Child Welfare

Introduction

Children are born to give them the chance to fulfill the life they are destined to have. But in some serious reasons, not all the children experience the felicity of life. At their young age they already experience different faces of hardship and suffering. Their absolute right to be cared and have education is not in their hands anymore. And because of this kind of situations, children grew as delinquent teenagers. But on the bright side, many government and non-government institutions are establish to serve to those unfortunate children and offer them a different kind of life that is once stripped off in their life.

Child Welfare

The child welfare and its system is charged with the protection, placement, and well- being of children who are abused or neglected or whose parents are otherwise unable to care for them. The child welfare offers both opportunities and challenges in collaboration between health and care, especially when a child previously experienced abuse that affects his mental health.

Many policymakers provide system and approach to services in developing the best future for these children. The responsibility of child welfare personnel must concentrate a disproportionate amount of their available time and resources on ensuring child safety and on seeking permanent placements as part of promoting child well-being (Webb and Harden, 2003).

Child Welfare Agencies

There are many agencies that are concern with the child welfare. But beyond the goo image of all the agencies, they also face different problems about the recruitment and maintaining the competent staff, and funding to support their on-going projects. All the staffs should be aware about the complexities of child welfare practice. This practice includes the interaction of between the child and his or her family, courts, schools, and health institutions. They are also expected to provide direct counseling, therapeutic, and case management services.

The need for well-trained, competent staff who will remain on the job is needed to reinforced further all the efforts of the agency. The staff must be quick and smart enough to ensure timely decision-making and to address safety, permanence, and well-being for each child. For them, the main ingredient that a child welfare staff should possess is the commitment – commitment over the long term service for it will surely creates positive outcomes along with a good communication and coordination (Zlotnik, 2001).

The child welfare system cannot prolong its life not unless there are many supportive groups that manage to finance the mission of the child welfare agency. In funding, the agency or organization used strategies to effectively answer all the needed areas about the child welfare (Allen, 2007).

Promising Approach for Child Welfare

The reform in child welfare is about implementing policies and practices that are proven to work in helping children and families engaged in child welfare services. State legislators are often called for help and promotion. State child welfare system can affect the complex lives of children and families in many ways. Efforts to make improvements in these systems demand thoughtful multi-dimensional approaches.

All the child welfare programs are promoting the positive outcomes of safety, where the children are protected from abuse and neglect and are safely maintained in their homes whenever possible and appropriate. Also, the children’s permanency and stability in their living situations must continue in their family relationships and connections. The child and family well-being is where families can provide the children’s needs, and children are provided services that meet their educational, physical health and mental health needs.

Family to Family

The most common and somehow, effective type of caring for children is through foster families. In this kind of set-up, the public child welfare agencies, families, and communities could be linked with child welfare workers and foster and adoptive parents in a strong partnership for the benefit of the children. This innovative strategies and tools can overcome old barriers and put working concepts into practice (Omang and Bonk, 1999).

The Family to Family is a social service that have a set of value-driven principles that guide a tested group of strategies that, in return, are implemented by a practical set of tools for everyday use by administrators, managers, and field workers. Together they offer a way to achieve the longstanding objectives of the best child welfare agencies.

Family to Family changes the traditional approach at every level. It overturns the assumption that the interests of birth parents and foster and adoptive parents are diametrically opposed. Birth parents are brought into a working relationship with foster parents where possible, while child welfare workers play more of a mediating and coordinating role (Omang and Bonk, 1999).

References:

Allen, C., (2007) Effective Federal Child Welfare Funding Strategies, Accessed 12 Nov 2009, from http://www.mystoryproject.org/Funding

Omang, J., & Bonk, K., (1999) Family to Family: Building Bridges for Child Welfare with Families, Neighborhoods, and Communities, Policy & Practice of Public Human Services, 57(4).

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2007) Assessing Promising Approaches in Child Welfare: Strategies for State Legislators, Accessed 12 Nov 2009, from http://www.ncsl.org/documents/cyf/promising_approaches_childwelfare.pdf.

Webb, M., & Harden, B., (2003) Beyond Child Protection: Promoting Mental Health for Children and Families in the Child Welfare System, Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 11(1)

Zlotnik, J., (2001) Enhancing Child Welfare Service Delivery: Promoting Agency-Social Work Education Partnerships, Policy & Practice of Public Human Services, 59(1).