Child Welfare for the Twenty-First Century: A Handbook of Practices, Policies, and Programs

This up-to-date and comprehensive resource by leaders in child welfare is the first book to reflect the impact of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) of 1997. The text serves as a single-source reference for a wide array of professionals who work in children, youth, and family services in the United States-policymakers, social workers, psychologists, educators, attorneys, guardians ad litem, and family court judges& mdash;and as a text for students of child welfare practice and policy.

Features include:

* Organized around ASFA's guiding principles of well-being, safety, and permanency

* Focus on evidence-based "best practices"

* Case examples integrated throughout

* First book to include data from the first round of National Child and Family Service Reviews

Topics discussed include the latest on prevention of child abuse and neglect and child protective services; risk and resilience in child development; engaging families; connecting families with public and community resources; health and mental health care needs of children and adolescents; domestic violence; substance abuse in the family; family preservation services; family support services and the integration of family-centered practices in child welfare; gay and lesbian adolescents and their families; children with disabilities; and runaway and homeless youth. The contributors also explore issues pertaining to foster care and adoption, including a focus on permanency planning for children and youth and the need to provide services that are individualized and culturally and spiritually responsive to clients. A review of salient systemic issues in the field of children, youth, and family services completes this collection.

Gerald P. Mallon, DSW, is a professor and executive director of the National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning at the Hunter College School of Social Work in New York City. He is the author or editor of numerous books, most recently Gay Men Choosing Parenthood (Columbia, 2004).

Peg McCartt Hess, PhD, is a consultant on child-welfare practice. She is former professor at the University of South Carolina School of Social Work and former professor and associate dean at Columbia University School of Social Work. She is the author or editor of numerous books, including Nurturing the One, Supporting the Many: The Center for Family Life in Sunset Park, Brooklyn (Columbia, 2003) with Brenda McGowan and Michael Botsko and Collaborating with Community-Based Organizations Through Consultation and Technical Assistance (Columbia, 2007).