Background: The current literature has established that prejudice in child protection cases with parents with intellectual disabilities continues to persist. However, complexities of these cases are not well-understood from the perspective of child protection workers. This study aimed to identify the needs of child protection workers and their…

Social workers are constantly predicting the future. In England and Wales there is a legal duty on them to do so, as the 1989 Children Act requires workers to assess not only whether children "have" suffered significant harm, but also whether they are "likely" to do so. Similarly, in Northern Ireland social workers are required…

This is a first mixed-methods study, which created, adapted and tested the feasibility of a training programme targeted at parents, community professionals, specialist teachers and volunteers to provide advice on developmental stimulation for children with visual impairment in their homes in rural and urban settings of Malawi. The study followed…

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…

Students who received mental health services at a Linkages to Learning (LTL) site showed improvement on some measures of well-being and school engagement, including self-ratings of self-concept and attendance. Families who received case management services showed improvement on multiple areas of self-sufficiency, and large percentages of…

Supplements and extends an earlier article by these authors. Suggests that a strengths approach, with guiding principles of family preservation, be used to empower child protective service (CPS) caseworkers and to enhance their cultural competence. Defines ethnic sensitivity and identifies the components of a strengths approach to CPS training.…

This article explores what it takes to prepare practitioners to work effectively in the infant-family field and describes efforts to meet training needs. A multifaceted effort to prepare and support practitioners who work with infants, toddlers, and families has been central to the growth of the infant-family field. Part C of IDEA and Early Head…

Recent concerns regarding permanence for foster children have inspired child welfare agencies to re-focus more of their efforts on biological parents as permanent resources for children in care. The social work field has responded to this situation with family-focused training for frontline staff; one such curriculum is the Family Development…

This book of objectives, one of a series designed to provide a competency-based analysis of employment categories in human services, deals with the core competencies necessary for family support workers. Addressed in the individual sections of the volume are the following skill areas: communication skills, self-awareness, community involvement,…