This paper describes an effort to bridge research and practice in residential care through implementing a program model titled Children and Residential Experiences (CARE). The strategy involves consulting at all levels of the organization to guide personnel to incorporate CARE evidence-based principles into daily practice, and fostering an…

This article provides an overview of the history, development, and conceptual framework guiding a national certification initiative for child and youth care workers. Summarized are descriptions of three certification assessment measures (supervisor assessment, situational judgment certification exam, and portfolio assessment), integrated with…

Discusses foster care with potential for adoption, describes eight legal categories identified as appropriate for foster care/adoption planning, and indicates aspects of cooperation between social work and legal personnel. Rights of biological parents, the importance of trust among parties concerned, and misuses and pitfalls of the foster…

Describes a survey which assessed the impact of the Pennsylvania State Child Protective Services Law (Act 124) on the caseworker's ability to carry out procedural guidelines. (CM)

United Methodist Family Services of Virginia placed 41 developmentally disabled children in adoptive homes between August 1985 and June 1988. Efforts of the program's caseworkers to find potential adoptive families and obstacles to the placement of the children, are discussed. (BG)

Discusses criteria for identification of six types of physical maltreatment of children. The typology represents a broad framework which is used to differentiate between milder and more severe forms of physical child abuse. (NH)

Describes a service model aimed at alleviating isolation among foster families and increasing family support and resources. The general purpose of the model was to support placement of otherwise hard-to-place handicapped children and to improve the quality of care these children receive. (RH)

Describes the principal features of a multisystems approach to family preservation that involves placement prevention and permanency planning. The approach is being taught to family preservation workers in Illinois. Discussion concerns the approach's theoretical premises, tasks, significant assessment areas, and ways of understanding the approach.…

Examines various ways in which child-care workers can work with families of children in residential centers to facilitate children's early return home. (CM)

Describes an effective, cost-efficient method of intervention with families of failure-to-thrive infants which employs supervised social work students to model nurturing and provide support services to mothers. (Author)

Describes and evaluates a child protection team in rural Vermont. The author draws on the team's experience to develop a model designed to utilize the strengths of a small community. (Author/DB)

Suggests a decision-making model based on case-management procedures for permanency planning in foster care. Permanency planning is offered as an alternative to counter the drift of children in foster care. (CM)

Describes a caseload weighting system used by a voluntary child welfare agency which successfully increased caseworker-client contact and improved the quality of the delivery of child and family services. (BB)

Bridging Refugee Youth and Children's Services (BRYCS), a public-private partnership between the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, provides national technical assistance to public child welfare. After a series of "community…

Describes the roles of judges and social workers in Dutch child welfare. Briefly outlines training efforts designed to help social workers give their assessments greater structure, case-planning scope, and clarity. (BB)