental disorders and substance abuse later in life and increase the likelihood of completing education beyond high school and remaining employed. The results of this unparalleled study document not only the more favorable outcomes for youth who receive better services but the overall return when an investment is made in high quality foster care: every dollar invested in a child generates $1.50 in benefits to society. These findings form the core of this book's blueprint for reform. By keeping more children with their families and investing additional funds in enhanced foster care services, child welfare agencies have the opportunity to greatly improve the health, well being, and economic prospects for foster care alumni. What Works in Foster Care? presents a model foster care program that promises to revolutionize the way policymakers, administrators, case workers, and researchers think about protecting our most vulnerable youth.

What Works in Foster Care?: Key Components of Success From the Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study

Politics & Social Sciences

Pecora, Peter J.

WILLIAMS, JASON

Kessler, Ronald C.

Downs, A. Chris

English, Diana J.

O'Brien, Kirk

White,James

Social Sciences

Oxford University Press

Families in Crisis: The Impact of Intensive Family Preservation Services (Modern Applications of Social Work Series)

"[A] much needed resource that informs both the policy and the practice of family preservation." --Families in Society "This is a superb book--clearly written, comprehensive, thoughtful--one that should be read by all persons interested in learning more about family preservation services." --Community Alternative "Fraser, Recora, Haapala, and the contributors to this volume are among the pioneers and experts in family preservation services, a treatment approach designed to maintain family integrity when children are at risk of out-of-home placement. This work reports the outcome evaluation of a study designed in 1984 in which Intensive Family Preservation Services (IFPS) were provided to 453 families and 581 children in Utah and Washington. In a decade in which the child welfare community has struggled with initial decline in the early 1980s and the subsequent increase in the numbers of infants, children, and adolescents placed in foster and group homes, bold new approaches (including IFPS) have emerged as a "bright light" and have captured the interest of practitioners, administrators, policymakers, and professors. This book contributes to empirical research on family-based programs, such as that of Leonard Feldman and others. It is a must for all those who have a stake in making informed decisions about program design, clinical practice, model replication, future research, and shaping public policies to support family based services." --F.J. Vecchiolla, Choice

Families in Crisis: The Impact of Intensive Family Preservation (Modern Applications of Social Work)

Haapala, David A.

Fraser, Mark W.

Parenting & Relationships

de Gruyter

Like the enormously successful first edition, this newly revised and updated edition of The Child Welfare Challenge addresses a broad array of issues in supporting children and strengthening families. The authors believe that the task of child welfare is best viewed as a product of the three major foci of the textbook: policy, practice, and research. Accordingly, each chapter includes examples of the interrelationships of these three elements. The thorough updating in this second edition includes key information about recent federal legislation such as TANF and AFSA as well as policy-related outcomes research in child welfare.

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

Whittaker, James. K

Aldine de Gruyter

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

The 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.

Literature & Fiction

Maluccio, Anthony N.

Genre Fiction

Within a historical and contemporary context, this book examines major policy practice and research issues as they jointly shape child welfare practice and its future. In addition to describing the major problems facing the field, the book highlights service innovations that have been developed in recent years. The resulting picture is encouraging, especially if certain major program reforms I are implemented and agencies are able to concentrate resources in a focused manner. The volume emphasizes families and children whose primary recourse to services has been through publicly funded child welfare agencies. The book considers historical areas of service—foster care and adoptions, in-home family-centered services, child-protective services, and residential services—where social work has an important role. Authors address the many fields of practice in which child and family services are provided or that involve substantial numbers of social work programs, such as services to adolescent parents, child mental health, education, and juvenile justice agencies. This new edition will continue to serve as a fundamental introduction for new practitioners, as well as summary of recent developments for experienced practitioners.

Barth, Richard P.

DePanfilis, Diane

Plotnick, Robert D.

Routledge

This practical guide to personnel management is aimed directly at promoting organizational excellence and productivity in the social services. The use of task-based job descriptions and performance appraisal methods are emphasized for their importance in employee recruitment, evaluation, training, career planning and dismissal. Specific guidelines for these central personnel management functions are presented and supported by empirical research and business and social science literature.

Managing Human Services Personnel (SAGE Human Services Guides)

Business & Money

Austin, Michael J.

Management & Leadership

Sage Publications, Inc.

Using both historical and contemporary contexts, The Child Welfare Challenge examines major policy practice and research issues as they jointly shape child welfare practice and its future. This text focuses on families and children whose primary recourse to services has been through publicly funded child welfare agencies, and considers historical areas of service―foster care and adoptions, in-home family-centered services, child-protective services, and residential treatment services―where social work has an important role. This fourth edition features new content on child maltreatment and prevention that is informed by key conceptual frameworks informed by brain science, public health, and other research. This edition uses cross-sector data and more sophisticated predictive and other analytical processes to enhance planning and practice design. The authors have streamlined content on child protective services (CPS) to allow for new chapters on juvenile justice/cross-over youth, and international innovations, as well as more content on biology and brain science. The fourth edition includes a glossary of terms as well as instructor and student resource papers available online.

Borja, Sharon

Vesneski, William

Sociology

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Pecora, Peter J.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Pecora, Peter J.