Evaluates a new adoption placement program at the Ville Marie Social Service Centre (Montreal, Quebec) in which biological mothers can choose from among three profiles of adoptive parents when selecting a home for their babies. A review of staff observations is also described. (BB)

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)

Noting that foster care is in a state of flux and that existing systems of foster care are under pressure in many parts of the world, this report extracts lessons regarding the practice of foster care from a range of countries at various stages of economic and social development. The report examines foster care in the context of the family, social…

The main objective of this Handbook is to build the capacities of facilitators and other literacy and non-formal education personnel to promote learning and development at the community level. It aims at developing their skills and knowledge in literacy training, while sensitising them to issues that are at the very heart of adult literacy and…

This study investigates contextualization processes in two psychiatric interviews. Specifically, it analyses how different analytical tools--frame and narrative--work to clarify contextual embeddings and story bits. Frame analysis provides a way of looking at local and larger social contexts in talk. Specifically it provides a way of understanding…

This summary of the literature provides an overview on adult probation, with attention to the conceptual problems associated with often conflicting definitions of probation, the legal and statutory development of probation, its major objectives and tasks, and its effectiveness. Some of the critical areas addressed include: (1) the locus of…

Summarizes the objectives, conceptual model, results, and implications of a project called Foster Care Training: A Comprehensive Approach, in British Columbia, Canada, which was designed to illustrate ways in which a networking model can provide increased support and training for participating foster parents. (BB)

Tested the hypothesis that placement stability for foster children would improve if they received help in resolving separation conflicts with their biological families from a group treatment program under the leadership of the child's caseworker. Important lacks in agency practice were revealed. (BB)

This paper reviews the theoretical approaches that espouse a child-centred approach in intervening with street children. It focuses on two major themes, namely the rights of the child and client self-determination as proposed by Adler (Corey, 2001). The discussion acknowledges that providing street children with opportunities to participate in…

MindMatters Plus (MM+) is a program that focuses on building the capacity of secondary schools to meet the needs of students who have high support needs in the area of mental health. A necessity to supplement this work with specific strategies and processes allied to the delivery of mental health programs in secondary schools was identified.…

The purpose of the study was to describe the needs of newly released Canadian federal offenders as perceived by community parole supervisors. Seventy-four Canadian parole supervisors were asked to answer the following question: "What challenges do parolees face in the first 90 days after release?" The data were analyzed using…

This article first reports the main results and conclusions from a study on 24 pedophile sex abusers in treatment in a Canadian specialized institution. The aims of this study were to better understand what motivates abusers to enter treatment as well as how they experience the treatment on a daily basis and consider it to be helpful. In…

Recent concern over the standard of social work practice, as evidenced by inquiries into child abuse cases, have led to something of a crisis in trust in the profession. As a result, there is now an emphasis on increasing practitioners' competency to practice in complex situations. Critical reflection is seen as key to achieving this increase in…

The purpose of this review is to analyze the school nursing role within the National Healthy School Standard (NHSS) in the United Kingdom with a view toward clarifying and strengthening the role of school nurses globally. Within the National Healthy School Standard framework, school nurses serve an integral role in linking health and education…

Objective: In the UK there have been no initiatives identified to increase the use of sun safety policies in preschool establishments. This study tests the hypothesis that health visitors with appropriate sun safety training can successfully facilitate the development and implementation of sun safety policies and practices in preschool education…