Moving toward positive systems of child and family welfare : current issues and future directions / Gary Cameron, Nick Coady, Gerald R. Adams, editors.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Adams, Gerald R., 1946-

Cameron, Gary.

Coady, Nick.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Child welfare--Canada.

Child welfare.

Family social work.

Social work with children.

Family services.

Canada.

Family services--Canada.

Social work with children--Canada.

Family social work--Canada.

Physical Description:

xxiv, 384 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Waterloo, Ont. : Wilfrid Laurier University Press, [2007]

Summary:

Faced With Rapidly Changing Social and Economic Conditions, service professionals, policy developers, and researchers have raised significant concerns about the Canadian child welfare system. This book looks at three broad international child welfare paradigms - child protection, family service, and community healing/caring (First Nations) - to find out how practices in other countries, as well as alternative "experiments" in Canada, might foster positive innovations in Canadian child welfare.

Foundational values and purposes, systems design and policy, organization and management - these are the topics discussed, along with front-line service delivery, service provider work environments, and the realities of daily living for families. Informed by recent research, the contributors provide clear directions for policy, administration, and service delivery reforms. Informing policy debates that address child maltreatment and family welfare, Moving toward Positive Systems of Child and Family Welfare will serve as a vital resource for managers, service providers, professionals, and students in the fields of social work, child and youth care, family studies, psychology, and special education.

Contents:

1 Positive Possibilities for Child and Family Welfare: Expanding the Anglo-American Child Protection Paradigm / Gary Cameron, Nancy Freymond, Denise Cornfield, Sally Palmer 1

Introduction and Overview 1

History of the Anglo-American Child Protection Paradigm 4

Common Traits of Anglo-American Child Protection Systems 11

Ideologies and Contexts 20

Explanatory Models: Why Do Families Experience Difficulties? 30

Choices in Child and Family Welfare System Design 37

Concluding Comments: Lessons and Future Directions 64

2 Mothers and Child Welfare Child Placements / Nancy Freymond, Gary Cameron 79

Images of Mothers in Child Welfare 80

Mothers' Experience of Child Placement 98

The Challenge of Congruence 108

Toward Positive Child and Family Welfare 109

3 Aboriginal Child Welfare / Deena Mandell, Joyce Clouston Carlson, Marshall Fine, Cindy Blackstock 115

Aboriginal Children in the Child Welfare System 116

Analyses of Issues in Aboriginal Child Welfare 129

Interconnection of Child Welfare and Justice Systems 132

Aboriginal Visions of Child Welfare 145

Summary and Conclusion 151

4 Using Intermediary Structures to Support Families: An International Comparison of Practice in Child Protection / Nancy Freymond 161

Recent Social and Policy Contexts for Child Protection in Ontario 163

Other Approaches to Child Welfare 164

Contrasting Judiciary Roles in European Countries with the Role of Ontario's Family Court Judge 166

Contrasting Intermediary Structures and Roles in Child Welfare 172

Conclusion 179

5 Service Participant Voices in Child Welfare, Children's Mental Health, and Psychotherapy / Marshall Fine, Sally Palmer, Nick Coady 187

Introduction and Overview 187

Voices of Parents and Children Participating in Child Welfare Services 189

Voices of Parents and Children Participating in Children's Mental Health Services 210

Voices of Parents and Children in Psychotherapy 223

The Choir 235

The Echo 238

Summary 240

6 Placement Decisions and the Child Welfare Worker: Constructing Identities for Survival / Nancy Freymond 249

Methodology 250

Study Findings 253

Reflections 266

Conclusions 267

7 Understanding and Preventing Burnout and Employee Turnover / Cheryl Harvey, Carol A. Stalker 273

The Roots of Turnover 275

Burnout 286

The Workplace Study 296

Preventing Unwanted Turnover 300

Preventing Burnout 310

Conclusion 314

8 Pathways to Residential Children's Mental Health Services: Parents' Perceptions of Service Availability and Treatment Outcomes / Karen M. Frensch, Gary Cameron, Gerald R. Adams, Catherine de Boer 321

The Study 323

Pathways to Service 324

The Realities of Daily Living 330

Residential Children's Mental Health Services 334

Systems of Care 339

9 Fundamental Considerations for Child and Family Welfare / Nick Coady, Gary Cameron, Gerald R. Adams 347

System Design Challenges 347

Implications for Service Delivery 355

Implications for Helping Relationships 360

Implications for Research 365

Conclusion 368.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 369-371) and index.

ISBN:

9780889205185

0889205183

OCLC:

85832832