Helping in Child Protective Services: A Competency-Based Casework Handbook / Edition 2

by American Humane Association, Charmaine R. Brittain, Deborah Esquibel Hunt

Overview

This second edition of Helping in Child Protective Services: A Competency-Based Casework Handbook is a comprehensive desk reference that serves as both a daily guide for workers and a training tool for supervisors and administrators. This invaluable resource provides CPS workers with the knowledge and skills necessary to assist vulnerable families, covering such key issues as assessment, decision making, intervention, child development, medical evaluation, accountability, and the legal framework of culturally responsive practice.

This handbook equips CPS professionals and students to follow the casework process from intake through case closure with step-by-step instructions and examples. Chapters cover child development, key developmental milestones, and the importance of intervention; medical evaluation of child abuse and neglect; how to structure interviews and phrase questions to obtain information from families and guide the casework process; and the importance of accountable practice to families, their agencies, and the public.

This latest edition of Helping in Child Protective Services compiles the most up-to-date research and practice information to help professionals provide the highest quality and most innovative services to children and families.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195161908
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/12/2004
Edition description:	REV
Pages:	576
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.46(h) x 1.51(d)
Lexile:	1280L (what's this?)

About the Author

Charmaine R. Brittain, M.S.W., Ph.D., is Manager of Education & Professional Development, American Humane, Englewood, Colorado. Dr. Brittain is an expert on child protective services, having been involved in CPS systems as a practitioner and as a consultant helping child welfare organizations improve their child protection systems through better training and program analysis. She manages training programs, writes curricula, and assesses program compliance against standard performance criteria. Deborah Esquibel Hunt, Ph.D. has a background in clinical social work, social work education, and Indian child welfare. She has provided leadership to a statewide task force in Colorado that culminated in a state Indian Child Welfare law. Dr. Hunt has presented locally and nationally and published on the Indian Child Welfare Act and culturally responsive services with American Indian families.

Table of Contents

1. The CPS Experience: Working with a Family from Beginning to End2. The History of Child Protective Services3. The Casework Process4. Key Partners in Protecting Children and Supporting Families5. Interviewing Children and Families6. Intake and Investigation: Initial Stages of the CPS Process7. Assessment8. Child Development9. The Medical Evaluation of Abuse and Neglect10. Interventions with Families11. The Legal Framework for Child Protective Services12. Accountability in Child Protective ServicesGlossaryIndex

Editorial Reviews

3 Stars from Doody

Reviewer: Naglaa Shourbaji, MD (Ochsner Clinic Foundation)
Description: This case work handbook is an update of the original Helping Handbook published in 1992.
Purpose: This book thoroughly covers policy direction and practice guidance in Child Protective Services (CPS); updates on the changes that have taken place in the past decade; and reflections on the evolution of CPS; important information for anyone dealing with potentially abused children.
Audience: This book is mainly directed towards social workers in general and those working with CPS in particular. Any healthcare provider who deals with children can benefit from reading it, but for the general pediatrician, it is too detailed and redundant in some chapters.
Features: The history of the establishment of CPS services was particularly interesting. This historical review was very thorough and included the legal framework for CPS. The glossary, containing many helpful definitions, is a unique feature for healthcare providers not familiar with this field.
Assessment: There are no comparable books to this manual. The audience is mainly social workers and those healthcare providers who work with child protective services.

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