Proposes that a major constraint of research in child welfare has been the inability to coordinate reforms among various components of foster care reform. Reveals research advances in child welfare that demonstrate effective social work practice and indicate directions for comprehensive foster care reform. (Author)

The leaderless group can be invaluable as an aid to the supervisor with the task of sustaining protective service personnel. The success of such a group may be contingent on the participation of mature, highly motivated individuals who have already developed some trust in one another. (Author)

Describes Project OPT, an intensive short-term intervention in the homes of families with problems in parent-child interaction. Qualities important in achieving success are: (1) to be accepting; (2) to plan clear objectives; (3) understanding of the family system; and (4) to be skilled in relating to children. (Author)

Based on the experience of Youth Service, Incorporated, a voluntary child welfare agency in Philadelphia, this article explores beliefs about community-based care of troubled teenagers. To develop a lasting system of high-quality, community-based care, it is essential that fact be discerned from fiction and harsh realities faced. (Author)

Describes a continuum of services to families in their homes to prevent the necessity of child placement. Presents four categories of services--general case management, the comprehensive social worker, the in-house team, and the intraagency team--to aid families who demonstrate psychological difficulty and resource deficits. (Author/JAC)

Found that states prohibiting institutionalization of status offenders and juvenile delinquents were no more likely to provide high levels of child foster care and protective services under Title XX than states not prohibiting institutionalization. (Author)

Describes elements of Sweden's child support system, such as provisions relating to eligibility, benefits, absent parent liability, enforcement and financing. Analyzes the role of child support in the broader context of other kinds of aid to single-parent families. Considers prospects for child support reform in the United States. (Author)