This volume examines existing research documenting racial disproportionality and disparities in child welfare systems, the underlying factors that contribute to these phenomena and the harms that result at both the individual and community levels. It reviews multiple forms of interventions designed to prevent and reduce disproportionality, particularly in states and jurisdictions that have seen meaningful change. With contributions from authorities and leaders in the field, this volume serves as the authoritative volume on the complex issue of child maltreatment and child welfare. It offers a central source of information for students and practitioners who are seeking understanding on how structural and institutional racism can be addressed in public systems.

The number of children of color entering the child welfare system in the United States is disproportionately high. This is especially true among African-American children, who, though they comprise 15% of children in the U.S., account for 37% of the total children placed in foster care. The numbers are also high for Native American and Latino children. Not only are children of color removed from parental custody and placed in care more often than their white counterparts, but they also remain in care longer, receive fewer services, and have less contact with the caseworkers assigned to them. This book identifies the practice and policy changes required to successfully address the unequal treatment of children of color in the child welfare system and their implications for social work education, caseworker training, and institutional change. The work critiques many of the existing social welfare acts and policies in terms of their treatment of children of color, and it provides best practices for each decision point in the child welfare process and for cultural competency measures and training. The text offers extensive measurement instruments that agencies can use to assess and correct institutional racism. To improve social work education, the book includes several model syllabi for the social work curriculum, and to deepen the discipline's engagement with this issue, the text concludes with a discussion of future directions for research and policy.

The child welfare field recognizes that youth of some racial and ethnic backgrounds are overrepresented in the US system. African American and American Indian children, for example, are overrepresented in out-of-home care compared to their representation in the general population, while Hispanic overrepresentation can be variable. Why does this happen? What are the consequences? How can it be prevented? This textbook seeks to answer these questions. Child welfare workers as well as practitioners of many social services, including health, education, and justice, can explore nuances within the far-reaching issue of disproportionality section by section. Chapters discuss racial disproportionality and outcome disparity, what happens to children who face these obstacles, and how child welfare can partner with other systems to build organizational and community-based supports to address disproportionality and reduce disparity.

The number of children of color entering the child welfare system in the United States is disproportionately high. Not only are children of color removed from parental custody and placed in care more often than their white counterparts, but they also remain in care longer, receive fewer services, and have less contact with the caseworkers assigned to them. This book identifies the practice and policy changes required to successfully address the unequal treatment of children of color in the child welfare system and their implications for social work education, caseworker training, and institutional change. It critiques many of the existing social welfare acts and policies in terms of their treatment of children of color, and it provides best practices for each decision point in the child welfare process and for cultural competency measures and training. The text offers extensive measurement instruments that agencies can use to assess and correct institutional racism. To improve social work education, the book includes several model syllabi for the curriculum, and to deepen the discipline's engagement with the issue of institutional racism, the text concludes with a discussion of future directions for research and policy.

Reorganized for more effective classroom use, the second edition of Critical Issues in Child Welfare begins with an updated, thorough overview of the challenges currently facing at-risk children and families. A description of the child welfare system highlights issues that are discussed in more detail throughout the book. The text explores protective services, family preservation, foster care and residential care, adoption, services for adolescents, and training and retention of staff. New material highlights the recent discoveries of the impact of early trauma and stress on children's development, and the modifications currently taking place in the child welfare system in response to this new information. The book also examines the critical challenges of poverty and substance abuse, the importance of the community in shaping child welfare services, racial disproportionality in the system, the changing response of the system to LGBT issues, and services to ameliorate the difficulties of youth leaving the system.

Six Steps to Successful Child Advocacy: Changing the World for Children (by Amy Conley Wright and Kenneth J. Jaffe) offers an interdisciplinary approach to child advocacy, nurturing key skills through a proven six-step process that has been used to train child advocates and create social change around the world. The approach is applicable for micro-advocacy for one child, mezzo-advocacy for a community or group of children, and macro-advocacy at a regional, national, or international level. This practical text offers skill-building activities and includes timely topics such as how to use social media for advocacy. Case studies of advocacy campaigns highlight applied approaches to advocacy across a range of issues, including child welfare, disability, early childhood, and education. Words of wisdom from noted child advocates from the U.S. and around the world, including a foreword from Dr. Jane Goodall, illustrate key concepts. Readers are guided through the process of developing a plan and tools for a real-life child advocacy campaign.

Comprehensive history of the Children’s Bureau from 1912-2012 in eBook form that shares the legacy of this landmark agency that established the first Federal Government programs, research and social reform initiatives aimed to improve the safety, permanency and well-being of children, youth and families. In addition to bios of agency heads and review of legislation and publications, this important book provides a critical look at the evolution of the Nation and its treatment of children as it covers often inspiring and sometimes heart-wrenching topics such as: child labor; the Orphan Trains, adoption and foster care; infant and maternal mortality and childhood diseases; parenting, infant and child care education; the role of women's clubs and reformers; child welfare standards; Aid to Dependent Children; Depression relief; children of migrants and minorities (African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans), including Indian Boarding Schools and Indian Adoption Program; disabled children care; children in wartime including support of military families and World War II refugee children; Juvenile delinquency; early childhood education Head Start; family planning; child abuse and neglect; natural disaster recovery; and much more. Child welfare and related professionals, legislators, educators, researchers and advocates, university school of social work faculty and staff, libraries, and others interested in social work related to children, youth and families, particularly topics such as preventing child abuse and neglect, foster care, and adoption will be interested in this comprehensive history of the Children's Bureau that has been funded by the U.S. Federal Government since 1912.