Case Examples in Child Welfare and Family Services for Social Workers

This book provides social work students at both undergraduate and graduate level with compelling child welfare case examples, intervention plans, and tips for building working alliances with clients.

The 50 such case examples, categorized by maltreatment type(s) and by underlying problem(s), each present an intertwined network of issues characterizing the members of a family and their interactions―as in actual field situations. Thus, social work students learning therapy or case management will find a wide variety of scenarios from child welfare services and children/family outpatient care and will learn about the range of challenges clients can face.

Using the instruction/practice sheets that illustrate sound approaches for joining with clients to tailor their own interventions, students are provided with the tools to work out the application of assessment and intervention strategies with regard to the particular circumstances of each example. Throughout, the emphasis is on growing the working alliance between social worker and client, reflecting the strength perspective emphasized in social work practice.

Tyrone Cheng spent two decades as a college professor, directing undergraduate and graduate programs and chairing social work departments for four universities, and for eight years worked in the American Midwest as a licensed social worker providing family preservation services and outpatient treatment. Cheng has authored 111 published and forthcoming refereed journal articles reporting his research in child welfare, intimate partner violence, mental health, and substance abuse.