Background: Among the different modalities of family support, home visiting programs have proved to be one of the most effective secondary prevention models for families involved in child welfare services. Despite the promising outcomes and the extensive available literature, further research is needed to investigate target population…

This pilot study integrated quantitative and qualitative data to examine the feasibility of implementing a modified version of a multiple family group behavioral parent training intervention (The 4Rs and 2Ss for Strengthening Families Program [4Rs and 2Ss]) in child welfare (CW) placement prevention services from the perspectives of participating…

This article describes how a university and public child welfare agency partnership and a federal demonstration project trained MSW and PhD social welfare students in homelessness intervention research using a continuous quality improvement approach. Over a period of 5 years, the Cal-Child Welfare Leadership Training model between University of…

Objectives: To examine the components affecting the quality of the implementation and their impact on the outcomes of the "Growing Up Happily in the Family" program targeted at parents with children aged 0-5. Method: At-risk and non-at-risk parents (N = 196) participated in 26 groups in local social services. Adherence, adaptations,…

Traditional approaches to disseminating research based programs and innovations for children and families, which rely on practitioners and policy makers to make sense of research on their own, have been found insufficient. There is growing interest in strategies that "make it happen" by actively building the capacity of service providers…

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of Family-Centered Practice (FCP) among child welfare workers who are expected to use FCP principles in their work with children and families. Method: Nine focus groups were conducted among child welfare workers across seven different regions within one state to assess caseworker's…

Family-centered, community-based programs are particularly suited to support families with at-risk children or maltreated children and achieve family preservation or reunification. In these child protection and child welfare cases, assessment is of great importance to inform decision making. But the implementation of services to support the…

Presents an overview of an evaluation of the effectiveness and impact of family-centered home-based services as implemented within the Child Welfare Division of Hennepin County, Minnesota Community Services Department, which worked with families of an adolescent who had been approved for out-of-home placement. (BB)

This manual is a guide for those who are planning preventive/restorative family service programs to provide alternatives to placing children in state foster care systems. Chapter I briefly discusses the rationale for family-centered social services. Objectives, characteristics, and advantages of these services are listed. Planning and…

"Residential Group Care Quarterly" is published four times a year by the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA). This issue of "Residential Group Care Quarterly" contains the following articles: (1) Building Bridges between Service Delivery Providers, Families, and Youth (Lloyd Bullard); (2) The Promise of Professionalism Arrives in Practice:…

Families First is a family preservation program aimed at providing therapeutic and practical help for families in the Netherlands faced with imminent placement of one or more of the children in out-of-home care. In 1994, the demonstration projects took place in four locations in the Netherlands. Participating were 320 children from 234 families…

Suggests that systemic child welfare reforms must ultimately encompass all systems that serve vulnerable families and children. Argues that in addition to developing new approaches to service, current reform initiatives should also demonstrate the feasibility of using existing data for longitudinal analyses that are critical to evaluating…

This book describes Boysville's 5-year effort to design, implement, and evaluate an agency-based computerized management information, program evaluation, and clinical decision-making system, BOMIS (Boysville Management Information System). The goal of BOMIS is the integration of the four intervention programs, through the collection, analysis,…

The Indian Child Welfare Act places responsibility for implementing Indian welfare legislation onto Indian tribes themselves, rather than on the government bureaucracy. Successful implementation poses challenges concerning the establishment of comprehensive tribal courts, in view of sociocultural and environmental factors that have affected the…

The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (PL 96-272) provided major federal initiatives to reform the state child welfare system. The goals of the act were to keep families together by providing them with services and to find permanent adoptive homes for children who could not be reunited with their parents. This report examines the…