Child Welfare and Family Services: Policies and Practice (7th Edition)

Already a comprehensive introduction to community and individual and group child and family welfare policies and practice in the United States, the Seventh Edition of Child Welfare and Family Services by Susan Whitelaw Downs, Ernestine Moore, Emily Jean McFadden, Susan Michaud, and Lela B. Costin continues to provide a strong historical context for understanding current programs, issues, and policy decisions with an expanded treatment of the legal framework of child welfare services and practice. New and updated information for child welfare and family service professionals include child well-being, outcomes, abuse and neglect prevention, and safety along with forensic interviewing, U.S. Supreme Court decisions, federal legislation including AFSA and TANF, statistical updates from the 2000 U.S. Census, and documentation for court. Other topics include child welfare in a global context, issues relating to immigration and refugees, cultural competence including services to gay/lesbian children and families, and the relation of substance abuse and domestic violence to child welfare. As in earlier editions, the book takes a comprehensive approach to child and family services and policies, covering preventive services, day care and child development programs, income security, juvenile justice, and advocacy as well as thorough treatment of protective services, kinship care, family preservation, and adoption. This readable yet all-inclusive book is a must for all child welfare and family service workers!

Child Welfare and Family Services: Policies and Practice, Seventh Edition
Susan Whitelaw Downs Wayne State University
Ernestine Moore Wayne State University
Emily Jean McFadden Grand Valley State University
Susan Michaud University of Wisconsin, Madison
Lela B. Costin (late) Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne

This thorough revision of Child Welfare and Family Services reflects current issues, controversies, and innovative practice methods in family and child services.

Features of the Seventh Edition:

• Comprehensive coverage of issues including juvenile justice, advocacy, U.S. Supreme Court decisions, federal legislation such as AFSA and TANF, and statistical updates places content and practice methods in a strong legal context.
• Numerous case studies, suggestions for additional study and further discussions, and internet sites at end of each chapter allow students to further expand interest in and research on each issue.
• New and updated material on child well-being, child outcome measures, new approaches to ensuring child safety, child welfare in a global context, issues relating to immigrants and refuges, cultural competence such as services to gay/lesbian children and families, and the relationship of substance abuse and domestic violence to child welfare.
• New “Discovering U.S. History Online” pedagogy at the end of each chapter provides a list of suggested Web sites for additional study and research.
• New information on forensic interviewing and documentation for court in Chapter 6 applies and explains skills that all child welfare practice professionals need for the field.
• New model combining family continuity and concurrent planning on Chapter 9 helps students understand the relationship between these concepts.
• New charts, tables, and cases in the text act as handy references to students for everything from federal legislation and juvenile justice to child outcome accountability and advocacy techniques.

“I adopted this text because it creates a basis for understanding children and families in the United States, discusses general supportive services, and then approaches the complexity of child welfare....I also find it well researched and comprehensive.” -Martha G. Roditti, San Francisco State University

“I have enjoyed using this text. It has impressed me how thorough each topic is covered...It is a user friendly text and has many case vignettes.” -Monique Busch, Indiana University

Special Value Pack Option: You can order this text packaged with a FREE Research Navigator( for the Helping Professions guide, which features a free password for access to an array of online sources. This new Pearson Learning product helps students and instructors find credible and reliable material for research assignments and papers.