I am going to give you a high-level summary of what you will be learning this week. Here is chapter 8 in a nutshell.
Families are basic to the raising of children, but some families cannot meet their children’s needs. Knowing when to preserve the family and when to place the child is an issue that has generated much debate in the field of child welfare. Recently there has been an emphasis on family-based services to strengthen families to help them provide a nurturing environment for their children.
During early U.S. history, children in poor and often dysfunctional families joined their parents in almshouses or, if older, were indentured to learn a trade. They were dependent on the charity of the more economically advantaged in society. As critics began to complain about the treatment of children in almshouses, and as national values became more reflective of the work ethic, children began to be placed with families to work and be provided for. Later, settlement houses influenced services to children. By the early 1900s, poverty-stricken mothers received pensions to care for their children.
In the 1950s and 1960s, more and more children were being placed in foster care, and they were remaining there for longer periods. The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 and the Family Preservation and Family Support Act of 1993 were designed to provide permanency for children while first assessing a family’s potential to be helped to keep or be reunited with its children. To address growing concerns about children lingering in care, congress passed the Adoption and Safe Families Act in 1997.
Family-based services can be divided into two types: family support services and family preservation services. Family support services are used to support and strengthen families so that they can better meet their children’s needs. Family preservation services are provided when removal seems imminent or when children are scheduled to be reunited with their families. Family preservation services are grounded in several theories: crisis intervention theory, family systems theory, ecological theory, attachment theory, and strengths-based philosophies. Services include concrete and educational services and clinical interventions. Kinship care may be a form of family preservation service or a type of foster care. Kinship care is considered a viable model with implications for multiple segments of the population. Proper use of kinship care requires further research and evaluation.
The worker is an important part of successful family intervention. Although selection and training are vital, a worker must also have specific personal characteristics and some experience in working with families.
Some feel that family preservation has been an important, effective part of child welfare. Critics feel that efforts to preserve the family can put children at risk. Proponents for the continuation of family preservation services call for increased training of workers, careful program design, better supervision, community support, and more intensive evaluation to determine if family preservation services are in the child’s best interests. No program is a panacea, and each individual family needs to be assessed adequately so the decision can be made in the best interest of the child.
Recognition of the longitudinal effects of foster care and placement on children suggests careful consideration is required when making decisions to meet best interests of children. A paradigm shift will be necessary to adopt a trauma-informed model of child welfare.
Copy and paste the questions. Tell me your thoughts, cite at least ONE source for each question listed below.
- Talk about almshouses and the role they played in establishing the child welfare system we have today? Find a video example of almshouses. (2 points)
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Analyze how the history of family-based services has influenced or informed current practices. (2 points)
- What did you learn from this summary of chapter 8 that you look forward to learning more about in the book? (1 point)
Week Six- Family Preservation or Child Placement? Serving the Child’s Best Interests
Week Six: Read Chapter 8. We have a brief history of Family-Based services, the many types of services, and the future of services. This chapter is important because at times people think going into foster care is a simple one-stop process. After reading this chapter, we should be able to see that the toll separation takes on the child may do extensive damage to the child. But let’s say removal from the home is needed for a short time. Many do not know there are not only many options along with foster homes, and finding the most appropriate, available, and effective option is not an easy decision to make.
Here is the video form page 197. Talking about FSS.
Family Preservation Program of Family Support Services of the Bay Area (Links to an external site.)
Here is the video from page 202, that talks about family preservation and wrap-around services:
Spotlight Video Series: Family Preservation and Wrap-Around Services (Links to an external site.)
From Place to Place, a short clip of a documentary. I have not seen the whole film. Let me know if you watch it! See the video from page 207 here:
20 minute cut of the award-winning documentary From Place to Place (Links to an external site.)
Here are the clips from page 210. This is talking about what happens when the parents have a disability. With the rising number of parents being diagnosed with autism, what should the process be?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-6n_-Fvd0s (Links to an external site.)
After reading the textbook, please read and answer the following questions. This is due weekly by Wednesday at midnight for 7 points.
Please respond to two peers, giving them constructive feedback around their thoughts and comments. This is due weekly by Saturday at midnight for 3 points.
Late work will dock a point per day. Over 3 days and the discussion will be locked out.
Questions
1. Family-Based services can be divided into what two types? Please describe each type of service and some of the interventions it includes. Look for LOCAL (in the city close to you) intervention providers and reference there location and contact information. Share your thoughts about what you learned. Tip- Homebuilders
2. What is the impact of moving a child into foster care? Why has family preservation become an important part of services? How many children/families in Washington State are currently in foster care? Share your thoughts about what you learned.
Alternative
3. What is kinship care and describe some of the advantages and disadvantages? Find local support groups and or two articles about kinship care in your area and share what you learned from the pages and articles.
then study circle forms are uloaded along with chapter 8 to read
Study Circle
Use one of the study circle templates for the chapter. Make sure to write the chapter on the top of the paper. Add the student learning outcome from the schedule. Write complete sentences for each section INCLUDING the vocabulary and statements from the book.