-- Carol Hostetter, Social Work Today

With contributions ranging from academic and professional theorists and policy developers to independent social workers, this book explores the development of family-centered services, the processes by which these services are implemented, the problems the field now faces, and prospects for the future. Multi-faceted examinations of the field show how family-centered services and child well-being can be linked on a daily basis to better the lives of both parents and children.

Written in a conversational and applied style, Social Policy for Children and Families is an award-winning book that incorporates cutting-edge research across policy sectors in the human services. New editors William James Hall III and Paul J. Lanier, in collaboration with Jeffrey M. Jenson and Mark W. Fraser, have carefully crafted this 4th edition to include balanced coverage across areas of poverty, child welfare, education, public health, developmental challenges, substance use, immigration, juvenile justice, and gun violence. This book is an ideal core text for graduate and upper level undergraduate courses and a vital resource for elected officials, policy makers, and others interested in the evolution of policies aimed at preventing problem behaviors and supporting children and families.

Following in the groundbreaking path of its predecessor, the second edition of the 'Social Workers' Desk Reference' provides reliable and highly accessible information about effective services and treatment approaches across the full spectrum of social work practice.

This monograph articulates eight key elements of a family-centered approach to policy and practice for children needing specialized health and developmental services. An introductory section reviews the development of the first edition of the monograph in 1987 and its widespread dissemination and acceptance since that time. Each of the following eight chapters then addresses one of the following elements: (1) recognition that the family is the constant in the child's life, while the service systems and support personnel within those systems fluctuate; (2) facilitation of family/professional collaboration at all levels of hospital, home, and community care; (3) exchange of complete and unbiased information between families and professionals in a supportive manner; (4) respect for cultural diversity within and across all families including ethnic, racial, spiritual, social, economic, educational, and geographic diversity; (5) recognition of different methods of coping and promotion of programs providing developmental, educational, emotional, environmental, and financial supports to families; (6) encouragement of family-to-family support and networking; (7) provision of hospital, home, and community service and support systems that are flexible, accessible, and comprehensive in meeting family-identified needs; and (8) appreciation of families as families, recognizing their wide range of strengths, concerns, emotions, and aspirations beyond their need for specialized health and developmental services and support. Checklists for evaluating these elements are attached. (Contains 160 references.) (DB)

Adopt a more effective approach to temporary and long-term residential care! Presenting the voices of staff, parents, and residents, Family-Centered Services in Residential Treatment: New Approaches for Group Care examines the changes and challenges of residential care from the old-fashioned orphanage to the modern group-care home. These thoughtful essays offer suggestions and methods to provide more effective services in temporary and long-term settings. Containing case studies, personal experiences, and professional insights about the potentials and limitations of residential care, this reliable resource will help you develop improved services for youths and their families. Family-Centered Services in Residential Treatment presents fresh evaluations of new and old techniques as well as ideas for meeting individual needs. By building connections among parents, youths, and staff, you can develop more successful treatment programs and encourage stronger family ties even when children are best served by long-term residential care. Family-Centered Services in Residential Treatment addresses the crucial questions of residential care, including: how can staff ease children's transitions into and out of residential care? what do parents of emotionally disturbed youth need from the staff and professionals in a residential care setting? what was right--and wrong--about the old-fashioned orphanage? Could such an institution work today? how does the transition to the teamwork approach affect staff members? when is residential care most beneficial to children? what kind of care is appropriate for AIDS orphans? Family-Centered Services in Residential Treatment will help psychologists, therapists, and social workers unite theory and practice to create a family-oriented environment for troubled clients.

Service providers are increasingly called upon to serve clients at home, a setting even a seasoned professional can find difficult to negotiate. From monitoring the health of older populations to managing paroled offenders, preventing child abuse, and reunifying families, home-based services require models that ensure positive outcomes and address the ethical dilemmas that might arise in such sensitive contexts. The contributors to this volume are national experts in diverse fields of social work practice, policy, and research. Treating the home as an ecological setting that guides human development and family interaction, they present rationales for and overviews of evidence-based models across an array of populations and fields of practice. Part 1 provides historical background and contemporary applications for home-based services, highlighting ethical, administrative, and supervision issues and summarizing the social policies that shape service delivery. Part 2 addresses home-based practice in such fields as child and adult mental health, school social work, and hospice care, detailing the particular population being treated, the policy and agency context, theories and empirical data, and practice guidelines. Part 3, the editors present a unifying framework and suggest future directions for home-based social work.