Field Guide to Child Welfare, Volumes I-IV

The "Field Guide to Child Welfare" is a comprehensive, four-volume resource for child welfare workers and supervisors to use in their everyday practice. The guide describes basic theory, practical application, and pertinent case examples and examines specialized practice issues related to adoption, sexual abuse, cultural competency, and children with developmental disabilities. The Field Guide was designed to be thorough, pragmatic, and well-grounded in principle and will be a required resource for anyone who works in child welfare or related fields.

Judith S. Rycus, Ph.D., launched her child welfare career as an adoption caseworker in Los Angeles County, California. She completed her M.S.W. degree at Wayne State University in 1972 and worked as a child protective services supervisor and trainer in Columbus, Ohio. She received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from The Ohio State University in 1990, with specialization in developmental disabilities and organizational development.

Ronald C. Hughes, Ph.D., has a diverse educational background, with degrees in philosophy and social administration, as well as a doctorate in developmental psychology, which he received from The Ohio State University in 1989. He has worked as a public human services caseworker, a drug rehabilitation counselor, clinical director of a residential treatment facility for youth, an individual and family counselor, and a child welfare administrator.

Dr. Rycus and Dr. Hughes founded the Institute for Human Services in 1977. Over the past 20 years, they have greatly advanced the child welfare field with their books, monographs, articles, training resources, consultation, and leadership. They are the architects of the comprehensive, Competency-Based Inservice Training (CCBIT) System for child welfare and have helped to establish and operate large-scale training systems in child welfare organizations throughout North America.