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

The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), which became law in 1997, elicited a major shift in federal policy and thinking toward child welfare, emphasizing children's safety, permanency, and well-being over preserving biological ties at all costs. The first edition of this volume mapped the field of child welfare after ASFA's passage, detailing the practices, policies, programs, and research affected by the legislation's new attitude toward care. This second edition highlights the continuously changing child welfare climate in the U.S., including content on the Fostering Connections Act of 2008.

The authors have updated the text throughout, drawing from real-world case examples and data obtained from the national Child and Family Services Reviews and emerging empirically based practices. They have also added chapters addressing child welfare workforce issues, supervision, and research and evaluation. The volume is divided into four sections―child and adolescent well-being, child and adolescent safety, permanency for children and adolescents, and systemic issues within services, policies, and programs. Recognized scholars, practitioners, and policy makers discuss meaningful engagement with families, particularly Latino families; health care for children and youth, including mental health care; effective practices with LGBT youth and their families; placement stability; foster parent recruitment and retention; and the challenges of working with immigrant children, youth, and families.

Gerald P. Mallon is the Julia Lathrop Professor of Child Welfare and executive director of the National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections at the Silverman School of Social Work at Hunter College. He is the author or editor of twenty-two books, including Gay Men Choosing Parenthood; We Don't Exactly Get the Welcome Wagon: The Experiences of Gay and Lesbian Adolescents in Child Welfare Systems; and Let's Get This Straight: A Gay and Lesbian Affirming Approach to Child Welfare.

Peg McCartt Hess has been a social work educator and child welfare practitioner, advocate, and researcher for more than forty years. She has served on the social work faculty of five universities and consults with states and agencies regarding a range of child welfare practice and policy issues. 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, with Brenda McGowan and Michael Botsko.