Decision Making in Child Welfare Services: Intake and Planning / Edition 1

by T.J. Stein, T.L. Rzepnicki

Overview

All countries confront the problem of providing for dependent, neglected, and 1 abused children. While the exact form of institutional response will differ in relation to a country's political and economic structure, its culture and its tradition, the same general kinds of child welfare services have been developed 2 everywhere. Literature from the United States, Canada, and several Western European countries reflects a shared concern about children who reside in unplanned, substitute care arrangements and a growing recognition of the importance of 3 making permanent plans for these children. The American response to this problem took shape in the early 1970s when government at the local, state, and 4 federal levels undertook to fund permanency planning projects. Permanency planning projects were charged with developing and testing procedures that would increase the likelihood that children would move out of substitute care arrangements into permanent family homes either through restoration to their biological families, termination of parental rights and subsequent adoption, court appointment of a legal guardian, or planned emancipation for older children. Long-term foster care, if it was a planned outcome supported by the use of written agreements between foster parents and child care agencies, was recognized as an appropriate option for some children. 2 DECISION MAKING IN CHILD WELFARE Permanency planning projects have had a direct effect on the substantive aspects of social work practice in child welfare.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780898381382
Publisher:	Springer Netherlands
Publication date:	01/31/1984
Series:	International Series in Social Welfare , #4
Edition description:	1984
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.36(d)

Table of Contents

1 Introduction.- Overview of the Book.- Notes and References.- 2 Studies of Decision Making in Child Welfare and Sources of Information for Decision Making.- Decision-Making Studies: A Brief Review.- Information.- Discussion.- Notes and References.- 3 Judgment and Decision Making.- Knowledge Structures and Judgmental Strategies.- Summary.- Discussion.- Notes and References.- 4 A Model for Decision Making.- The Program Environment.- Reception.- The Investigation.- Guidelines for Determining Whether a Child Is in Immediate Danger and, if so, Whether Protective Custody Is Necessary.- Determining Whether There Is Credible Evidence of Abuse or Neglect.- Notes and References.- 5 Description of the Illinois/West Virginia Project.- Project Implementation: The Field Test Sites.- The Research Hypotheses and Research Design.- Case Characteristics.- Training Workers for the Field Test.- Consultation with Project Workers and Supervisors.- Reliability.- Results.- Notes and References.- 6 The Process of Decision Making.- Decisions Made by Workers and Others: An Overview.- Summary of Decisions Mode by Workers.- The Decision Making Process.- Summary of Decision Making Process.- Notes and References.- 7 The Outcomes of Decision Making.- The Outcome of Using Structured Decision-Making Procedures.- Summary.- A Search for Predictor Variables.- A Finding of Credible Evidence.- Discussion.- Limitations of the Study.- Notes and References.- 8 Implications of the Study.- Implications for Child Welfare Practice.- Summary.- Implications for Administration.- Summary.- Implications for the Education of Child Welfare Workers.- Notes and References.- Subject/Author Index.