Community Approaches to Child Welfare

This text argues that the focus on child protection as the way to assure child welfare is inappropriate for many children. Posing community approaches to child welfare as a more appropriate alternative to children whose family has failed to provide adequate care, it argues that these can be more child-centred and contribute more fully to the development of children as well-adjusted individuals who can become better prepared to assume their roles as good citizens once they reach adulthood. The book provides case study material and research drawn primarily from England, Sweden and Canada. It sets out by examining the experiences of community-based approaches to child protection issues, particularly the family group conference as they are practiced in England and Sweden. The book concludes that child protection on its own is not able to deal with the wide range of issues which affect children in need, yet in many jurisdictions, it is the only service available. The book argues that preventative approaches to child welfare are an essential part of the social workers' repertoire of interventions. In some places, implementing this strategy would require legislative changes.