The future of child and family welfare: selected readings.

In the decade leading up to the 21st century, a number of authors began focusing on the future in the field of child and family welfare. This review summarizes selected readings in this area, ranging from examination of such broad topics as research and policy issues to indepth analysis of specific topics such as family foster care and child protective services. What does the future hold for child and family welfare as we enter the new century? Recent writings consider anticipated challenges and reflect diverse, but generally optimistic, views and recommendations. The Challenge of Child Welfare Although new resources and ideas for reshaping child welfare practice in communities throughout the country are being proposed almost continuously, the service delivery system in child and family welfare continues to be severely stressed. In The Child Welfare Challenge, Peter J. Pecora and colleagues [in press] examine, within a historical and contemporary context, the major and recurring policy, practice, and research issues as they jointly shape current child welfare practice and its possible future directions. In addition to describing the problems facing the field, the authors highlight some of the service innovations that have been developed or proposed to address current challenges. They note that the resulting picture is not as bleak as it may seem, especially if certain reforms are implemented and agencies concentrate on available resources in a focused, strategic manner. The book stimulates critical thought as practitioners, policymakers, and administrators seek new solutions to the field's many challenges. The Welfare of Children Following an extensive description of the evolution of the child welfare system in the United States and Canada since the 19th century, Duncan Lindsey, in The Welfare of Children [1994], proposes major policy changes for promoting child functioning and development. These include, in particular, the establishment of a "Child's Future Security" account program-an approach patterned after Social Security that would provide a savings account for young persons and insure that they have the funds necessary for adult life, regardless of the economic situation into which they were born. Lindsey's proposal may be difficult to implement in the political and socioeconomic context of the United States. Without question, however, it "enables us to think boldly and imaginatively about the plight of children born and reared in poverty" [Maluccio 1997:137]. The Politics of Child Abuse in America In The Politics of Child Abuse in America, Lela B. Costin, Howard J. Karger, and David Stoesz [1996] go further than Lindsey and propose a major restructuring of child abuse policies and services. In particular, they advocate establishment in each locality of a "children's authority." Such an authority would have "a clear and unambiguous mandate to protect the rights and well-being of children" in a geographically circumscribed catchment area [Costin et al. 1996: 173]. It would incorporate such major functions as family support, prevention/education services, child placement, investigation, enforcement, and research and development. Costin and her colleagues forcefully argue for restructuring the child protection system through such children's authorities, thus dealing with the inadequacies of child protection legislation and the limitations of professional responses to child abuse and neglect. Their proposal is similar to that of Pelton [1992], who suggests redefining severe hild maltreatment as a police/court matter to handled separately from the "helping" functions of child protective services and to be prosecuted in accordance with existing laws and judicial processes. The Future of Child Protection In The Future of Child Protection, Jane Waldfogel [1998] also argues for revamping the current system of service delivery. …