In the early 1990s 50,000 children were in New York City's foster care system. By 2011 there were fewer than 15,000. In his book, David Tobis shows how such radical change was driven largely by a movement of mothers whose children had been placed into foster care, who fought to become advocates and stakeholders in a system that had previously viewed them as part of the problem. This book serves as an example of how advocates can change a system, as told from the perspective of key figures, change agents, and the parent advocates themselves.
This book fills the gap in the market for an accessible, general introduction to advocacy, specifically aimed at social workers. The book looks at the value base of advocacy as well as emphasising practice and skills such as assertiveness and negotiation.
There is a profound crisis in the United States' foster care system, Jill Duerr Berrick writes. No state has passed the federally mandated Child and Family Service Review; two-thirds of the state systems have faced class-action lawsuits demanding change; well over half of all children who enter foster care never go home.
The third edition offers new and more established ways to approach community building and organizing, from collaborating with communities on assessment and issue selection to using the power of social media to enhance the effectiveness of such work. Numerous case studies ranging from childhood obesity to immigrant worker rights to health care reform are provided as well as a “tool kit” of appendixes that includes guidelines for assessing coalition effectiveness, exercises for critical reflection on power and privilege, and such training tools as “policy bingo.”
Comprehensive Handbook of Social Work and Social Welfare, Volume 3: The Profession of Social Work features contributions from leading international researchers and practitioners and presents the most comprehensive, in-depth source of information on the field of social work and social welfare.
Advocacy is an essential skill for social workers who need to be able to speak confidently on behalf of service-users in a range of situations. In this new book, Jane Dalrymple and Jane Boylan explore the theory and research behind advocacy to demonstrate how to achieve best practice. Key topics covered include: - Independent advocacy - Supporting self-advocacy and decision-making - Challenging oppression - Negotiating with organisations Each chapter includes rich case examples, which help readers bring the discussion into the real life practice context. Effective Advocacy in Social Work will be valuable reading for those studying social work at undergraduate and postgraduate level, as well as those working in practice and in interprofessional contexts. Jane Dalrymple is Senior Lecturer at the University of the West of England. Jane Boylan is Senior Lecturer at Keele University.
This up-to-date and comprehensive resource by leaders in child welfare is the first book to reflect the impact of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) of 1997. The text serves as a single-source reference for a wide array of professionals who work in children, youth, and family services in the United States-policymakers, social workers, psychologists, educators, attorneys, guardians ad litem, and family court judges& mdash;and as a text for students of child welfare practice and policy. Features include: * Organized around ASFA's guiding principles of well-being, safety, and permanency * Focus on evidence-based "best practices" * Case examples integrated throughout * First book to include data from the first round of National Child and Family Service Reviews Topics discussed include the latest on prevention of child abuse and neglect and child protective services; risk and resilience in child development; engaging families; connecting families with public and community resources; health and mental health care needs of children and adolescents; domestic violence; substance abuse in the family; family preservation services; family support services and the integration of family-centered practices in child welfare; gay and lesbian adolescents and their families; children with disabilities; and runaway and homeless youth. The contributors also explore issues pertaining to foster care and adoption, including a focus on permanency planning for children and youth and the need to provide services that are individualized and culturally and spiritually responsive to clients. A review of salient systemic issues in the field of children, youth, and family services completes this collection.
Encompassing community development, organizing, planning, & social change, as well as globalisation, this book is grounded in participatory & empowerment practice. The 36 chapters assess practice, theory & research methods.
Strengthen programs of family and community engagement to promote equity and increase student success! When schools, families, and communities collaborate and share responsibility for students′ education, more students succeed in school. Based on 30 years of research and fieldwork, the fourth edition of the bestseller School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action, presents tools and guidelines to help develop more effective and more equitable programs of family and community engagement. Written by a team of well-known experts, it provides a theory and framework of six types of involvement for action; up-to-date research on school, family, and community collaboration; and new materials for professional development and on-going technical assistance. Readers also will find: Examples of best practices on the six types of involvement from preschools, and elementary, middle, and high schools Checklists, templates, and evaluations to plan goal-linked partnership programs and assess progress CD-ROM with slides and notes for two presentations: A new awareness session to orient colleagues on the major components of a research-based partnership program, and a full One-Day Team Training Workshop to prepare school teams to develop their partnership programs. As a foundational text, this handbook demonstrates a proven approach to implement and sustain inclusive, goal-linked programs of partnership. It shows how a good partnership program is an essential component of good school organization and school improvement for student success. This book will help every district and all schools strengthen and continually improve their programs of family and community engagement.
